Home Study Packet Sent!

We finally got through our latest installment of adoption paper work and Fed.Ex'd our home study packet to our adoption agency today! They will get it tomorrow morning, and you can be sure I will be checking the tracking number to see that it gets there! I had my physical last week and got my blood work done today. Brian has his physical tonight and then will get his blood work done on Friday. I hope that the doctor can mail out the last of the forms quickly. These forms have to be mailed by the doctor, so that is why they were not included in our packet. It would be great if the adoption agency can get started on what they do have and then finish when they get the medical forms.

We should hear if everything is in order (or not), within a few weeks. It is crazy how I am not in a huge rush, but it will drive me crazy every time the phone rings for the next two weeks! I just hope that everything goes smoothly and there are no unexpected delays. After the paper work has been approved, we will be invoiced for our home study. When payment is received, we will get a call from our social worker to set up the home study interview meetings.

To adopt a child from another country, she needs an immigration visa. The social worker will write her report about the home study meetings, which we will need to file to the USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services). Our adoption agency will submit the home study and we file form I-600A along copies of our birth and marriages certificates for advance processing of the visa petition. We will be fingerprinted the day we submit our forms, or be given an appointment date. It will usually take 60-90 days for FBI clearance of the fingerprints. Of course there are also fees for filing this paper work and for being fingerprinted.

There are many more steps until we bring our daughter home, but this will give you an idea of what we can expect in the next few months. We also have to go to a few more PIP (parents in process) meetings before we can accept a referral. I know our wait will be hard, but will go quickly since we are so busy with the boys! Our adoption agency has bulletin boards and it is so exciting to hear about families getting their referrals and travel calls! It will be so wonderful when I can share our happy referral and travel days too!