Thursday, August 7, 2008

Looks like mid- to late-September

It looks like we will be traveling in mid- to late-September now, thanks to the paperwork snafu.
Our ordeal ended Thursday when we took Violet's corrected child abuse clearance to the USCIS office in Oklahoma City.
Our social worker had picked up the corrected form from Oklahoma Department of Human Services Wednesday, and we got it from her Thursday morning after she wrote an addendum to our home study explaining the situation and got it notarized. We're not sure if we really needed the addendum, but we figured we better get it and be safe.
After that, we had a nice 2-hour drive to the USCIS office to deliver it personally. When we got there, the orphan officer was out to lunch, and we were told to come back in 2 hours. When we came back, she had our completed I-171H and the documents that needed to be sent to the National Visa Center in the overnight envelope we provided.
We can't thank her enough for getting it done so quickly. She is adopting from China, so she knows what we are going through.
Violet called our agency and gave them the all-important fingerprint and I-171H expiration dates, but it looks like it wasn't in time to get to a consulate appointment that would allow us to travel by the end of this month. That was a bummer, since we busted our butts the last couple of days to get the paperwork problems fixed.
But, now we know it's done and we WILL be traveling! Not as soon as we would like, but we will get Jacob before his birthday.

Kevin

4 comments:

FHL said...

Wow, a lot has happened since I visited last...and stressful! I'm so glad that there was another adopting parent working at USCIS, she sounds like an angel! Try to enjoy these last few days of preparation and sleep in as much as possible!!! As it will be a thing of the past once your little guy is romping around :o) September is just around the corner, hang in there!

Julianne said...

I'm so sorry to hear about the delay. We had delays of our own as well and ended up not traveling until just over 2 months after we received our referral for Lily. That 2 month wait seemed like an eternity, as I'm sure yours does. But it will happen and it is all God's timing. You will be on a plane flying home with that sweet and precious little boy before you know it...I promise! May God continue to guide this process and give you peace as you wait to bring Jacob home.

The Gang's Momma! said...

wow, lots has happened since wednesday. i'm sorry you can't go as early as you'd planned, but maybe our trips will coincide now? we're still waiting for ta and ca - and trying to put together some packing lists in a ratioal manner while we wait!

glad to hear it's all resolved!

Gina said...

So sorry you have to wait, but you are oh so close. You are right! The lady at the CIS office is awesome. She called me to ask me a question and then told me we are approved and the I-171H will be in the mail next week! I am so glad we have her! I am sure you are counting the days until you hold your little guy. It will be here before you know it!