One Family's Journey: To-Do Before You Leave

Okay you made it! Time to say goodbye to your Colombian friends and family, eat your last empanadas and wonder if the flight home is going to be smooth or bumpy? We had less then 8 hours from the time we got our visa till the time we got on our flight, but we still managed to do something which I highly suggest to other parents.

1) Get a copy of your child's entire file. This requires you to leave a written request and a notarized copy of your Sentencia with Bienestar. You can do this any time after the Sentencia is final. The file we got contained some very interesting information that was not included in the Referral. I highly suggest it for your child's benefit. When he gets older and starts to ask questions we can tell him "Here it is, we got everything for you."

2) Likewise, you can go to the hospital where your child was born and request a full copy of his medical records. We didn't do this, but I think it would've been a good idea if we had the time. [Colombian Mommy Note: I spoke with Hospital San Blas in Bogota about doing this. They require 1) a written, notarized request in Spanish, 2) a notarized/authenticated copy of the Sentencia, 3) if you don't plan to stick around a few days, you will also need a power of attorney that allows someone else permission to pick up the file when they are finished copying it.]