Where Things Stand

First of all, thank you all SO much for supporting us in our ornament fundraiser! We are so blessed to have such awesome family and friends. Since our last update we FINALLY have a completed Home Study! We initiated the home study process in July and had a finalized copy in November. I know this is a long process, but I feel like ours was really slow. We had a lot of waiting time in between interviews and waiting on email replies. Though the process was long and tiresome it's all worth it. We have learned to be patient and wait. Praise God this huge part of the process is behind us.

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) received our application December 2nd and we received notification of this on December 7th. We received our fingerprint appointment date today, December 17. Our appointment is December 28th. The Department of Homeland Security will complete an additional background check after they take our fingerprints. Then we will await our immigration approval. We are trying to be patient and TRUST Him in the whole process. We have many, many more steps to go, but one-by-one, we are getting closer to meeting our new child. All in His timing, which is always BEST!

Below is a list of milestones we have met so far and more to come. I've also put this on the sidebar of our blog for you to check for updates on our progress. Thanks again for loving us and supporting us through our journey!

05/2015 - Made the decision to adopt
05/19/15- Submitted application to LL
07/2015 - Initiated Home Study with Catholic Charities
08/11/15- First Home Study Interview
09/30/15- Second Home Study Interview
10/14/15- Home Study Visit
11/2015 - Home Study Report Complete
12/01/15- Immigration Application sent
12/02/15- USCIS Received Application
12/07/15- USCIS Letter of Receipt
12/17/15 - Fingerprint appt received
12/28/15- Fingerprint appointment
              - Immigration Approval
              - Dossier Authentication
              - Dossier to China (DTC)
              - Log In Date (LID)
              - Out of Translation (OOT)
              - LOI Submitted
              - PreApproval for Child
              - Dossier Match Reviewed
              - Letter of Acceptance (LOA)
              - I-800 Approval
              - NVC GUZ # PDF
              - Article 5 Drop Off
              - Article 5 Pick Up
              - Travel Approval (TA)
              - Depart for China
              - Meet Child
              - Adoption Finalized
              - Consulate Appointment