Our documents did, indeed, get dropped off at the US Consulate in Guangzhou, China on Monday the 29th! I’m looking for our Article 5 to happen on January 13th. Man, it’s hard to wait for these last steps!
I sent our travel visa applications to our courier. She will take them to the Chinese Consulate in Chicago for us. That should take about a week and a half.
In the meantime, Kai has turned 21 months old... <3<3<3
Family
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Sunday, December 28, 2014
DS-260 done
I ended up having to wait until the next morning (12/23) to get into the system to fill out Kai’s Visa application on his behalf. This is the DS-260. Some of the questions were a bit comical for a 20-month-old, but you do what you have to do! I was able to finish, print out the confirmation, and email a copy of that confirmation to our adoption agency.
I was hoping to receive our email copy (PDF) of the NVC Letter on the 23rd, but it didn’t come. I emailed them again that night and received it the next day (nice Christmas Eve bonus!). This letter states that our I-800 petition for Kai has been forwarded to the US Consulate in Guangzhou, China, where our interview will take place. I have forwarded a copy of this letter to our adoption agency, so all should be set for our necessary documents to be dropped at the US Consulate by their China team.
Documents can only be dropped off at the Consulate on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Due to the holiday on Thursday, they were closed. I am hoping our documents will be dropped off on the next available drop-off day of Monday (12/29). Our adoption agency will email to let us know when this has happened.
And then we get to wait again! :) The Consulate will review our documents to make sure all is in order and then issue our Article 5. I have been told this takes a pretty standard 10 business days, so subtract the New Year’s Day holiday and you get maybe 1/12 or 1/13, depending on whether they actually start working on it the day it is dropped off or the next day. Yes, we are down to counting each individual days! ;) When our Article 5 is ready for pickup, our adoption agency will be notified.
We are getting down to the nitty gritty, folks! I am headed to the basement to sort through baby clothes! I am guessing Kai will wear somewhere around a 12 month size, based on our most recent measurements. Tonight, I will probably work on our travel visa applications!
I was hoping to receive our email copy (PDF) of the NVC Letter on the 23rd, but it didn’t come. I emailed them again that night and received it the next day (nice Christmas Eve bonus!). This letter states that our I-800 petition for Kai has been forwarded to the US Consulate in Guangzhou, China, where our interview will take place. I have forwarded a copy of this letter to our adoption agency, so all should be set for our necessary documents to be dropped at the US Consulate by their China team.
Documents can only be dropped off at the Consulate on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Due to the holiday on Thursday, they were closed. I am hoping our documents will be dropped off on the next available drop-off day of Monday (12/29). Our adoption agency will email to let us know when this has happened.
And then we get to wait again! :) The Consulate will review our documents to make sure all is in order and then issue our Article 5. I have been told this takes a pretty standard 10 business days, so subtract the New Year’s Day holiday and you get maybe 1/12 or 1/13, depending on whether they actually start working on it the day it is dropped off or the next day. Yes, we are down to counting each individual days! ;) When our Article 5 is ready for pickup, our adoption agency will be notified.
We are getting down to the nitty gritty, folks! I am headed to the basement to sort through baby clothes! I am guessing Kai will wear somewhere around a 12 month size, based on our most recent measurements. Tonight, I will probably work on our travel visa applications!
Monday, December 22, 2014
Email from NVC
And it’s good news this time! They sent us our GUZ # and our Invoice #. This means we can fill out Kai’s visa application online (the DS-260). It is not letting me into the system yet, but I have heard it can take a day from the time you get your numbers before it is accessible. I guess there is not as much of a hurry since we missed the last drop off date before Christmas (Tuesday). The next drop off opportunity is Monday, 12/29. So that’s my next goal! I want to have our DS-260 Confirmation as well as a copy of our NVC Letter (which they will email to me soon) sent to our adoption agency in time for that Monday drop off! Once these documents are dropped off at the US Consulate in China, we will be waiting for them to issue our Article 5, which takes about 2 weeks.
Come on NVC Letter!
Come on NVC Letter!
Friday, December 19, 2014
We received an update, today!
No GUZ # from the NVC, yet. :/ I was really hoping to get it before the weekend so we could fill out Kai’s visa application and have our documents dropped off at the US Consulate next week before Christmas. We could still get it Monday and do the visa app then, but I kinda doubt our agency would have everything in time for the last drop-off day before Christmas (Tuesday). Bummer. I need to figure out when the first drop-off after Christmas will be.
