Monday, February 27, 2012

Fingerprint Time! (again)

If there is one thing you need to know about the adoption process, it is that you will have your fingerprints taken multiple times and there is no way around it. I have worked with enough families over the years to know all of the funny things that are said about why it is that the government has adoptive families get fingerprinted multiple times in multiple locations, especially when their fingerprints don't change. (this is what is commonly said by everyone) Even though some parts of the process don't make sense, you just grin and do it and don't try to understand "the why". 
Today is the day we were both able to work it out to try a "walk in" appointment for our USCIS fingerprints, since our actual appointment isn't until March 15th.  In order to make the most of our time, we decided to also take all of our documents (except the one we are currently waiting on- the immigration approval) through the authentication steps while we wait so that everything is ready to go once we have our final form.  This will later allow us to do one day processing to authenticate that document in DC when it arrives. Today, we left our house around 3:30 to get our day started and to eventually end up very early downtown to wait in line early for authentication at the State Department and eventually the Chinese Embassy.  Luckily, we were there early and were one of the first in and able to get out relatively quickly considering all.  One of our documents we were a little nervous about was also approved, and so we were able to drop off our documents at the Chinese Embassy for pick-up several days later. 

It was at this point in the morning that both Nate and I realized how little sleep we were running on and were starting to get a little delirious. We headed to the USCIS fingerprint center and I was nervous this wasn't going to work. We get to the parking lot and I am quickly scoping out the parking lot like a private detective, to see if there were "too many cars"which would mean there were too many people and the officer might reject us.  I assessed and it didn't look bad and so I thought we just might be in luck.

We entered and chuckled to see a very large room with around 100 chairs or more completely empty and only 3 people ahead of us. The officer screened our immigration appointment letter and nodded us off and said she'd let us go ahead and get printed. We filled out some forms and then were given our number in line.  Even though things were going smoothly thus far, I was still concerned as Nate's prints don't always turn out. So I couldn't resist and this is where I into "adoption counselor mode" and decided to coach him on exactly what he needed to make sure to tell his officer so that they don't mess his prints up and make a note on his file, or whatever it was they needed to do to ensure a good read on his prints. We had come this far, so I wanted to make sure things went through fine from here on out.

They called us back and well, I have to say I've been complimented on some funny things in life, but never on how good my fingerprints look. I had to laugh. I took that to mean mine wouldn't have an issue of being rejected, so now it was just a matter of if Nate's would be ok.  Nate finished up and we both left so ecstatic that everything had gone so well. I know it was because we had a lot of people praying that we would get this completed smoothly with no issues.

We grabbed some Mediterranean food and though we would normally do something fun while in the city, we decided we were just about to crash and decided to head home. (definitely not our usual reaction)  Our day had turned out perfectly and we were just so excited that God had given us favor as we completed these next steps in our process. 

Woohoo-- now we wait for our USCIS approval- the last document to mail off our dossier!

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Fingerprint Appointment Notice

We were excited to see our USCIS fingerprint appointment in the mail today. However, our appointment is not scheduled until March 15th, so we are going to take the risk and try to do a walk in appointment early. Otherwise, we have to wait almost a month until we get printed and for our form to be approved. Usually this works out ok to do it this way, so we thought we would give it a try. What can it hurt, the most they can say is "No" right?  

Once we are fingerprinted by USCIS, it takes 48 hours for our prints to load into the system and be screened. If approved, we should then have our approval form 1-2 weeks after that.  Another step closer.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

A Text from USCIS

Today I am excited to share that we received a text from USCIS that confirmed we had received our SIM number. This is basically just an identification number for our application with immigration. It took only 6 days-- very exciting!  Our paperwork is now officially on its way from the lockbox that receives the application and paperwork initially, and is being forwarded to the NBC in Missouri, where it will be assigned to an immigration officer. Once we are assigned an officer, we will then receive a fingerprint notice to come and be fingerprinted at a processing center.  Once our fingerprints are screened through the FBI and immigration, our immigration application will hopefully be approved. This is a BIG deal as this is the last document needed before we can send our documents to our agency for final approval and then send the dossier to China!

Come on fingerprint appointment!!

Monday, February 6, 2012

Number "1"

I just had to share this funny story about something that happened today.  You might think I'm crazy, but it's just one of those things that just stood out to me. Ironically it links back to something that happened just a few days prior. Normally, I might not notice something like this, but in this case it's almost too strange not to note it.


Today, I had to make an international call for work and as you may know, there are a lot of numbers to dial when calling someone's hotel overseas. In looking at the phone number, ironically the phone number had five ones in a row. No big deal, right?  Sure, I would agree with you- but let me back this up to 3 days prior.
On February 3rd, our home study was ready so we went to pick it up and then carried it and our other adoption documents to the Secretary of State to authenticate them.  The address of the location was "1111".  

I know, you are probably thinking "Where is she going with this?" Fast forward to the next day, Nate and I were getting our hair cut and though I've been to this salon probably a hundred times, today I notice as we are walking in, that the address is "111". 

I sort of just chuckled and didn't think much of it other than recalling the address from the office the day before was 1111.
Later that night, Nate took me downtown for a birthday dinner (since my actual birthday was a little crazy the day before and weekends are far more relaxing for a birthday dinner of course) and as we were coming out of the restaurant, the address on the building as we walked out was "111".  At that point, I had to mention it to Nate and I told him I'm not one to think anything about numbers, but I just thought it was so strange to see that over the course of several days.

I was curious what he might say. He just smiled and said, "Maybe November 1 or January 11 is the date we will be matched with our child or perhaps the date we will travel. I told him maybe it will be the date our daughter was born.  All good guesses I thought.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see if  1/11  or 11/11 ever shows up anywhere down the road in our process. I'm not holding my breath of course, but it will be interesting to see.

Friday, February 3, 2012

FedEx & PF Chang's

Today is my birthday and Nate and I decided to take the day not only to celebrate a little, but to pick up our home study which was finally ready. I knew if we picked it up, we would be able to file our next step of paperwork quicker than if we waited for it to arrive by mail. So, we are now able to mail off our USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) I-800a application today so we are very excited about that.  

This application approval allows us to bring home a child from China and eventually allows our child (after one more approval later in the process) to obtain a U.S. visa and enter the United States as a citizen. This is a very important approval. I am excited to say that it was mailed off today. You might say that both Nate and I are getting to know this place below all too well these days.
We are considering buying stock in this company, with the amount of money we have invested in them during our adoption process. =)

With our I-800a immigration application on its way to the National Benefits Center (a.k.a.-NBC-- part of USCIS), we decided to celebrate. We both enjoy good Asian food, so we celebrated my birthday and having sent off our USCIS form with a great meal at PF Changs!
Because of the Chinese New Year celebration, we were given "Red Envelopes" which is traditional in Chinese culture.  Like many Chinese superstitions, the color red is said to bring good luck.  It simply added to the day. Maybe our USCIS approval will come even faster, who knows. It was a great birthday and fun to spend time with the hubby celebrating.