Passport & SOS

I worked a really long day at work today, but had a wonderful surprise when I got home. 

My passport came today.  That was fast!  I mailed it off on May 16th and got it back on May 26th ~ 10 days!  I'm really impressed.

Also today ~ got my packet of very important papers into the mail to the Secretary of State.  They will authenticate the notarizations (make sure the notaries are authentic) and send them back to me.  My goal was to get the papers in the mail to SOS before we leave for camping.  Did t!

Any guesses on how long it will take to get them back?

I-797 ~ Yes!

I cannot believe it!  Today I received the long worked towards I-797!  It only took 11 days from the time the I-800A was mailed. Even after I got the email notice I still wasn't expecting it until 5/30.

The next step - I need to send all these very important papers that I've worked so hard to accumulate, to the state to be certified.  This step is just the state saying that the notarizations are indeed done by a certified notary. Hopefully I can have them mailed off to the state this week.  I should be able to do that. 

Right now I'm working with CHI to make sure the documents are all in order and correct.

USCIS Acceptance Confirmation

Yay!!!! Drum roll Please!! 

I found out that the I-797 is the ultimate document I'm waiting for and I got the  email below telling me that it's coming!  Yes!!!  So by May 29th I should have it. Come on passport-I need you too!  I have already started making sure I have all the rest of the original documents I will need in my dossier so when I get these 2 magical docs I can send them all off to CHI to be authenticated and certified and then sent off to China!

To: KKH
Sent: Thursday, May 19, 2011 12:41 AM
Subject: USCIS Acceptance Confirmation

Dear Applicant/Petitioner:

Your USCIS application/petition has been received and routed to the National Benefit Center for processing. Within 7 - 10 days by standard mail you will receive your official Receipt Notice (Form I-797) with your Receipt Number SIMxxx. If you have any questions please contact the Hague Unit at xxx.
 

Mama's coming little guy. Mama's coming.

Passport Renewal Application

Ok - I had to do my passport and quickly because like Heidi from CHI told me, "You go get that passport girl, you are going to China!"

Today I got passport pictures taken at work.  We can have them done at work for free.  They even printed off some extra so that when it's time to get my visa I don't have to have pictures taken again.. 

I then ran to the post office on a late lunch from work to overnight my passport renewal application. I sent a nice letter along with it explaining that I am adopting a special needs child from China and asking if they could expedite my passport.  Well, of course I had to pay a fee too for expediting it, but thought maybe, just maybe if I sent a letter along too that they would expedite it a little bit quicker. Hey, it doesn't hurt to try, right? It says for an expedited passport it should take 2-3 weeks. I'm hoping that it doesn't take longer than that. 

So it's a wait now.  Which will I get first - the I-797 or the passport?  Wouldn't it be awesome if they both came on the same day?  These are my last 2 items I need to be able to certify and authenticate my documents and send them off to CHI to send to China!

Oh, and a fun little thing happened when I was at the post office.  I was intent on filling out the address on my overnight envelope and I heard someone say, "Well, Hi Kristin!"  And I look up to see the most wonderful lady that recently retired from managing the store in my place of work.  She is the sweetest person and I really miss seeing her in the store and chatting with her.  So I got to chat with her for a few minutes before I went back to work.  It just made my afternoon to see her.

Another Step ~ I-800A

Today I received my official original notarized homestudies in the mail from IAS.  Included in the packet was a copy of the front of the envelope showing that they had mailed my I-800A form to US CIS.  Now I will be waiting for my I-797 (Notice of Action) to arrive from US CIS.  I believe this is actually the document I am waiting for to include in my dossier.  This is also the document telling me that I can go be fingerprinted again. 

This evening I remembered that I also need to include a copy of my passport with my dossier and my passport has expired.  So I am going to get that in overnight mail on Monday to the passport office.  I will pay the extra fee to have it expedited.  It still takes 2-3 weeks to  process even if I expedite it, but it is a bit quicker.  I sure hope I don't have to wait on my dossier because of that. 

Happy Mother's Day

My Mother's Day in cards. I don't know what else to say. I am so Blessed to be called Mama by such wonderful little beings as these precious ones. 

(They did give me permission to post these)

AW Prints

I got an email today telling me that my Adam Walsh finger prints cleared today.  That means that the home study can be officially finished.  Yaaayyy!

Edited 5/6/11
The day after I posted the above, I got an email from IAS stating, "I'm sorry you misunderstood.  It was not the result of the AW prints we received, but the 2 learning certificates you emailed to us."  I had emailed them 2 certificates of learning a week or so before, and they were letting me know that they had received them.  The funny thing is I had emailed them letting them know that I had mailed my I-800A form to them along with a fee that was due and asked about the AW prints and they responded telling me they received them.  I assumed they meant the prints.

 Oh well, such is the road to adoption.

BUT...Now I can officially and truly say, "My AW Prints have cleared!!  I received an email today telling me...
GOOD NEWS
The Adam Walsh notice just popped up on our screen today.
No findings on May 4, 2011

Yay - It sure is good to know I'm not a criminal!  Well, that and now they can officially finish the homestudy.  :)