We have our official Log-In-Date (LID)! This is wonderful news. It's the date China will use to match us with B.S. #3.
Our LID is October 9, 2007!
If the current estimates of 24 months pan out, we should be traveling in early December of 2009.
If the (more likely) speculation pans out (a 36 month wait), we should be traveling near the end of 2010. Yeah, it's a little later than we'd like, putting five years of distance (well, maybe 4 1/2) between Marcie and B.S. #3, but anything can happen.
And if the wait looks like it'll stretch longer than three years . . . well, I'd prefer not to contemplate that possibility. But being a worst-case-scenario planner, I realize that we may get antsy waiting and take alternative action in the mean time (translation: adopt another child while we wait for B.S. #3, who I suppose would become B.S. #4 at that point-- though, technically, if we label our kids in order of when we started the process, B.S. #3 will always be B.S. #3 even if he or she arrives fourth. But I digress).
So Other Grandma (the name my kids have given my mom) is in town this weekend, and Jason and I are off to Autumn in Vegas for a couple nights. Looks like we have something to celebrate (other than the new job, I mean).
The kids will keep O.G. (Other Grandma) busy-- yesterday they sliced up the pumpkin and cooked it like squash and mashed it. I think they plan to make a real pumpkin pie from scratch tonight (aren't grandmas great?!?). And tomorrow they're going to the annual fire station open house (after music and sports classes, of course).
Showing posts with label adoption paperwork. Show all posts
Showing posts with label adoption paperwork. Show all posts
Friday, October 12, 2007
Monday, October 08, 2007
B.S. # 3- Dossier Delivered
We just received word from our agency that our dossier was hand-delivered today to the CCAA (China Center of Adoption Affairs). Though it's in their hands, they have not officially logged it in yet. It's that LID date that's magic! We'll keep you posted. . .
Friday, October 05, 2007
BS # 3-- DTC (Date to China)
Woo Hoo! We received an e-mail this morning. Our completed dossier was mailed to China yesterday. That means our DTC, or date-to-China is October 4, 2007.
China used to match families based on the date their paperwork was mailed, not the date it was received, which is why the DTC matters. Now China matches families to babies (or vice versa) based on the date the dossier was received, or logged in (this is the LID). There is some theory that on occasion, when China doesn't get all the way through a particular date, or if that were to happen, they would honor the DTC. That means that if my paperwork was sent October 4th, but China didn't log it in until October 20th for some reason, theoretically we should get matched before someone who mailed their paperwork October 10th with the same LID of October 20th. Not sure that's accurate. Anymore at least.
We should know our DTC within the next 8 weeks. That doesn't mean our LID will be some time in December; it just means that we'll know what our LID is by early December.
To further complicate things, China has an enormous Trade Fair in October, and the CCAA shuts down for a while (maybe a week?) during it. They were closed this week (October 1-5, 2007). Our paperwork won't arrive for a few days (it usually takes about 4 days), so it may not impact us.
In any event, once we have our LID, we'll officially be paper pregnant for B.S. #3.
Still, a DTC is something to celebrate!
China used to match families based on the date their paperwork was mailed, not the date it was received, which is why the DTC matters. Now China matches families to babies (or vice versa) based on the date the dossier was received, or logged in (this is the LID). There is some theory that on occasion, when China doesn't get all the way through a particular date, or if that were to happen, they would honor the DTC. That means that if my paperwork was sent October 4th, but China didn't log it in until October 20th for some reason, theoretically we should get matched before someone who mailed their paperwork October 10th with the same LID of October 20th. Not sure that's accurate. Anymore at least.
We should know our DTC within the next 8 weeks. That doesn't mean our LID will be some time in December; it just means that we'll know what our LID is by early December.
To further complicate things, China has an enormous Trade Fair in October, and the CCAA shuts down for a while (maybe a week?) during it. They were closed this week (October 1-5, 2007). Our paperwork won't arrive for a few days (it usually takes about 4 days), so it may not impact us.
In any event, once we have our LID, we'll officially be paper pregnant for B.S. #3.
Still, a DTC is something to celebrate!
Monday, October 01, 2007
B.S. #3-- On to Translation
We made it through our adoption agency's critical review. I was a little nervous because we're supposed to send 8 family life photos of both Jason and me with other people doing stuff. Truth be told, we're actually pretty active, but one of us is usually taking the photos! So we had several photos of both of us with Marcie, and several of us just the two of us. Even one or two of our whole family. But not many "outsiders" this time. Guess it was fine.
So now our dossier moves into translation, which is when our agency provides translated summaries of all the major information before binding everything together to send it to China, where it's hand-delivered to CCAA (the China Center for Adoption Affairs). CCAI (our agency) estimates it will send out our dossier within a week. That will be our DTC (date to China).
