Off, off and away

Well, we were right to check the yes box to adopting two children concurrently as well as filling in the number 2 in case we do get referred a sibling pair.  After that little confirmation that our paperwork was filled out accurately and thus ready to go, I packed it up and took it for a ride to the local UPS store and had it sent it on its way.  It should be delivered to the USCIS post office box tomorrow.  Then we'll be on pins and needles waiting to hear when and where our fingerprint appointment will be.

While my mom was here visiting we also managed to finally, finally go to the police station in town and request our police clearance letters/background check.  I really don't get all this redundancy but I'll say it again... they say jump, we jump and jump and jump again.  We should get that back in the next day or two. If it's notarized, then we're good to go. If it's not, we have to attach a statement to it and go have that notarized.  For this paperwork, which is all going into our Dossier, I have a few things that need to be notarized but I'm waiting on this one document so that I can get them all done at once. And if I go in with a bunch of documents for adoption, rather than just 1, it's more likely that I'll get a discount. I'm not one to count pennies but these notarizations add up!  Not that baby sister isn't worth every last one ... BUT ... I'd rather put those pennies to better use in the way of all the stuff I'm going to have to start gathering at some point. I don't think baby sister would be all that happy with little boy hand me downs.  Even if she probably will look like a little boy with her shaved head or flat top!

Over the long weekend we conquered the I-800A and got our police clearance letter going, but we didn't manage to do our additional hours of pre-adopt training. We're just going to do a couple of classes on line.  Looks like next week's after bedtime entertainment will be in the form of clicking through pages on the screen. Oh well. I could stand a little break from those trashy housewives that I'm embarrassed to say I watch.

I need to get Parker's birth certificate sent to the Chinese Embassy in Chicago to get authenticated. Why Chicago?  Because the embassy in Chicago has jurisdiction over the state of Minnesota, where Parker was born.  Mine is easy.  I was born in Washington and the embassy in San Francisco has jurisdiction over the state of Washington so mine will go with all of the other documents we're gathering for our Dossier, and be couriered to the embassy in SF to get authenticated.  Once we have our I-800A approval and all of these other documents authenticated, we'll be ready to DTC AKA "Dossier to China."

Next steps:

Police Clearance Letter
Notarizations - 4 or 5
Fingerprint Appointment
Birth Certificate authentication
and the dreaded list of special needs
Authentication of all Dossier documents

After DTC, we wait for our LID.  Confused yet?  Me too.  Glossary follows:

CCAA: Chinese Centre of Adoption Affairs. These are the folks that oversee adoption in the People’s Republic of China. All adoptive parents must have their approval in order to adopt a Chinese orphan.

Dossier: This is your application to adopt an orphan. It includes a letter requesting permission to adopt a Chinese orphan, home study, police reports, immigration approval, reference letters, medical reports, marriage certificate, birth certificates, letters of employment, and photos of your family and house. 

LID: Log In Date. This is the date that your dossier is “logged in” or received by the CCAA.

LOI: Letter of Intent. This is a letter to the CCAA that you intend to adopt a Chinese orphan.

PA: Pre-Approval. After submitting your LOI, you receive pre-approval from the CCAA to adopt a specific child. Typically, you will receive your PA anywhere from 1 – 10 days after your LOI is submitted.

DTC: Dossier to China. This is a celebration day! You have finally collected all of the required paperwork. This is the date that your dossier is mailed to China.

LOA: Letter of Acceptance. This is the official approval from China to adopt your child. This comes after LID.

NVC: National Visa Center. After USCIS approves your immigrant visa petition (I-800/I-600), your petition is forwarded to the NVC in New Hampshire for immigrant visa pre-processing. This is only for U.S. adoptive parents.

TA: Travel Approval. This is the go-ahead from the CCAA to travel to China to get your child. Your TA has 90 days before it expires, so you better get packing!

CA: Consulate Appointment. This is the date that you go to your Consulate in China. You fill out paperwork to get your child’s visa to enter your country.