The Paperwork

Now that our schedule isn't full of doctor's appointments and now that it's easier to take Nathan out without him being attached to the oxygen tank, we have decided to start working on his legal paperwork. . . . this process will probably turn into a saga.

I actually started last week by taking Nathan to the US embassy here in Quito to get a "Certificate of Birth Abroad" - this is a paper from the US government that acts a Birth Certificate (even though we have an Ecuadorian one) in order to do US paperwork for Nathan.

The consul there was very kind and looked through the paperwork that I had gathered in order to do this - Nathan's Ecuadorian birth certificate, the completed application form, and our marriage certificate. Turns out that I failed to have one vital piece of information - something that proves that I (the parent who is a US citizen) have lived in the US for at least 5 years after the age of 14. She explained to me that I could bring old passports - I don't know how that proves that I have lived in the US before, but she said I could bring them, so that's what I'm going to do (and its amazing that I still have them and could find them).

Or I could get my college transcripts (it has to be my transcripts, not my diploma). I thought for sure that I have my transcripts here somewhere, but I have a feeling they are buried somewhere in a closet in my parent's house in MI. I tried to get them on-line but also found out that there is even more paperwork to do via snail mail in order to get my transcripts (what a surprise!). So I've decided to just go with my old passports as that is what she told me I could use.

Since I haven't live in the US for over 12 years, it actually is a challenge to think of something that proves I have lived in the US for at least five years - how odd is that?

Then she also asked me if we plan on applying for a passport for Nathan. I told her that yes, we do. Well, for the passport, my husband has to be along to sign the paperwork and she said that I might as well do everything at once and bring him along the next time we come.

So I think I have the correct paperwork gathered this time, and today, I'm going to take Nathan to the photo studio to get his official 2" x 2" passport photo (I have no idea how we're going to do as it there's no way he can sit on the stool by himself). And then we'll stop by to pick up daddy at work and then head to the US embassy again in the hopes that we have all our ducks in a row.

When I asked about getting Nathan a social security number, she said that we can worry about that after we get the Certificate of Birth Abroad and the passport. I can only imagine what kind of paperwork we'll need for the SSN.

Then we'll start working on the process to get Nathan's cedula (the Ecuadorian version of the SSN) and his Ecuadorian passport. Perhaps the process will be easier, I don't know. It seems like getting a passport is easier here than in the US - I know a number of people who got theirs in just a day or two.

And yes, Nathan will have both passports - he is both a US citizen and an Ecuadorian citizen at this point. When he turns 18, he will get to choose his citizenship. Having both passports will make things much easier for us as far as travel goes - he will not need a visa for either country (I don't even want to go into all the paperwork needed just to get visas and how much they cost). So hopefully by doing things this way, it will be more efficient and economical even though right now, all the paperwork, lines and confusion seem like a huge mountain to us.

We just have to remind ourselves to take it one step (or rather one piece of paperwork) at a time! And of course, our little boy is worth it!