We'll definitely update you all again when there's more news to share!
So now our dossier moves into translation, which is when our agency provides translated summaries of all the major information before binding everything together to send it to China, where it's hand-delivered to CCAA (the China Center for Adoption Affairs). CCAI (our agency) estimates it will send out our dossier within a week. That will be our DTC (date to China).
We'll definitely update you all again when there's more news to share!
Monday, September 24, 2007
B.S. # 3 Now Entering Critical Review
I just got an e-mail from CCAI (our adoption agency):
We'll keep you posted!
Congratulations! Your dossier has arrived at our office!So that means we have moved on to the (hopefully) final stages of our dossier review process before mailing everything to China! Critical Review, where our paperwork is reviewed multiple times, translated, and bound, usually takes 9-11 days.
We'll keep you posted!
Thursday, September 20, 2007
One Step Closer to BS #3
Our dossier, along with our final agency payment, our photos, and a photocopy of all the documentation, is going in the mail tomorrow. It's set to arrive at our agency Monday morning.
I remember feeling no anxiety about this stage of it all last time. For some reason, though, this time I feel some pangs of anxiety. Last time, the wait was only 6 months long. So if something needed to be fixed or redone, the one- or two-week delay was no big deal. This time, four days could mean the difference between a 24 month wait and a 25 month wait. So mistakes are a very big deal.
Theoretically, our dossier should be reviewed and off to China by the beginning of the second week in October. That is, of course, barring any mistakes or problems with our paperwork. The date it's mailed is called our DTC (Date To China). Then we'll hear from China, who will verify they received our documentation, with a LID (Log In Date). That date is our official place in line. We aren't out of the woods, though. A year or so from now (maybe much longer, maybe much shorter), the Review Room in China will comb through our documentation to make sure everything looks good and they don't have any questions.
Still, once we have our LID, we'll officially be paper pregnant, and our insanely long wait will finally begin. I know our child will be well worth wait. But I also know I'm incredibly impatient about these things, and the wait will be hard.
One step at a time, though. So let's just get our paperwork off to China first, shall we?
I remember feeling no anxiety about this stage of it all last time. For some reason, though, this time I feel some pangs of anxiety. Last time, the wait was only 6 months long. So if something needed to be fixed or redone, the one- or two-week delay was no big deal. This time, four days could mean the difference between a 24 month wait and a 25 month wait. So mistakes are a very big deal.
Theoretically, our dossier should be reviewed and off to China by the beginning of the second week in October. That is, of course, barring any mistakes or problems with our paperwork. The date it's mailed is called our DTC (Date To China). Then we'll hear from China, who will verify they received our documentation, with a LID (Log In Date). That date is our official place in line. We aren't out of the woods, though. A year or so from now (maybe much longer, maybe much shorter), the Review Room in China will comb through our documentation to make sure everything looks good and they don't have any questions.
Still, once we have our LID, we'll officially be paper pregnant, and our insanely long wait will finally begin. I know our child will be well worth wait. But I also know I'm incredibly impatient about these things, and the wait will be hard.
One step at a time, though. So let's just get our paperwork off to China first, shall we?
Monday, September 17, 2007
Wow! Already?
In the adoption world-- both domestic and international, from my experience-- there is a lot of hurrying up and waiting. You pay the rush fees because, with China referring only a handful of days' worth of matches each month, a week-- or even a day-- can make a big difference.
I wrote last week that we over-nighted everything to Red Tape Solution to courier our dossier documents through the Los Angeles Consulate. We know she received our stuff on Friday morning before 10am, because we are signed up for handy-dandy Fed Ex notifications when our stuff arrives. We paid the extra charges to have our paperwork "rushed," which means returned the next business day. We were hoping that meant we'd see our documents this Thursday or Friday. But, thanks to that same hand-dandy Fed Ex notification system, we know that something is in the mail to us from Red Tape Solution, and it's due to arrive before 10am tomorrow.
Our guess? Our dossier documents have all been authenticated!
That puts the ball back in our court. We'd planned to get our passport photos and pick out our family photos this week-- figuring whatever additional pictures we needed to take, we'd be able to do so all week long. But if our documents will be here tomorrow, well, we'd better hurry up to get it all ready to send to CCAI so we can wait for it to make its way through critical review and translation (then off it all goes to China)!
This is terrific news. And what great motivation to shuffle through all the photos we took today at Disneyland today to see if they meet any of our needs (Disneyland is a story for another post)!
