Well, not to do things in order, I just received our provisional approval in the mail. This is the form that yesterday's letter was notifying me was sent to Crescent Moon. But, I still needed to send a copy to our agency so they can have it. Done! I am eagerly awaiting a response from them about our projected timeline. It's my understanding that at this point, they should be able to give us a fairly accurate idea of when we will be able to travel. :-) As always, I will keep you posted!
-V
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Monday, February 25, 2013
NVC Letter
Today I got an email from the NVC saying they have received our I800 approval and have forwarded it to the embassy in Crescent Moon for processing! We're in the home stretch!! I'm starting to get a bit nervous because now it feels really close, almost too close! From what I understand, Crescent Moon will now determine that Z is eligible for a visa and will double-check that all requirements to adopt have been met. Once they do that, they issue an "Article 5" which basically states that everything meets the criteria to adopt under the Hague convention. That letter gets sent to Beijing and they issue our TA (Travel Approval) from there! So it won't be long now!! Maybe 6 weeks or so? (I'm guessing here...) Getting excited!!!
Last week, D & I got up-to-date on our vaccines. We needed Hep B boosters, but went ahead and did A too since they could be combined. We also got Diphtheria Tetanus, and Polio since those are also recommended. I saw online that the CDC recommends Typhoid and Japanese Encephalitis as well, but our Dr. didn't think those were necessary. Our arms were sore for several days after, but no other side effects. Glad to know we won't have to worry as much about getting sick! We will still avoid the water, but that shouldn't be too hard for 2 weeks. Now I really need to look into the process of getting Z's US passport so we can get back to Germany relatively quickly.
-V
Last week, D & I got up-to-date on our vaccines. We needed Hep B boosters, but went ahead and did A too since they could be combined. We also got Diphtheria Tetanus, and Polio since those are also recommended. I saw online that the CDC recommends Typhoid and Japanese Encephalitis as well, but our Dr. didn't think those were necessary. Our arms were sore for several days after, but no other side effects. Glad to know we won't have to worry as much about getting sick! We will still avoid the water, but that shouldn't be too hard for 2 weeks. Now I really need to look into the process of getting Z's US passport so we can get back to Germany relatively quickly.
-V
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
I800 Acceptance!
We are another half-step closer on our journey! Last week I mailed our I800 application via UPS and it was signed for on Thursday around 12:43. I just received the email confirmation that it's moving on. :-)
"Dear Applicant/Petitioner:
Your USCIS application/petition has been received and routed to the National Benefit Center for processing. Within 7 - 10 days by standard mail you will receive your official Receipt Notice (Form I-797) with your Receipt Number SIM#####"
Of course I don't expect the "7-10 days" estimate to be accurate, but it is great to know that it's already on its way! And occasionally I am pleasantly surprised with the speed of our mail. Maybe this will be one of those times! *crosses fingers* Although, I don't think it really matters when it gets here. From what I understand (and this could be wrong, because this is the gray area I know little about), it is for my records and I need to bring it with us when we travel to Crescent Moon, but there's nothing I do with it immediately. The USCIS agent/officer will forward the approval to the "NVC" who will cable a copy to Crescent Moon. Once they have done this, the NVC will send us a letter saying they have done so. That letter gets sent to our agency ASAP for forwarding to the US Consulate in Crescent Moon. Then we wait for our "Article 5" which is Z's pre-approval for a visa. Once we get that, it gets sent to the CCWAA and they issue our travel approval. So, it's a lot of behind the scenes paper pushing and each step takes around 2-3 weeks with intercontinental mail and all of that. But, YAY!! We're so close!! To say I'm getting excited is an understatement. Looking up all of these steps so I didn't miss anything had me in tears a couple of times. Tears of joy. The words "travel approval" get me every time, but in the best way!
In only slightly related news, the kids and I had our appointment last week to get our German visas extended. We must have won a jackpot because we had a HELPFUL and KIND government worker!! In US, that's hard to find, but here in Germany it's about 100 times harder! People over here typically do the minimum their job requires and jobs don't consider friendliness and helpfulness to be important. I really wanted to ask him how we will need to go about getting Z her German visa when the time comes, but D is still weary that if they find out, they will someone block us. But, we got his card, so once the adoption is finalized, D can call/email and see how to go about getting a visa for our new child who is also a US citizen. I truly believe this guy will help us out rather than pointing fingers and refusing. So, I guess it was a blessing that the grouchy old lady who extended D's visa back on December 3rd was too grouchy to want to extend ours as well.
"Dear Applicant/Petitioner:
Your USCIS application/petition has been received and routed to the National Benefit Center for processing. Within 7 - 10 days by standard mail you will receive your official Receipt Notice (Form I-797) with your Receipt Number SIM#####"
Of course I don't expect the "7-10 days" estimate to be accurate, but it is great to know that it's already on its way! And occasionally I am pleasantly surprised with the speed of our mail. Maybe this will be one of those times! *crosses fingers* Although, I don't think it really matters when it gets here. From what I understand (and this could be wrong, because this is the gray area I know little about), it is for my records and I need to bring it with us when we travel to Crescent Moon, but there's nothing I do with it immediately. The USCIS agent/officer will forward the approval to the "NVC" who will cable a copy to Crescent Moon. Once they have done this, the NVC will send us a letter saying they have done so. That letter gets sent to our agency ASAP for forwarding to the US Consulate in Crescent Moon. Then we wait for our "Article 5" which is Z's pre-approval for a visa. Once we get that, it gets sent to the CCWAA and they issue our travel approval. So, it's a lot of behind the scenes paper pushing and each step takes around 2-3 weeks with intercontinental mail and all of that. But, YAY!! We're so close!! To say I'm getting excited is an understatement. Looking up all of these steps so I didn't miss anything had me in tears a couple of times. Tears of joy. The words "travel approval" get me every time, but in the best way!
In only slightly related news, the kids and I had our appointment last week to get our German visas extended. We must have won a jackpot because we had a HELPFUL and KIND government worker!! In US, that's hard to find, but here in Germany it's about 100 times harder! People over here typically do the minimum their job requires and jobs don't consider friendliness and helpfulness to be important. I really wanted to ask him how we will need to go about getting Z her German visa when the time comes, but D is still weary that if they find out, they will someone block us. But, we got his card, so once the adoption is finalized, D can call/email and see how to go about getting a visa for our new child who is also a US citizen. I truly believe this guy will help us out rather than pointing fingers and refusing. So, I guess it was a blessing that the grouchy old lady who extended D's visa back on December 3rd was too grouchy to want to extend ours as well.
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