We Have Been Paper Chasing

I know it has been forever since I updated where we are at in our journey to our little boy. We are moving, we actually have taken some giant steps and are getting so close. I could take you through our journey the past couple months as we chased after paperwork because as I am learning every adoption has some type of paperwork story to tell. We have had life events that have stopped us in our tracks and slowed down our process, we have had paperwork that has moved quicker than expected and of course we have stories of those frustrations that most people run into on their paper chasing adventure. So as I contemplated sharing the details of the journey the past months it seemed overwhelming and I really just want to jump ahead to the good stuff so I am going to take a different approach.

I think so often we throw out terms especially in the international adoption world that mean nothing to people but they mean everything to us. Words like home study, certification, authentication and dossier. And then of course there is the lingo of DTC, LID, LOI, LOA. So my goal tonight and in the weeks to come is try to explain where we have had our heads buried and where we are going.

When we started the adoption journey we were paper chasing to get our Home Study done. We needed to have our names run in every state we lived in, we needed to have our finger prints run through our state and the FBI, we needed 4 references to be filled out, we each filled out 16 pages of questions about why we want to adopt, about our family, marriage, finances and community. You name it we answered it. We also had to get physicals to make sure we were healthy, gather W-2's and fill out financial statements. We gathered certified copies of our birth certificates and marriage license as well. After all that was completed we were contacted by our Social Worker. We had our first visit on April 3. We had our 2nd visit a few days later. In about a week we had a rough draft in our inbox to look over. It then went to our agency to be approved. Papers had to be sent from state to state as they were signed and notarized. On May 4 we received a letter that our Home Study was approved and instructions on how to fill out paperwork for our I800 fingerprints. On May 19 we received our copies of our notarized Home Study in the mail.

Mission accomplished Home Study in hands.

We then sent our Home Study off with our I800a to USCIS (U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services) and we waited to get our 1st letter from them. On May 26 the letter arrived that told us that on May 24 they received our application. For some reason it was forwarded to another office which made me a little nervous but letting go of things you can't control are the lessons you just keep learning in this process! Sometime it is easier then others. On June 14 we received our Biometric Fingerprint appointment notice. You need an appointment in order to get printed.

We weren't supposed have fingerprints until July 7 but we ended up getting into the USCIS office early on June 29.

On July 2 we received our approval which is called your I-797.

While we were waiting for our Home Study and our I-797 we worked on our Dossier. You might be saying what in the world is a Dossier. A Dossier is the compilation of paperwork, pictures and official documents that an adoptive couple puts together to be sent to the CCAA in China in order to adopt a child.

So when our Dossier is in complete this is what is in it:

*Prospective Adoptive Parent Form

Application Letter

*Husband's Birth Certificate

*Wife's Birth Certificate

*Marriage Certificate

Employment letter - husband

Employment letter - wife

Certificate of Financial Status

Husband's Physical Exam

Wife's Physical Exam

Local or State Police Clearance - husband

Local or State Police Clearance - wife

Home Study

*Passport Page - husband

*Passport Page - wife

I-797 Approval Notice

*Photographs of Family and House

Each document that doesn't have an * by it also needed to be notarized!

So now you can see what we have been busy doing and boy does it feel good to put a check by each of those items and have the list complete!