I wrote last week that we over-nighted everything to Red Tape Solution to courier our dossier documents through the Los Angeles Consulate. We know she received our stuff on Friday morning before 10am, because we are signed up for handy-dandy Fed Ex notifications when our stuff arrives. We paid the extra charges to have our paperwork "rushed," which means returned the next business day. We were hoping that meant we'd see our documents this Thursday or Friday. But, thanks to that same hand-dandy Fed Ex notification system, we know that something is in the mail to us from Red Tape Solution, and it's due to arrive before 10am tomorrow.
Our guess? Our dossier documents have all been authenticated!
That puts the ball back in our court. We'd planned to get our passport photos and pick out our family photos this week-- figuring whatever additional pictures we needed to take, we'd be able to do so all week long. But if our documents will be here tomorrow, well, we'd better hurry up to get it all ready to send to CCAI so we can wait for it to make its way through critical review and translation (then off it all goes to China)!
This is terrific news. And what great motivation to shuffle through all the photos we took today at Disneyland today to see if they meet any of our needs (Disneyland is a story for another post)!
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Dossier Compilation Continues
So it's 10:34pm, and I just walked in the door. I left home around 9:15pm to make photocopies, after spending around 45 minutes to an hour preparing paperwork for our final step-- authentication by the Chinese Consular General in Los Angeles.
Our agency, CCAI, now offers a dossier certification/authentication service. Basically, you send them all the paperwork once you've gathered it and they notarize it, get it certified by the County Clerk and the Secretary of State, then get it authenticated by the Chinese Consulate. I don't know if it includes "rush" or "walk-in" service (though I imagine it does just because of the volume of clients they have). It's $1200, and though they claimed they don't recoup any cost, I was skeptical. Well, I am a skeptic no more. When all is said and done, all the notarizing, certifying, and authenticating-- not to mention shipment costs-- will have cost us somewhere in the neighborhood of $1,000 anyway. And that means we saved around $200 doing it ourselves. You have to ask yourself if the time you spend collecting signatures is worth $200. I know, for me, it probably wasn't. Just the number of hours I spent-- around 4 or 5-- collecting the signatures and making copies probably wasn't worth $200 in the end. But, of course, how could I have known that? Plus, this allowed me to retain control over the process, something I would have had to let go of had I let CCAI take care of the documentation for me. Long story short, it's probably worth the $1200 in the end.
Oddly, although I now have sent all our documents off to a courier that specializes in getting documents authenticated, I feel more anxious instead of less worried. Last time, I mailed it all to the Consulate myself, and it took about a month to get it all back. This time, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it can be taken care of in a week by using Red Tape Solution (the courier). But the thought of turning over all that personal information to someone to walk it through the consulate makes me awfully nervous. Of course, that's what the big agencies do with it-- they send it to a courier, too. But still. It's birth certificates and passport photos and financial information and criminal clearances-- all the makings for stealing a person's identity. And now that I've thought that through a bit more, I have to stop writing about this because it makes me even more anxious. . .
Anyway, the FedEx package is scheduled for pick up at 4:30pm and guaranteed arrival in its destination (a mere hour and a half away by car, mind you) by 10:00am the next morning.
So please keep your fingers crossed and send your good vibes our way that the courier will get the package, deliver it to the Los Angeles P.R. China Consulate, get the stuff back authenticated, and return it to us without a hitch. And without borrowing our personal information . . .
Our agency, CCAI, now offers a dossier certification/authentication service. Basically, you send them all the paperwork once you've gathered it and they notarize it, get it certified by the County Clerk and the Secretary of State, then get it authenticated by the Chinese Consulate. I don't know if it includes "rush" or "walk-in" service (though I imagine it does just because of the volume of clients they have). It's $1200, and though they claimed they don't recoup any cost, I was skeptical. Well, I am a skeptic no more. When all is said and done, all the notarizing, certifying, and authenticating-- not to mention shipment costs-- will have cost us somewhere in the neighborhood of $1,000 anyway. And that means we saved around $200 doing it ourselves. You have to ask yourself if the time you spend collecting signatures is worth $200. I know, for me, it probably wasn't. Just the number of hours I spent-- around 4 or 5-- collecting the signatures and making copies probably wasn't worth $200 in the end. But, of course, how could I have known that? Plus, this allowed me to retain control over the process, something I would have had to let go of had I let CCAI take care of the documentation for me. Long story short, it's probably worth the $1200 in the end.
