Critical Review

I just got word our I-171H has reached CCAI. Tomorrow is day 1 of our critical review, which can take up to 15 business days. After critical review - assuming no issues - our dossier goes to translation.

The Golden Ticket!

From the US Department of Homeland Security, Citizenship and Immigration Services:

"It has been determined that you are able to furnish proper care to an orphan or orphans as defined by section 101(B)(1)(F) of the immigration and nationality act."

We got it! Our I-171H was waiting in the mailbox when I got home from work today! Now we have all the pieces we need to proceed with our adoption. We need to get a copy of it notarized, certified and authenticated and sent off to CCAI so that our dossier can go into critical review. I can go right downtown to get it done in one day - I'm going to shoot for taking off Friday. OK, gotta go celebrate!

Video: Adoption1

Adoption1
Video sent by ludo

Turn up your speakers, grab the tissues and prepare to fall in love with these beautiful children!

Collecting Dust

The lastest news/rumour is that our local CIS person has resigned and there is currently no one in our state working on adoption cases. It's been 8 weeks since fingerprinting for us. There's no telling how long it will take for them to hire a replacement and get things going again. So our file sits collecting dust. Not good news, but at least we have an answer as to why the wait.

Update 3/22: OK, our SW said that there is a replacement in place and that they are 8-9 weeks behind. She said that when the former officer left they were working on home studies recieved in early January - uh, that should include us! Hopefully we'll have a very cheery post soon!

Still Waiting for I-171H

We are still waiting for our immigration approval letter. I saw another person in our area who already received theirs and their timeline was similar, so hopefully it will be soon. Our SW is going to call CIS for an update on Tuesday. I'm trying hard to be patient, but as each month is seeing the matching process slow down further, I'm really anxious to get our dossier to China soon.

Update 3/12: still no news. SW's call to our local CIS has not yet been returned.

Update 3/17: SW called again Thursday and still no return call. She said she did find out they are in the midst of a staff change. Hopefully the end result will be faster processing. Jacksonville has been processing within days of fingerprinting - send some of that efficiency this way!