We hit a snag

Everything with our adoption paperwork has been going so smoothly, but now we have hit a snag.  Our visa application paperwork received provisional approval last week.  It was supposed to be sent to the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou China for final approval (Article 5).  I just found out it was not sent last week.  It was not mailed until yesterday and it will take a few days to get there. The U.S. Consulate will be closed after July 12 (they are moving) and the paperwork takes 2 weeks to process.  And we lose one day next week due to 4th of July holiday.  The U.S. Consulate re-opens July 24. All Consulate appointments have been delayed about a month.  So it is more likely we will not travel until September. Please pray that somehow our paper work gets through in time before the closure!

*Update- I found out if it makes it there by July 5, it  should gets processed in time.  Nerve-wracking waiting for it to get there because I have no way of knowing!

Adoption Process Flowchart

Here is a really cute flowchart someone made that helps explain the China adoption process.  We are currently on step #9- waiting for I-800 approval from US Immigration.  Only 6 more steps to go!

Steps Along the Way, part 2

Previously on our adoption journey:
Our Dossier- or set of all our documents- was sent to China on 2/19/13 (DTC) and officially logged into the China CCCWA system on 3/18/13 (LID).

This means we are able to see files of children in China who are available for adoption.  These children (boys and girls) have mild to moderate special needs which vary from child to child.  Every month or so the CCCWA issues a shared list of children who are available for adoption.  The March shared list came out on 3/25/13 and our adoption agency contacted us.  There was a 5 year old little girl available for adoption.  They wanted to know if we are interested in adopting her!  Now we have to "lock" the file and we have 72 hours to decide how to proceed.  We had an international adoption specialist doctor review her file and we decided to go ahead and apply to adopt this little girl!  We send a letter to China called a letter of intent (LOI) on 3/28/13. We had found out she is 5 years old and lives with a foster family in Guizhou, China.  Some time in her short life her leg was burned and she has a scar on her leg.  We really don't have any other details at this time.

There is an ancient Chinese proverb that says:

"An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstances. The thread may stretch or tangle, but never break."

Steps Along the Way

Here are the steps we have completed so far for our adoption from China:

• Completed our adoption agency's formal application packet.
• Completed our home study with a social worker.
• Received I-800A approval from U.S.C.I.S. (Immigration).
• Completed and authenticated our dossier (paper work) for China CCCWA.
• Sent our completed dossier to China CCCWA (this is known as Dossier to China or DTC) 2/19/13.
• Our dossier is received and logged into to the CCCWA system (this is known as Log In Date or LID) 3/18/13.

Here is a general summary of the steps for China adoption.