Oddly, although I now have sent all our documents off to a courier that specializes in getting documents authenticated, I feel more anxious instead of less worried. Last time, I mailed it all to the Consulate myself, and it took about a month to get it all back. This time, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it can be taken care of in a week by using Red Tape Solution (the courier). But the thought of turning over all that personal information to someone to walk it through the consulate makes me awfully nervous. Of course, that's what the big agencies do with it-- they send it to a courier, too. But still. It's birth certificates and passport photos and financial information and criminal clearances-- all the makings for stealing a person's identity. And now that I've thought that through a bit more, I have to stop writing about this because it makes me even more anxious. . .
Anyway, the FedEx package is scheduled for pick up at 4:30pm and guaranteed arrival in its destination (a mere hour and a half away by car, mind you) by 10:00am the next morning.
So please keep your fingers crossed and send your good vibes our way that the courier will get the package, deliver it to the Los Angeles P.R. China Consulate, get the stuff back authenticated, and return it to us without a hitch. And without borrowing our personal information . . .
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
I-171H **Updated**
For those of you unfamiliar with the I-171H, it's a treasured document in the international adoption process-- at least the Chinese international adoption process. It's Immigration's stamp of approval, so to speak. It's the document that verifies that, indeed, the U.S. is aware that you are going to adopt and will permit you to bring the child into our country, allowing them to become a U.S. citizen. It's the document you need to get a visa for your child to return home with you. And it's typically the last document you need to complete the dossier you mail to China.
Today, I walked in our homestudy to our local USCIS office so I could hand-carry out our coveted I-171H. The walk-in hours are 8am to noon every Tuesday here in San Diego. I got there around 7:45am this morning. There were already two people ahead of me (one who'd signed in at 7:10am and the other at 7:35am). At 8:00am, the officer called the first name, a woman by herself. He had her sit and wait, then disappeared for 30 minutes, then returned with her form. By now, there were three more people or couples after me. He called us each up, took our homestudies, and disappeared again. For around 40 minutes. Then he called the couple ahead of me, who went back inside the office area (behind the counter). Then, about 10 minutes later, he called me.
As I stepped into his cubicle, he explained there was a problem. "A problem?" I asked, my heart beating a little faster. He pulled out our I600A (the application for the I-171H) and explained that my co-petitioner (that would be Jason) didn't sign the form. It's true, Jason's signature is missing. I have no idea how that happened. I mean, I was in the midst of studying for the bar exam and a little flighty in late May. But, hmm. How did we miss that?
He didn't say anything else about it, just went on checking the rest of the file. I let my eyes explore the walls of his cubicle, and they landed on the small bulletin board of photos. And there, before me, was Marcie, smiling. A friend of ours had left our adoption announcement there last spring, and so her picture was on the wall, a welcoming beacon. I pointed her out to the officer. He said she was very cute. I agreed.
In the end, he asked me to call Jason and have him come down to the office before 4pm today to sign the form. Jason will be able to hand-carry out our I-171H after he does. I'm relieved. Yeah, it's a total pain for Jason to drive downtown and do it. But at least it'll be done. And I'm so glad we decided to do the I-171H in person, because if we hadn't, we might wait weeks to learn our file was incomplete, and we'd still have to go in and sign the form to get our I-171H. So at least we've saved a little bit of time. Hopefully. I'll let you know once we actually have the form, though.
On a separate note, one thing that's kind of neat about sitting in the USCIS office is watching all the people go in for their immigration interviews and receive their appointments to take their citizenship oath. Being born in the U.S., I probably take my citizenship a bit for granted. But there's nothing quite like watching six or seven people gleefully leave the interview room, to rush and hug their waiting family or friends and tell them, "I did it!" while holding out their citizenship oath appointment letters. And I think it's fitting that I could observe such obvious gratitude and joy for being-- or becoming-- and American today of all days. Because today is September 11th.
**UPDATE**
Jason did go in and sign our I600A form, and the officer did, true to his word, hand Jason our I-171H to take home (and Jason did). So, barring the theft or burning of the car in which the document likely sits at the moment (I hesitate to write that for fear for jinxing us), we'll have the form safe and sound at home tonight. Yippee!
Today, I walked in our homestudy to our local USCIS office so I could hand-carry out our coveted I-171H. The walk-in hours are 8am to noon every Tuesday here in San Diego. I got there around 7:45am this morning. There were already two people ahead of me (one who'd signed in at 7:10am and the other at 7:35am). At 8:00am, the officer called the first name, a woman by herself. He had her sit and wait, then disappeared for 30 minutes, then returned with her form. By now, there were three more people or couples after me. He called us each up, took our homestudies, and disappeared again. For around 40 minutes. Then he called the couple ahead of me, who went back inside the office area (behind the counter). Then, about 10 minutes later, he called me.
