Milestone #1 : I-600A

This week, we've reached the first big milestone in this process - the completion of the federal I-600A form. The USCIS -- United States Citizenship and Immigration Service -- the artist formerly known as INS :) -- form "Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition". Despite the heady (and difficult to parse) title, the form itself isn't too bad, although in typical government fashion there are 4 pages of instructions for a 2-page form!

The requirements for the form are straightforward -- copies of Amy & my birth certificates, marriage license, and the completed homestudy. The homestudy is the most time-consuming part of step 1. Performed by a social worker, the homestudy is an overall evaluation of Amy & I, and an assurance to both the US and Chinese governments that we'll provide a sound home and healthy environment for our new child.

There are a lot of additional forms and requirements needed to get the homestudy together -- really the bulk of all the paperwork in this phase revolves around this -- all the criminal background checks, letters of recommendation, health profiles, verification of employment and health insurance, recent tax returns, autobiographies, etc, are all inputs into this 8-page document.

Now that it's completed, we wait. There is a lot of waiting in this process, which looks something like this:

1. Begin the process -- submit paperwork and kick off the home study
This takes ~30-45 days

2. Submit the I-600A to the USCIS <<<-- We are Here!!!
Wait 2-3 weeks for a reply from USCIS

3. Visit USCIS to be fingerprinted (for further verification that we're kosher)
Wait another 4-6 weeks

4. Receive USCIS I-171-H -- Approval for adoption! Another big milestone

5. The adoption agency then begins the translation, notarization & certification process for our dossier
This takes 3-4 weeks.

6. Dossier sent to China. We officially become a "waiting family", on a list somewhere in the Chinese bureaucracy
Then we wait --- around 6 months !until the next HUGE step -- the REFERRAL

7. Referral day - when we'll receive notice that we've been assigned a child, and get some basic information - a small picture, and a brief summary of her health history.

8. Assuming we accept the referral, we get travel approval about 4 weeks later

9. Travel to China - about 2 weeks after travel approval!
We'll end up spending about 2 weeks in China.

So, if everything goes well, we're looking at a trip in ~July 2006 !!!
We are very excited; every step along this process makes it seem more concrete.