Saturday, November 12, 2005

One month down, ??? to go!!!

We've been logged in for one month today! After how disappointed I was to get an October LID, the first month went pretty fast. I know the rest of the wait will go fairly fast too. I am determined to enjoy the journey and not get caught up in the ups and downs of the process (well not TOO much anyway!).

That said I can't help but be a little disappointed that the wait times have gone up several months. When we started adoption #2 the wait from LID to referral was about 6 months, then it went to 6-7 months, then most recently we got an email from our agency that the estimated wait is now 8-9 months. The weekly update on their website (http://america-world.org/weeklyupdate/) now says 9-10 months! If it takes 9 months or more our homestudy will expire and we will need an update which means more $$$ to the agency and $75 to the State of Wisconsin. As if money isn't tight enough. Sigh. However I know anything can happen and things can speed up and GOD IS IN CONTROL AND WILL PROVIDE!

AWAA along with many other agencies got referrals on Thursday, but only for 2 weeks worth of dossiers (LID 3/17 and 3/30). For the most part since I've been a part of the Chinese adoption world (about 2 1/2 years) they've sent at least a month's worth at a time.

I watched another Chinese movie tonight - Yellow Earth. I didn't really get it. It wasn't as good as Beijing Bicycle.

We're still waiting for the infamous "brown envelope". This comes from the US consulate in Guangzhou, China. When they receive our approval from USCIS here in Milwaukee, they send out a brown envelope with some forms (they don't need to be filled out until we get to China) and a map of Guanzhou. Our case number is also on there. It's not a big deal if you don't get one. But it does show that they received our file and are waiting for us to come next year so if we don't get it we just have to let AWAA know so they can make sure our file was received. The forms can be obtained in China or from our agency. Last time we got it about 3 months after our I-171H was issued so that won't be until the end of this month this time. Friends of ours who received their I-171H 2 weeks before we did just got their brown envelope today. It's fun to get something mailed from China!

Have a great weekend!

5 comments:

Kim said...

I've been worried about things expiring too since the wait-time has increased. There's always something to worry about!

Krista said...

Wow, I didn't realize anyone had said anything official about the increased wait. That just stinks!

Puddin' said...

I was told by our agency(Children's Hope Int.) that once documents are logged in, they stop "aging" with the exception of the 171-H and the fingerprints. So don't worry about your homestudy. :) (The 171-H is valid for 18 months and the fingerprints are good for 15 months.)

Anonymous said...

Eileen,

Are you the same Eileen K. from the Yahoo group? I love your web-site. Very nice. My husband just had ours added. It is under Hannah Grace if you want to take a look.

Did you agency really say 9 month wait. OUCH! We haven't really heard to much from our agency.
Caroline

Eileen said...

Comments about my commments! :-)

Jodie - Regarding my homestudy expiring: I know the clock stops with China on that but it doesn't stop with the state of Wisconsin. They are the ones requiring an update on the homestudy if we don't get our daughter within a year from approval date. I'm not worried about the rest of the docs, I know those are good long enough.


Caroline - yep that's me! I believe we corresponded about the waits for our I-171H - you're in CT right? What is the URL for your website? Yes my agency is saying estimated 9-10 months and many other agencies are saying the same thing. On the other hand some are sticking to the 6-7 months as it has been so who knows!