Romantic Fingerprinting Date for Your Hub's 30th?

(((Some of our paperwork with Little Stump's first piece of room decor:: a globe pillow)))

Me to FedEx man early yesterday afternoon:: "Those papers are my babies...sorry if I sound a little paranoid about them making it there."

Then I leave feeling less-than-confident in the FedEx man. A result of either paranoia, or genuine concern? You tell me. :-)

I mailed out our dossier paperwork [the paperwork that goes directly to China] to our agency today! They will begin getting them all appropriately state certified and authenticated -- basically China-ready.

So I get home after leaving FedEx, and immediately check tracking. Check again. Then sigh in relief that I at least see that it's in the system.

Then I immediately wonder if I have an important piece of (adoption) mail waiting in the mailbox. I let the dog out the back door, then go to the mailbox to check. Nothing there. Go back to the door and realized I'm locked out, and the backdoor is locked too. I knock on the door, kids aren't to be seen. I go to another window and knock. Nothin'. Go to another window. They see me and let me in.

Let down a wee-little seeing nothing in the box. I wasn't expecting anything too exciting, just a notice from Homeland Security showing me they've received our application. Just a receipt notice. (Why is this stuff important? I800 approval (through US Immigration and Citizenship) is the very last piece we need for our dossier before sending to China. The fingerprint appointments are the last step in the I800 process before getting final approval. Most people see approvals very shortly after their fingerprint approvals. After we get final approval, we'll still need to get that piece authenticated at the Chinese Consulate in Chicago, then it will all be "China-ready.") :-))

A bit later during dinner, I notice our mailwoman rolling up to the mailbox. It's 5:45..a little late, so I thought it was a little odd. I think..."I wonder..nah. Probably nothing. Oh bananas, forget it..I can't wait." So I throw my coat on again, go out the front door (this time propping the door open), go to the mailbox, and what should my wondering eyes appear? Not one, not two, but FIVE precious pieces of mail, my dear! One receipt notice! Ontop of that, several pieces giving us fingerprint appts set for next week! NEXT WEEK!! SAY WHAT?! That's super quick. Lightening fast. Yes, yes, I'll take it!
I told you dear reader, those papers -- they're gold. Golden!

So, starting this process I was hoping we would have our paperwork logged in on China's side on Billy's 30th birthday or very shortly thereafter. But, I guess we'll just have to settle for a romantic early-morning fingerprint date at our USCIS office instead. <3 :-)

I received an e-mail from a sweet friend of mine in the morning that said, "Have a beautiful day!!! I am praying for your little one!" ...I certainly had a beautiful day. :-)

Hurry Up, Homeland Security!!!

Newest update!!! Okay, maybe nothing overly exciting, but it's the major *last* step before sending paperwork to China.

We sent our i800a (along with a "small" check of 890.00) the other day to the U.S. Immigration Citizenship and Immigration Services (department of Homeland Security). ((I said "small" check, because in comparison to other checks you write in the process, it. is. indeed. unfortunately. small.))

So what's the i800a? 

While we've been approved so-to-speak to adopt from our homestudy agency, and we've met several state-level pre-adoption requirements -- we still, of course, need to be approved to adopt from China on the federal side of things, and USCIS (US Immigration and Citizenship) is the department that approves that.

(When we are matched with our Little Stump, we will have to file another application to adopt him/her *specifically.*)

I've been hearing in these neck-of-the-woods (er adoption community), that USCIS has been approving homestudies/apps lightning fast -- around 40 days. So that's what we're hoping for!

So, what are we doing now? 

First:: We wait to get a text telling us that USCIS has received our app and is processing the app. We then wait for them to send us a fingerprinting appointment (hopefully within a couple weeks), and we'll go have our fingerprints done (again) at our USCIS office downtown here. That's when we'll be assigned an officer who will process our application (hopefully fairly quickly!).

Second:: We have just a few things to finish up our dossier paperwork (the paperwork that gets sent directly to China). So, our goal for this week is to have our dossier paperwork sent to our agency so they can process all our documents (they will do the certifying and authenticating for us -- and this will take at least three weeks). The dossier paperwork consists of:: your home study report (report written by your social worker), police clearances, reference letters, medical exams, pictures (inside/outside of house, family pictures, individual), passport pages, family application letter, family data form, financial document, newly issued birth certificates, newly issued marriage certificate, employment letters, and the very last piece will be our I800A (which is what we're waiting on now!). 

Third:: Now that we've had our home study approved/completed/in our hands, we're beginning to apply for adoption grants. This alone is like a part-time job in itself, but ya-gotta-do-whatcha-gotta-do! 

So below is a chart I whipped up on the China adoption process. It's messy, I mean, messy -- which probably makes it more realistic. :-) 

Yea, when looking at my chart...it'd be easy to get a little depressed because we're only on #3/4. But, the first approximate 6 months is eaten up with these steps alone. So, look again, and the *REST* of the steps can happen in just 5-7 crazy months! Whew! 

If you'd like to read my thoughts on the New Year, you can read it here on my personal blog:: http://rstumpblog.blogspot.com/2016/01/new-year-and-challenge-for-all-of-us.html

再见了!