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And now something to cheer us up...we received an update on Kai! This will probably be the last update we receive before we go pick him up. He is 20 months old and his new measurements show him at 22 lbs and 30.5 inches tall. Now I can start guessing on his clothing size for travel! His feet are 12.5 cm long. I think we will take a pair of Robeez (need to figure out size) and then just buy regular shoes in China if he doesn’t have any that fit right.
They did answer a few of our questions we’d sent with very general info. He is extroverted and active. He eats congee (rice porridge), noodles and formula. And best of all....they sent us 2 new pictures! <3<3
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
I-800 approval
I called the NBC on Monday and found out our I-800 had been approved that morning. Now to wait a few days before emailing the NVC!
I’ve started doing some shopping for things we want to take to China and things we need at home for Kai. It’s been a while since we had a toddler in the house! I feel like I am forgetting very obvious items. I know we still need to get his carseat. I couldn’t remember if we still had a crib mattress or not, so I finally went to the basement and checked. Um...nope! Add that to the list!
I still can’t believe this is really happening!
Sunday, December 14, 2014
Little Guy’s name
Here is how we announced our LOA to our adoption friends...
My, my...look what has appeared on our Christmas tree!
Don’t see anything?? How about a closer look!
And to go with our Christmas tree, we finally have EVERYONE’S stockings up!
Yes, we finally chose a name for Little Guy- Kai Andrew Cheng! Yes, he has 2 middle names. What a lucky kid! ;) We wanted to give him a family middle name as we have done with all of our children, but we also recognized the fact that he will lose everything he has or has known when he comes home with us. By keeping his Chinese name, he will always have a piece of his culture with him.
We have always kept our children’s names a surprise until after they are born, so this feels a little strange and even uneasy to share already. But we felt our family needed to be able to start calling him by name to help with the bonding process. We have given our adoption agency his new name as well.
Saturday, December 13, 2014
LOA, I-800 and more!
First...we received our LOA on December 1st! Pretty amazing that this exact date was my “best case scenario” guess as to when we could possibly receive our LOA way back when I made my first time line estimate.
We were able to share our adoption news with the rest of our family on Thanksgiving. Even better to be able to share our “soft loa” news with them at the same time! Yeah, you can guess what came to mind when we thought about the many things we were thankful for!
When our adoption agency received the actual LOA paper on Dec. 1, they emailed it to us. I printed it out, drove it to Kevin’s work so he could come out into the parking lot to sign it, scanned it in, and emailed it back to our agency the same day. Excited much?? ;) The next day, they overnighted our I-800 application to the USCIS. Not to be confused with the I-800A that we already did, this approval will let us bring Little Guy back to the US, where he will become a citizen as soon as his feet hit US soil. :) We are told to expect about a 2 week wait for this one.
In the meantime, my email box has exploded with information and instructions from our adoption agency! We had a few more forms to sign, notarize, and send back to them. We also had a few checks to write. One large chunk of money goes to Little Guy’s orphanage to help cover the cost of his care. Luckily, his province accepts a wire transfer from our adoption agency, so we won’t have to carry this bit of cash with us to China. Not all provinces accept this.
On Dec. 4, the actual LOA arrived at our house. We had to sign it and send it back to our adoption agency to be sent back to China. It felt amazing to hold that piece of paper in our hands! I wanted to take like a MILLION pictures of it from every angle possible!
Our agency has requested an update on Little Guy. We were able to submit 5 questions with this request. It was hard to narrow down our questions to just 5! We decided we wanted to ask things we thought would help us care for Little Guy in those first few days. There is no guarantee that we will get this update, but we remain hopeful.
On Dec. 5th, we received word that our I-800 application had been received. This gives us a receipt number, so now I can call to check on the status of our application. I’ve only called 3 times, so far. I got a little anxious about it on Friday, when I found out a couple other people on our timeline had received their approvals. Well, our application is on the officer’s desk, so hopefully it will soon be approved soon. I’m trying to decide what time I should call on Monday...
Once our I-800 is approved, it will be forwarded from the NBC (National Benefits Center) to the NVC (National Visa Center), where it will be entered into their system (which gives us a GUZ number) to start Little Guy’s US Visa process. I will email the NVC to get our GUZ number, Invoice number and an email copy of the NVC Letter, because these things are needed for our next step- to fill out Little Guy’s Visa application on his behalf.
