Process from now until travel...

Many people have asked me what must happen between now and the time the baby will be able to travel. Here is my understanding of what must take place, but I am probably leaving a few items out or getting some things out of order:

• We must receive our I-171-H from the Department of Immigration
  
• Something must happen to our homestudy and DCFS (it is another approval which our social worker is asking to be expedited since we have our referral all ready)
• Another immigration application (form I-600) must be filed AND approved (cannot be filed until the above 2 steps are completed AND until we receive the documents listed in the next step)
  
• Our agency must receive what is known as the "legal papers" on this child from Korea
• Our child receives what is known as an EP (Emmigration Permit) from Korea, which is basically a permit for a child to LEAVE the country to immigrate to the US
• Our child must have a Visa physical (can be taken care of by the international agency in Korea at any time after we accept her referral, which we of course have done)
• Child will be issued an Immigration Visa, which cannot be done until after all of the above steps have taken place.
• Now, I hear there is an additional step in which something must be sent to the National Visa Center (US government)...I have no idea what this is yet since it is something new in the process is but I know it is also a "last step" and can hold things up for a few days or a few weeks.

As I get updates on our various approvals, etc. I will post them on the timeline on the right hand side of this blog...and of course will probably write about them obsessively if the wait starts to get to me.

It is easy to see why agencies tell families it can take 2-6 months post referral to travel. It has been 9 weeks since we filed our Immigration form which will lead us to the I-171-H...for this approval it should take 12 weeks or less according to what I've heard recently. I am going to try to contact Immigration this week (no easy task) to see if by chance it has been approved. This is important because we cannot seek approval from DCFS or file our I-600 without the I-171-H (and believe me, the approval times with the I-600 can be long...I have heard stories from 6 weeks to 3 months) Our agency is simultaneously working to try and get the Legal Papers from Korea so they will hopefully be ready when we are ready to submit the I-600.

Confused? So am I. But this is why I don't think our baby will be ready to travel before December...and possibly later. :( I must think that way or be very frustrated.

We received Alex's referral on Mother's day 2000 and didn't finalize his adoption until September (different type of process, delays were on the Russia end) but it was excruciating towards the end of the wait. So it is difficult for me to wrap my brain around anything greater than a 4 month wait but if that happens we don't have a choice but to just deal with it.

Thanks for listening.