As I stepped into his cubicle, he explained there was a problem. "A problem?" I asked, my heart beating a little faster. He pulled out our I600A (the application for the I-171H) and explained that my co-petitioner (that would be Jason) didn't sign the form. It's true, Jason's signature is missing. I have no idea how that happened. I mean, I was in the midst of studying for the bar exam and a little flighty in late May. But, hmm. How did we miss that?
He didn't say anything else about it, just went on checking the rest of the file. I let my eyes explore the walls of his cubicle, and they landed on the small bulletin board of photos. And there, before me, was Marcie, smiling. A friend of ours had left our adoption announcement there last spring, and so her picture was on the wall, a welcoming beacon. I pointed her out to the officer. He said she was very cute. I agreed.
In the end, he asked me to call Jason and have him come down to the office before 4pm today to sign the form. Jason will be able to hand-carry out our I-171H after he does. I'm relieved. Yeah, it's a total pain for Jason to drive downtown and do it. But at least it'll be done. And I'm so glad we decided to do the I-171H in person, because if we hadn't, we might wait weeks to learn our file was incomplete, and we'd still have to go in and sign the form to get our I-171H. So at least we've saved a little bit of time. Hopefully. I'll let you know once we actually have the form, though.
On a separate note, one thing that's kind of neat about sitting in the USCIS office is watching all the people go in for their immigration interviews and receive their appointments to take their citizenship oath. Being born in the U.S., I probably take my citizenship a bit for granted. But there's nothing quite like watching six or seven people gleefully leave the interview room, to rush and hug their waiting family or friends and tell them, "I did it!" while holding out their citizenship oath appointment letters. And I think it's fitting that I could observe such obvious gratitude and joy for being-- or becoming-- and American today of all days. Because today is September 11th.
**UPDATE**
Jason did go in and sign our I600A form, and the officer did, true to his word, hand Jason our I-171H to take home (and Jason did). So, barring the theft or burning of the car in which the document likely sits at the moment (I hesitate to write that for fear for jinxing us), we'll have the form safe and sound at home tonight. Yippee!
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Setback
I hope it's a tiny, tiny setback. But a setback it is nonetheless. I found what I thought was an error in our homestudy, so it didn't make it to USCIS last week. Which means nothing was notarized or certified or authenticated. It means nothing was sent in the mail to the Chinese Consulate. It means we're still waiting.
It turned out there was an error in the homestudy describing the "child we desire," but it wasn't critical because China looks at our Adoption Petition for that information and not the homestudy at all.
We still asked that it be updated. And, hopefully, we'll be following the previously described process next week instead. Hopefully.
What's the big deal of one week? Well, consider that China just made referrals for four days' worth of paperwork this month. The week-delay could, quite literally, cost us several months in the end. That is to say, we may end up waiting even longer because of it.
It's all part of the process, we realize. But it's still a bummer.
It turned out there was an error in the homestudy describing the "child we desire," but it wasn't critical because China looks at our Adoption Petition for that information and not the homestudy at all.
We still asked that it be updated. And, hopefully, we'll be following the previously described process next week instead. Hopefully.
What's the big deal of one week? Well, consider that China just made referrals for four days' worth of paperwork this month. The week-delay could, quite literally, cost us several months in the end. That is to say, we may end up waiting even longer because of it.
It's all part of the process, we realize. But it's still a bummer.
Friday, August 31, 2007
B.S. # 3 Update
So I haven't written about Baby S. # 3 in a while-- maybe since before I sat for the bar exam. I have actually been updating a timeline post regularly, but I haven't added it to the site yet; I'll do that later this weekend.
Anyway, long story short, we didn't forget about the paperwork. In fact, I just picked up our finalized homestudy. Tuesday I'll walk it into our local USCIS office and hopefully I'll walk out of the office with our I-171H in-hand.
What's next after that?
Anyway, long story short, we didn't forget about the paperwork. In fact, I just picked up our finalized homestudy. Tuesday I'll walk it into our local USCIS office and hopefully I'll walk out of the office with our I-171H in-hand.
What's next after that?
- Well, then I will take all the documents I've collected since May, and those that are not already certified (like birth certificates or marriage certificates) will get notarized.
- I'll take all the notarized copies to our County Clerk's office. The Registrar there will certify that the notary signatures on our forms are legitimate.
- Then I'll take all the certified documents to our Secretary of State. Luckily we have a branch right here. The Secretary of State will certify that the County Registrar's certification is legitimate.
- Next, I'll mail all the doubly-certified documents (plus a copy of each) to the Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles, where the Chinese Consul will authenticate the California Secretary of State signature.
- Then, I'll make copies of all the doubly-certified and authenticated documents, along with the photographs we need to supply, and mail them to our agency, which will run a critical review of everything to make sure we have it all.
