What's Next??

Now that we have come down off of our "Homestudy High", many of you have asked what's next. Thought I would take a minute to explain the process in layperson's terms, where we are and what's next. The process differs a little with each agency but essentially can be broken down into several phases.

1 - Initial application to agency
2 - Complete Homestudy
3 - FBI Fingerprinting
4 - US Government issues form I-171H which is the approval to bring the child into the country (to us, it's THE GOLDEN TICKET)
5 - Send a bunch of documents which have been authenticated by a bunch of people to China
6 - Wait (approximately 6-7 months)
7 - Get matched with our child (referral)
8 - Wait to travel (approximately 6-8 weeks but varies)
9 - Travel
10 - Breathe

As I type that list I am getting irritated. How could we be on step number 2??? Buried in the steps above are letters of reference, doctor's visits, letters from employers, finanacial statements, police clearances, locating birth certificates, marriage certificates, and any other important piece of paper as decided by the agency or Chinese officials and LOTS of notarys. It took a lot to get to step 2.

The social worker said that we should have a draft of the homestudy next week and shortly after that it will go to US Citizenship and Immigration Services. We will get an appointment for fingerprinting and then the gov't gets to toy with us before issuing "The Golden Ticket". Our local office said to expect a two month wait after fingerprinting. However, there have been some local folks lately getting theirs after 3-6 weeks. Keep in mind that Citizship and Immigration Services is now part of Dept. of Homeland Security - scary...very scary.

In the meantime, I have just about gathered all of the documents necessary for #5 above (except for "The Golden Ticket" of course) and will at least start the authentication process. Nothing can be completed without "The Golden Ticket" but I was not blessed with a lot of patience.