Yay! The agency called to tell me those words I've waited for nearly five months to hear, our dossier is on its way to China! This is a big step! A week or two after our dossier arrives in China, it will be logged into the CCCWA. (China Center for Children’s Welfare and Adoption) The day our paperwork is logged into the system is when we acquire our next set of acronyms, known as LID meaning Log In Date.
We will then begin waiting for our LOA (Letter of Acceptance). This is our official approval to adopt our girls. It can take anywhere from 1-5 months, with 52 days being the average. This is also the magic date that triggers being allowed by our agency to send care packages to the girls at the orphanage, and finally being allowed to put photos of them on our blog.
Some have asked, "What all is in the dossier, anyway?" Well... if you really want to know, here is a list of what we needed to include:
Birth Certificates for Ethan and me. His was complicated since he was born out of country to missionary parents. These had to be certified copies which then had to be notarized, verified and authenticated.Marriage Certificate, a certified copy - notarized, verified and authenticated.
Financial Statement with notarized signatures then verified and authenticated.
General Physical Examination forms. Our physician had to complete the form, sign it, and have it notarized, then it was verified and authenticated.
Police Clearance Reports for Ethan and me. This one had to be completed by our local sheriff department after doing a criminal history check. Of course it too had to be notarized, verified and authenticated.
Letter of Employment for both of us. This is interesting because they want the employee to spell out "prospect of continuous employment" which in today's economy is tricky, huh? I had to type a statement as to why I am NOT employed, and that I basically mooch off my husband! LOL! And...you guessed it notarized, verified and authenticated.
I-797C Notice of Action: Approval Notice. This is what we received back after being fingerprinted for immigrations and asking for approval to adopt foreign children on the I800-A. Of course it was notarized, verified and authenticated.
Adoption Application Letter (with several required points), notarized, verified and authenticated.
A copy of our Homestudy - it ended up being a summary of 15 pages. (The list of requirements for completing the homestudy was even LONGER than this list! It was the one that reduced me to tears reading it last summer.) Again, notarized, verified and authenticated.
Homestudy Agency form
Copies of Passports
Additional copies of passport photos
Six photos of our home and family
Whew! As I looked at that list, and the list of things we submitted for our homestudy, I remembered those days, just a few months ago, when the paperchase dominated my days. Let's hope now that we are on the waiting end that it is a little bit easier. There are still a few key, REALLY important documents to file as we near travel, but the bulk of our paperchase is done.