- The agency will translate the documents into Chinese and send them off to China (our DTC, or date to China).
- China will verify they've received our file by assigning us our LID, or log-in date. This is the date that will be used to determine where we fall "in line" for our next child.
And then the long wait begins.
I don't know how long it will take to get our documents back from the Chinese Consulate. I think it took us about 20 days last time. If that's the case, and everything goes smoothly with the certifying and authenticating (it did not with Marcie), and if there are no problems when our documents go through critical review, our paperwork should land in China some time in late October or early November.
It's still a little surreal, thinking about B.S. #3. I don't quite feel like the ground has settled from B.S. #2 yet. I mean, Marcie's still not even sleeping through the night (a topic of another post)! But I have no doubt that by the time our referral finally makes it to America that we will be more than ready. Dare I say downright antsy.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Oh, Happy Adoption Day
When both parents travel to China together for an adoption, you take the oath of parenthood (I don't know if that's the official name of it, but it describes what you say) and promise you didn't lie on your paperwork in front of the consular at the American Consulate in China. If both parents don't go, you have to re-adopt the child in the U.S. to make it official and final. We both traveled to China, so our adoption was legal and final in China. And Marcie became a citizen when we all crossed back into the U.S. together through customs. But we decided to re-adopt Marcie in California anyway. Just a formality since she was already legally and permanently ours (unlike in Casey's adoption), but this will allow her to get a birth certificate here in the U.S.
We arrived at the courthouse about 15 minutes early, and Marcie hung out with Casey and with Grandma. Jason and I were there, too, of course.
We didn't wait long-- less than 30 minutes. The judge was running ahead of schedule, so he called us about 10 minutes before our scheduled hearing time.
We arrived at the courthouse about 15 minutes early, and Marcie hung out with Casey and with Grandma. Jason and I were there, too, of course.
We didn't wait long-- less than 30 minutes. The judge was running ahead of schedule, so he called us about 10 minutes before our scheduled hearing time.Now, I know exactly one judge in the California courts personally. He was my criminal procedure professor for a full year of law school. I only had two professors for a full year of studies in law school, and the judge, Justice H., was one of them. He is an appellate court judge in California, and he prosecuted a very famous local case here when I was growing up. So imagine my surprise when we entered the court room and it was Justice H. who was all set up to formalize our adoption! Pretty neat, if you ask me. . .
I vaguely remember taking that parent oath when we adopted Casey. The courthouse was also much busier that day in September, but this time, things went very quickly. We signed the adoption decree, and we received our certificate. But we didn't have to make any new promises (though we were, of course, prepared to do so). This photo above is me signing my name. I forgot how long my name is to sign, being that I have two last names. And my brain is so jello-y lately, with the Bar exam a mere four days away.
I included this photo just so you could see what they do here in the jury box-- they fill it with giant, happy, stuffed children. Pretty neat.
After we signed the forms, Justice H took photos with us. We actually have a much better Polaroid version of this, but it gives you the idea.
I vaguely remember taking that parent oath when we adopted Casey. The courthouse was also much busier that day in September, but this time, things went very quickly. We signed the adoption decree, and we received our certificate. But we didn't have to make any new promises (though we were, of course, prepared to do so). This photo above is me signing my name. I forgot how long my name is to sign, being that I have two last names. And my brain is so jello-y lately, with the Bar exam a mere four days away. 
I included this photo just so you could see what they do here in the jury box-- they fill it with giant, happy, stuffed children. Pretty neat.
After we signed the forms, Justice H took photos with us. We actually have a much better Polaroid version of this, but it gives you the idea. Outside the court room we met another family there to readopt their daughter, Elizabeth. Elizabeth is from the Jangxi (did I spell that right?) province. She is 14 months old and they've been back in the U.S. for 4 months. We exchanged information so the girls can maybe get together . . .
Outside the courthouse, we took a family picture. Ann, Casey's godmother, also came to show her support for the adoption, and she was our photographer for the afternoon (thanks, Ann!). There is another picture with us all looking at the camera, but Marcie is actually smiling in this one, so I'm sharing this one instead.
The whole thing was over by 3pm. We'd planned to go to Emerald, a yummy local Chinese restaurant for a meal, but 3pm was too early. So we went to Cheesecake Factory for cake instead. Ann came with us, and despite missing out on half their naps, the kids were relatively well behaved.
Marcie's been part of our family for almost a year now. We don't even remember what life was like before her. We are so lucky . . .
