What Takes So Long?

Jillian and Lainie Holding Mia's Picture

This picture will go to Mia in her care package.

Now that we have Mia's referral -why do we have to wait so long TO GO GET HER? The answer is complicated. Unlike Lainie's adoption, we received Mia's referral before we had a completed Home Study and other paperwork. This is because we began Lainie's adoption requesting a Non-Special Needs child and then switched over to special needs when we saw her on a list. With Mia, we started the process looking for a special needs child and THEN began our paperwork. I know it is confusing. All of that to say, we are working on paperwork and it isn't about how fast WE can complete it, it is about how FAST the governments of both countries process it. This week we will receive our completed Home Study. Then, we will mail in our I800A - this is an infamous piece of paperwork in China adoption. Hopefully, with a week of so we will then receive an appointment to go to the Immigration Office in Charlotte for our fingerprint appointment. This appointment will most likely be many weeks from now. That is one hold up. In the meantime, I have collected a mountain of paperwork for China referred to as a dossier. This includes birth certificates, medical forms, financial status reports, etc. Once our fingerprints are done and we are approved by immigration, they will send us an approval letter. This will be the final piece of the dossier. Then, each piece of papework must be authenticated by our state, our national government and the Chinese Consulate. Each piece must be sent to those offices and they put their stamp on it. THEN, we can finally send it to China. At that point, we can expect to wait about 3 months for them to send us our LOA (Letter of Acceptance). We will sign and return it hte same day. Then, we will wait again - hopefully not more than 2 months - but could be longer - to receive our TA (Travel Approval). Then we are ready to go. Are you still with me?

In the meantime, we are putting together a care package for Mia. There are many services that provide help with getting these packages to waiting children. We are using Ann at Red Thread.