Friday, February 18, 2011 we took Catherine and Luke to passport services to apply for their passports. When we left, Kevin and I were so excited. We said "Yea! Now we can go to Canada!" Seems like such a small thing, applying for a passport, but it was another step in getting us closer to Claire.
On the downside, I emailed Immigration on Thursday to let them know that we had been printed so that they could work on our file now instead of waiting until the appointment date. I received an email back thanking me, stating that our file had been noted but that they were currently working on files that were received by them in late December. So looks like we have a bit of a wait . . . .at least 30 more days before we get their approval.
This approval is the last thing we need before we can send all of our documentation to China. So now we are in hurry up and wait mode.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Marching On!
A lot has happened since my last post. I got our documents in the mail to Immigration on January 21, 2011. That felt like a huge step. On February 2 I also sent out documents to 3 Chinese Consulates to have those documents authenticated, a necessary step before we can send everything to China. Regulations required me to send my birth certificate to Los Angeles, Kevin's birth certificate to Chicago and all of our documents that were notarized in Washington to San Francisco.
On February 7 I received two phone calls. One from the Consulate in Los Angeles and the other from the Consulate in San Francisco. The message from San Francisco was that I'd forgotten to send a copy of Kevin's passport. So I got that faxed off to them. The message from LA was that I had used an outdated application form. I was instructed to go to their website and download the proper form. When I did the link said the page had been deleted. Of course they didn't give me a phone number to call with questions so I had to fax a letter explaining the problem. In the meantime my adoption agency sent me the form they thought was correct. I faxed that off, but a few hours later received a call from the Consulate again. They had faxed me the proper form, but I was at court not at the office(yea for cell phones!!). It sounded like they had not received my new fax, but after checking found it. I was told that it was not the proper form, but that it "will do". So now we wait for all of those precious documents to come back to us.
On Valentine's Day we received our finger print notice from Immigration. Of course the appointment was scheduled for three weeks from now. Thanks to Murphy and his law the appointment was set at 8 a.m. on a day when we will be in Las Vegas so no way we could make that. So on Tuesday, the 15th and 21 hours after receiving our appointment, we walked into Immigration and asked to be printed. The officer pointed out that our appointment wasn't until March and I explained that we would not be in the state on that date and we were told that if he wasn't busy he might be willing to take us on a walk in basis. He agreed. When I went back for my prints he was so nice. Asking if we were excited and if we had any pictures of Claire we could show him. Of course we didn't because we were in the Federal Building and not allowed to bring cell phones inside.
Today I called and emailed Immigration to advise them that we have already completed the finger prints. I don't want our case officer waiting until March to start looking for our prints. So we are back to waiting on others to do their part. But it really feels like we've taken some big steps forward towards getting Claire home. We are so anxious for her to join us. I know that the timing will be just exactly when it is meant to happen. Just praying that it is sooner rather than later.
On February 7 I received two phone calls. One from the Consulate in Los Angeles and the other from the Consulate in San Francisco. The message from San Francisco was that I'd forgotten to send a copy of Kevin's passport. So I got that faxed off to them. The message from LA was that I had used an outdated application form. I was instructed to go to their website and download the proper form. When I did the link said the page had been deleted. Of course they didn't give me a phone number to call with questions so I had to fax a letter explaining the problem. In the meantime my adoption agency sent me the form they thought was correct. I faxed that off, but a few hours later received a call from the Consulate again. They had faxed me the proper form, but I was at court not at the office(yea for cell phones!!). It sounded like they had not received my new fax, but after checking found it. I was told that it was not the proper form, but that it "will do". So now we wait for all of those precious documents to come back to us.
On Valentine's Day we received our finger print notice from Immigration. Of course the appointment was scheduled for three weeks from now. Thanks to Murphy and his law the appointment was set at 8 a.m. on a day when we will be in Las Vegas so no way we could make that. So on Tuesday, the 15th and 21 hours after receiving our appointment, we walked into Immigration and asked to be printed. The officer pointed out that our appointment wasn't until March and I explained that we would not be in the state on that date and we were told that if he wasn't busy he might be willing to take us on a walk in basis. He agreed. When I went back for my prints he was so nice. Asking if we were excited and if we had any pictures of Claire we could show him. Of course we didn't because we were in the Federal Building and not allowed to bring cell phones inside.
Today I called and emailed Immigration to advise them that we have already completed the finger prints. I don't want our case officer waiting until March to start looking for our prints. So we are back to waiting on others to do their part. But it really feels like we've taken some big steps forward towards getting Claire home. We are so anxious for her to join us. I know that the timing will be just exactly when it is meant to happen. Just praying that it is sooner rather than later.
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