Outside the courthouse, we took a family picture. Ann, Casey's godmother, also came to show her support for the adoption, and she was our photographer for the afternoon (thanks, Ann!). There is another picture with us all looking at the camera, but Marcie is actually smiling in this one, so I'm sharing this one instead.
The whole thing was over by 3pm. We'd planned to go to Emerald, a yummy local Chinese restaurant for a meal, but 3pm was too early. So we went to Cheesecake Factory for cake instead. Ann came with us, and despite missing out on half their naps, the kids were relatively well behaved.
Marcie's been part of our family for almost a year now. We don't even remember what life was like before her. We are so lucky . . .Friday, June 29, 2007
(Re)adoption
When we adopted Casey, we fost-adopted him. That is, we had custody of him until the right legal paperwork was completed clearing us for finalization. He was born January 15th. His adoption was finalized September 19th.
With Marcie, her adoption was technically final in China. But we've opted to re-adopt her so we she can have a California birth certificate.
So yesterday I went by the courthouse to drop off the paperwork. But I left her Chinese certificate of abandonment, birth certificate, and adoption registration stuff at home. So today I returned with proper documentation.
We are scheduled to finalize our adoption under California law on Thursday, July 19th.
That's exactly 3 1/2 years after Casey's adoption was finalized. Which is a little weird because Casey was also 3 1/2 years old when we brought Marcie home. Maybe that's not weird. I don't know. . .
With Marcie, her adoption was technically final in China. But we've opted to re-adopt her so we she can have a California birth certificate.
So yesterday I went by the courthouse to drop off the paperwork. But I left her Chinese certificate of abandonment, birth certificate, and adoption registration stuff at home. So today I returned with proper documentation.
We are scheduled to finalize our adoption under California law on Thursday, July 19th.
That's exactly 3 1/2 years after Casey's adoption was finalized. Which is a little weird because Casey was also 3 1/2 years old when we brought Marcie home. Maybe that's not weird. I don't know. . .
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
B.S. #3-- Timeline
4/07 Lots of research on Taiwan adoption
5/08/07 Selected potential Taiwan agency
5/10/07 Contacted CCAI about new China requirements (we qualify)
5/14/07 Received CCAI application
5/15/07 Submitted CCAI appliction (mailed it) (fee waived for second-time adoption!)
5/15/07 Contacted Adoption Options, our homestudy agency
5/15/07 Received Financial Statement/Verification of 90-day average bank account balances from our bank
5/17/07 Received homestudy application paperwork and filled it out. (Fee waived for second-time adoption!)
5/18/07 Delivered homestudy application and 2 photos of each of us to our homestudy agency (Adoption Options). Paid first homestudy fee.
5/21/07 Received homestudy packet/information.
5/22/07 Application officially accepted by CCAI. Received medical risk document and fee payment schedule to get notarized and to return.
5/24/07 Jason's first physical appointment
5/25/07 Request for criminal clearance letters at the County Sheriff
5/25/07 Notarized CCAI agreement and risk statement
5/25/07 Mailed CCAI agreement, risk statement, and first fee
5/25/07 Mailed I600A with fee for processing and fingerprinting
5/27/07 Asked two friends to write letters of reference
5/27/07 Asked future (potential) guardians to write letter of guardianship
5/30/07 Received Fingerprint referral notices for week of June 4th
6/1/07 Received criminal clearances in the mail
6/20/07 Jason's USCIS fingerprints
6/20/07 Jason's lab work for medical exam
6/21/07 Mailed agency documentation to home study agency
6/26/07 phone call from Jason's doctor letting us know his lab results are in (yeah!)
6/26/07 Karen orders birth certificates from New Jersey via vital chek
6/28/07 Karen's physical exam
6/28/07 Paperwork to pediatrician for the kids
6/29/07 Karen's blood work and TB test
6/29/07 Jason's DOJ fingerprinting
7/1/07 in-home visit w/ social worker
7/2/07 Karen's additional blood work (b/c first set didn't include Hep B results)
7/25/07 Mailed request for certification of Karen's birth certificate to State of New Jersey
7/27/07 Casey's TB test
7/30/07 Casey medical form completed
7/30/07 Received Karen's birth certificate from NJ
7/31/07 Kare's medical form completed
8/1/07 Jason attempts to get missing labwork completed, but lab closes early
8/1/07 Received medical insurance verification
8/1/07 Marcie's medical form completed
8/1/07 Karen & Jason request employment verification
8/1/07 Mailed all documentation and photos to homestudy agency
8/22/07 Mailed Jason's employment verification and final payment, post placement fees, and post placement deposits to homestudy agency
8/29/07 Homestudy draft sent to CCAI for review
8/30/07 Homestudy draft given the green light for finalization
9/11/07 Walked in the homestudy to USCIS and received our I-171H in return!