If I understand this correctly... Once our adoption agency has proof that we sent Little Guy’s Visa app (DS-260), an email copy of the NVC Letter, and perhaps another document or two, they will be able to send our file to their team in China, who will deliver our file to the US Consulate. They are only allowed to drop this off on certain days of the week. The US Consulate will review everything and produce our Article 5. This Article 5 will then be picked up by our adoption agency’s in-China staff and sent to the CCCWA (Chinese government). THEN, the CCCWA will issue us a Travel Approval, which is our invitation to come pick up our son! Whew!!
As you can see, we still have several more steps, but they are happening much more quickly than, say, the LOA. Our adoption agency is starting to prepare us for traveling. We have consulted with a travel clinic at the Adoption Center in Chicago. I am starting to have all kinds of lists running through my brain at all hours of the day- packing lists, paperwork lists, to-do lists, you name it! Add that to the usual fast pace of the holiday season and you can understand why my head feels like it might explode some days!!
Travel is typically 9-12 weeks after receiving LOA, but it can be delayed by things such as holidays and CCCWA computer upgrades, both of which we are dealing with. Still...it will be here before we know it!! <3 <3
We were able to share our adoption news with the rest of our family on Thanksgiving. Even better to be able to share our “soft loa” news with them at the same time! Yeah, you can guess what came to mind when we thought about the many things we were thankful for!
When our adoption agency received the actual LOA paper on Dec. 1, they emailed it to us. I printed it out, drove it to Kevin’s work so he could come out into the parking lot to sign it, scanned it in, and emailed it back to our agency the same day. Excited much?? ;) The next day, they overnighted our I-800 application to the USCIS. Not to be confused with the I-800A that we already did, this approval will let us bring Little Guy back to the US, where he will become a citizen as soon as his feet hit US soil. :) We are told to expect about a 2 week wait for this one.
In the meantime, my email box has exploded with information and instructions from our adoption agency! We had a few more forms to sign, notarize, and send back to them. We also had a few checks to write. One large chunk of money goes to Little Guy’s orphanage to help cover the cost of his care. Luckily, his province accepts a wire transfer from our adoption agency, so we won’t have to carry this bit of cash with us to China. Not all provinces accept this.
On Dec. 4, the actual LOA arrived at our house. We had to sign it and send it back to our adoption agency to be sent back to China. It felt amazing to hold that piece of paper in our hands! I wanted to take like a MILLION pictures of it from every angle possible!
Our agency has requested an update on Little Guy. We were able to submit 5 questions with this request. It was hard to narrow down our questions to just 5! We decided we wanted to ask things we thought would help us care for Little Guy in those first few days. There is no guarantee that we will get this update, but we remain hopeful.
On Dec. 5th, we received word that our I-800 application had been received. This gives us a receipt number, so now I can call to check on the status of our application. I’ve only called 3 times, so far. I got a little anxious about it on Friday, when I found out a couple other people on our timeline had received their approvals. Well, our application is on the officer’s desk, so hopefully it will soon be approved soon. I’m trying to decide what time I should call on Monday...
Once our I-800 is approved, it will be forwarded from the NBC (National Benefits Center) to the NVC (National Visa Center), where it will be entered into their system (which gives us a GUZ number) to start Little Guy’s US Visa process. I will email the NVC to get our GUZ number, Invoice number and an email copy of the NVC Letter, because these things are needed for our next step- to fill out Little Guy’s Visa application on his behalf.
If I understand this correctly... Once our adoption agency has proof that we sent Little Guy’s Visa app (DS-260), an email copy of the NVC Letter, and perhaps another document or two, they will be able to send our file to their team in China, who will deliver our file to the US Consulate. They are only allowed to drop this off on certain days of the week. The US Consulate will review everything and produce our Article 5. This Article 5 will then be picked up by our adoption agency’s in-China staff and sent to the CCCWA (Chinese government). THEN, the CCCWA will issue us a Travel Approval, which is our invitation to come pick up our son! Whew!!
As you can see, we still have several more steps, but they are happening much more quickly than, say, the LOA. Our adoption agency is starting to prepare us for traveling. We have consulted with a travel clinic at the Adoption Center in Chicago. I am starting to have all kinds of lists running through my brain at all hours of the day- packing lists, paperwork lists, to-do lists, you name it! Add that to the usual fast pace of the holiday season and you can understand why my head feels like it might explode some days!!
Travel is typically 9-12 weeks after receiving LOA, but it can be delayed by things such as holidays and CCCWA computer upgrades, both of which we are dealing with. Still...it will be here before we know it!! <3 <3
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