I-800 petition forwarded to the US Embassy

We received our letter from NVC today notifying us that our I-800 petition has been forwarded to the US Embassy visa department in Guangzhou, China. It is waiting for us there as part of our adoption interview process.

Now we wait for 10 business days for our Article 5. This should be February 20,2013.

Our visas came in today!

Our visas are done

Our visas are on the way home from the Chinese Consulate! It is really starting to set in that I am traveling to China soon to bring our daughter home.

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.

Visas arrived at the Chinese Consulate

Our Visas arrived at the Chinese Consulate in Chicago  yesterday (01/29/2013) and they will be ready to be picked up on February 4, 2013. Thank you Denise at There's Always Hope for doing this for our family! Denise also took care of our Power of Attorney paperwork that needed to be done for us so Shawn can stay home with the children when I travel to China to get Cora. Cheryl will be my travel buddy so I do not have to travel alone... Get ready travel buddy, we will be leaving before you know it.

I-800 application was received

Today we received our notice that our I-800 application was received, we were not expecting to see this until February 4, 2013! We are once again ahead of schedule; we will be traveling to bring Cora home before we know it. I am starting to worry about traveling. There is so much left to do! Now I am thinking about what to pack for all of us. I am back to making lists and reading blogs to get ready.

New Timeline to Cora:

Provisional Approval (2-3 weeks) February 8

Letter from NVC to the Consulate (1-2 weeks) February 15

Article “5” (10 business days) March 1

Travel Notice (2-4 weeks) March 15

 

We received our Letter of Seeking Confirmation

The best birthday present ever! We received our Letter of Seeking Confirmation. Shawn's guess was for the Letter to be here on the 14th of February but when we think about the day the story started we remember it this way... "I asked his guess for a day the letter would be here because he is so close every time but he said he was not feeling like it was the right time and would let me know later. He returned later and said the 14th. I asked the 14th of what January or February and  he blurted out in a very undecided way February". We will leave it up to you to decide if he was right or not. Maybe under the pressure he blurted out the wrong month when I asked him to decide on one.  We know that we are doing the right thing because we can feel that we are being led down this road.

We were able to get it signed and returned via e mail so that Lauren can send out our I-800 paperwork today. 

The new timeline is:

       I -800 application returned in 3 to 7 weeks (Feb 4)

       Provisional Approval "Article 5" 6 weeks (March 18)

       Travel Notice 2 to 4 weeks (April 1)

We are getting very close to travel to Ningbo China and bring home our little girl!

The craziest thing happened

The craziest thing happened and we thought it was worth putting in the blog to remind us about this later but also so other parents look for the little "signs" that they are on track and following the plan that was placed for them. 

I was packing a gift for Grandma for Christmas. Among the items that was being packed was one of those fuzzy pictures we bought for the children to color over Christmas vacation to keep them busy and decorate the house. For some reason I felt that I needed to turn it over and look at the back. I was amazed to see that the picture had a stamp on it "Made in Ningbo, Zhejiang, China. I was very surprised to see this. We all are used to the "Made in China" stamps but never have I seen where in China. This is exactly where my little girl is right now!  I wounder what she was thinking about or what she was doing at that exact moment?

It is amazing the little reminders that our daughter is still very much a part of our life that help us feel connected to her even though she is so far away. In China there is a belief that when a child is born an invisible Red Thread connects the child's soul to all those people, present and future, who will play a part in that child's life. As each birthday passes those threads tighten and shorten bringing closer those people who are fated to be together. We are feeling closer to her everyday.