9/12/07 Notarized all adoption documents
9/12/07 Certified all adoption documents with County Clerk
9/12/07 Certified all adoption documents with Secretary of State
9/13/07 Overnighted dossier documents to Red Tape Solution, courier service to deliver paperwork to Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles
9/14/07 Chinese Consulate authenticated all our documents
9/18/07 Received authenticated documents
9/19/07 Karen's passport photos for dossier; selected Family Life and Couple photos for dossier
9/20/07 Jason's passport photos for dossier; printed photos; completed photocopies to Fed Ex dossier to CCAI
9/21/07 Dossier packet mailed to CCAI via Fed Ex
9/24/07 Confirmation of dossier received by CCAI-- dossier enters critical review
10/1/07 Out of critical review! On to translation. Should be mailed within a week.
5/08/07 Selected potential Taiwan agency
5/10/07 Contacted CCAI about new China requirements (we qualify)
5/14/07 Received CCAI application
5/15/07 Submitted CCAI appliction (mailed it) (fee waived for second-time adoption!)
5/15/07 Contacted Adoption Options, our homestudy agency
5/15/07 Received Financial Statement/Verification of 90-day average bank account balances from our bank
5/17/07 Received homestudy application paperwork and filled it out. (Fee waived for second-time adoption!)
5/18/07 Delivered homestudy application and 2 photos of each of us to our homestudy agency (Adoption Options). Paid first homestudy fee.
5/21/07 Received homestudy packet/information.
5/22/07 Application officially accepted by CCAI. Received medical risk document and fee payment schedule to get notarized and to return.
5/24/07 Jason's first physical appointment
5/25/07 Request for criminal clearance letters at the County Sheriff
5/25/07 Notarized CCAI agreement and risk statement
5/25/07 Mailed CCAI agreement, risk statement, and first fee
5/25/07 Mailed I600A with fee for processing and fingerprinting
5/27/07 Asked two friends to write letters of reference
5/27/07 Asked future (potential) guardians to write letter of guardianship
5/30/07 Received Fingerprint referral notices for week of June 4th
6/1/07 Received criminal clearances in the mail
6/3/07 Requested letter of recommendation from preschool teachers
6/3/07 Requested letters of reference from two more friends
6/5/07 Karen's DOJ fingerprints
6/6/07 Karen's USCIS fingerprints6/20/07 Jason's USCIS fingerprints
6/20/07 Jason's lab work for medical exam
6/21/07 Mailed agency documentation to home study agency
6/26/07 phone call from Jason's doctor letting us know his lab results are in (yeah!)
6/26/07 Karen orders birth certificates from New Jersey via vital chek
6/28/07 Karen's physical exam
6/28/07 Paperwork to pediatrician for the kids
6/29/07 Karen's blood work and TB test
6/29/07 Jason's DOJ fingerprinting
7/1/07 in-home visit w/ social worker
7/2/07 Karen's additional blood work (b/c first set didn't include Hep B results)
7/25/07 Mailed request for certification of Karen's birth certificate to State of New Jersey
7/27/07 Casey's TB test
7/30/07 Casey medical form completed
7/30/07 Received Karen's birth certificate from NJ
7/31/07 Kare's medical form completed
8/1/07 Jason attempts to get missing labwork completed, but lab closes early
8/1/07 Received medical insurance verification
8/1/07 Marcie's medical form completed
8/1/07 Karen & Jason request employment verification
8/1/07 Mailed all documentation and photos to homestudy agency
8/22/07 Mailed Jason's employment verification and final payment, post placement fees, and post placement deposits to homestudy agency
8/29/07 Homestudy draft sent to CCAI for review
8/30/07 Homestudy draft given the green light for finalization
9/11/07 Walked in the homestudy to USCIS and received our I-171H in return!
9/12/07 Notarized all adoption documents
9/12/07 Certified all adoption documents with County Clerk
9/12/07 Certified all adoption documents with Secretary of State
9/13/07 Overnighted dossier documents to Red Tape Solution, courier service to deliver paperwork to Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles
9/14/07 Chinese Consulate authenticated all our documents
9/18/07 Received authenticated documents
9/19/07 Karen's passport photos for dossier; selected Family Life and Couple photos for dossier
9/20/07 Jason's passport photos for dossier; printed photos; completed photocopies to Fed Ex dossier to CCAI
9/21/07 Dossier packet mailed to CCAI via Fed Ex
9/24/07 Confirmation of dossier received by CCAI-- dossier enters critical review
10/1/07 Out of critical review! On to translation. Should be mailed within a week.
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