Hi all 5 of my fans ;) We are getting closer! USCIS received our final batch of paperwork on August 10. They said it would take 10-14 days to approve it. My understanding is that our article 5 letter will then be submitted to the CCAA, and the CCAA will send us travel permission! We are praying for September travel, but I have no idea what to expect! Heck, right now, I just pray I have her home in time for Christmas!
Things are so busy around here, which is very good. I don't have time to set around and fret! The boys started school on August 18. Since I don't have a travel date for China, I had to give up my classroom (which was very hard to do), but it freed up some time for me to go back to school myself. I have a BA in History and 2 years towards my teaching certificate. So, I signed up for 4 classes this semester and am hoping to have my certificate in 3 semesters! That will really open some doors for me.
The weather has been hot hot hot, but finally we've got a break. This mornings low was 56...PERFECT! The high is 81 which is a little warmer than I prefer, but so much better than 102!!
Sorry this one is short, but I have to print out 20 boarding passes for some travel clients, class in 20 minutes, and I have NOT walked or fed the dogs yet! Yikes, I'd better get off the internet!!!
Keep us in your prayers. We are still a few thousand short of our goal--God will provide.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Thursday, August 5, 2010
USCIS
For those in the 'non adoption' world...that stands for United States Citizen and Immigration Services. I will NEVER complain about USCIS again! True, the long wait is due to the ridiculous amount of paperwork they keep shoving in our direction, but they have been so great to work with! I have my Officer on speed dial and he is always very very patient with me and my hundred questions! And today, we were able to walk in to the KC office and be fingerprinted immediately---NO appointment. (This is a big deal!)
Usually, you get an appointment date to be fingerprinted assigned to you. The wait is usually 3-4 weeks from the time your request the appointment. We were hoping to still get printed in August. Our current fingerprints expire on September 12. So Andy took the day off and we drove 2 hours to our local CIS office and prayed that they would just say, "Oh we have time to fingerprint you right now." And they did just that! Super friendly, super fast, super accommodating!! They shaved 3-4 weeks off of our wait time for Maire!! Praise God for small (and large) miracles!
Now if only may agency would take a cue from CIS and step up their game! 10-12 days for our file to make it to desk of our CIS Officer in Texas, then he gives us "provisional approval" and sends that to Visa Center, (then some other crap happens that I don't understand), but everyone promises me that Maire is at the end of the very long and windy road!
Would love to travel in September, but not expecting to. I know that the Hague Treaty is a good thing, but boy did it create a long wait in this already stressful world of adoption!
Usually, you get an appointment date to be fingerprinted assigned to you. The wait is usually 3-4 weeks from the time your request the appointment. We were hoping to still get printed in August. Our current fingerprints expire on September 12. So Andy took the day off and we drove 2 hours to our local CIS office and prayed that they would just say, "Oh we have time to fingerprint you right now." And they did just that! Super friendly, super fast, super accommodating!! They shaved 3-4 weeks off of our wait time for Maire!! Praise God for small (and large) miracles!
Now if only may agency would take a cue from CIS and step up their game! 10-12 days for our file to make it to desk of our CIS Officer in Texas, then he gives us "provisional approval" and sends that to Visa Center, (then some other crap happens that I don't understand), but everyone promises me that Maire is at the end of the very long and windy road!
Would love to travel in September, but not expecting to. I know that the Hague Treaty is a good thing, but boy did it create a long wait in this already stressful world of adoption!
Monday, August 2, 2010
Hmmm...what to say...
So, here we are weeks AFTER we expected to be home from China and we are not even waiting for TA yet. After some immigration glitches, and since we are I-800 (which means we have 2x the amount of paperwork than those who are I-600) we are still hanging in there, praying Maire is home soon.
Had to file a change of country, which took 3 weeks. Then we had to file the I-800, but then found out we had to file the I-864W along with the I-800. That is going to take 10-12 days to get back from immigration. After that, we send a ridiculous amount of paperwork to the National Visa Center, who then issues Maire's PRELIMINARY visa. Then they send their paperwork to us. When we get THAT paperwork, we send it to the chinese consulate who then issues an "article 5". An article 5 is the holy grail of all paperwork. This is "THE LETTER" that says, "We the Chinese government is requesting the Wells' family to travel to China to bring home their daughter." (In a nutshell). After we get "Article 5" we then FAX it to the US Embassy in China. The US Embassy says "Ok, we can process your daughter's final visa on x date." (We prayed for a July date, then we prayed for an August date...I've stopped putting a date on that now!) The we count BACKWARDS 10 days from that date and book travel...so if the Embassy says come on October 15....we count back 10 days and book our ticket to China for that day (October 5).
Confused yet...yea, well, so are we! Oh, and throw in there our paperwork and fingerprints expire on September 12. Since travel looks like it is NOT going to happen prior to that date, we get to take a day off of work and travel to KC, Kansas to get reprinted. (oh and pay another $80 pp for biometrics).
Anyone else wonder why there are so many orphans....?
Had to file a change of country, which took 3 weeks. Then we had to file the I-800, but then found out we had to file the I-864W along with the I-800. That is going to take 10-12 days to get back from immigration. After that, we send a ridiculous amount of paperwork to the National Visa Center, who then issues Maire's PRELIMINARY visa. Then they send their paperwork to us. When we get THAT paperwork, we send it to the chinese consulate who then issues an "article 5". An article 5 is the holy grail of all paperwork. This is "THE LETTER" that says, "We the Chinese government is requesting the Wells' family to travel to China to bring home their daughter." (In a nutshell). After we get "Article 5" we then FAX it to the US Embassy in China. The US Embassy says "Ok, we can process your daughter's final visa on x date." (We prayed for a July date, then we prayed for an August date...I've stopped putting a date on that now!) The we count BACKWARDS 10 days from that date and book travel...so if the Embassy says come on October 15....we count back 10 days and book our ticket to China for that day (October 5).
Confused yet...yea, well, so are we! Oh, and throw in there our paperwork and fingerprints expire on September 12. Since travel looks like it is NOT going to happen prior to that date, we get to take a day off of work and travel to KC, Kansas to get reprinted. (oh and pay another $80 pp for biometrics).
Anyone else wonder why there are so many orphans....?
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