Received our Provisional Approval

We received our Provisional Approval for Cora today! This letter is from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Department (USCIS) giving us permission to bring Cora into the United States as our daughter. This approval will be sent to the National Visa Center (NVC).

The next step is the Article 5. A representative from WACAP will take the letter from the NVC and supporting documents to the US Consulate in Guangzhou, China. They will review Cora’s US Entry Visa and supporting documents and issue the Article 5. This is the notice needed for the CCCWA to issue us our travel date.

Our new timeline:

Letter from NVC (1-2 weeks) Feb 08, 2013

Article “5” (10 business days) Feb 22, 2013

Travel Notice (2-4 weeks) March 08, 2013

Travel to China March 22, 2013!!

We sent a package to Cora and her class today for the Chinese New Year. It is the first package that she will get from us that she will know is from her Mama, Baba (Dad), brothers, and sister. It is traditional to get new clothes and money from loved ones. We sent her a traditional dress and a new winter outfit. Her class will also get a cake and snacks to have a party. Part of the “package” is to translate a note to Cora to put in a card.  It is custom to offer blessings for the New Year. This is the letter I wrote:

May God guard you and keep you safe. May He give you comfort, health, and strength. May He send you so many blessings that the day is not long enough for them all. Every morning we look at the stars and wonder if you are looking at them as you are going to bed and we say this prayer to you. We cannot wait to hold you and whisper this to you as you fall to sleep in our arms. We love you, Baba, Mama, Mike, Shawn, Rey, Max and Sasha

The reason I am sharing this is because I received an email saying that this letter would never make it to Cora. All email in China is scanned and censored. The email would just disappear. If it did make it to the Orphanage Director he would not give it to her because he could get into trouble. I have totally forgotten about the government’s control over the people. I forget how good we have it and all of the things we take for granted in the United States.