Monday, February 9, 2015

The wait begins...

Last week a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders: my dossier was sent to China. (For those of us using "adoption speak"- DTC!)
Now the real wait begins. A little insight into the process that lies ahead:

  • My dossier will be delivered to Bejing, then sent to the CCCWA (Chinese Center of Children's Welfare and Adoption.
  • My dossier will be "Logged In" (LID) within 4-14 business days.
  • The dossier will be processed, translated and officially matched with my daughter (about 45-60 days)
  • I will then receive a Letter of Action (LOA) stating that my little one has been officially matched to me, if I still want her (seriously). At this point I sign the LOA and send some more docs to USCIS (the I-800, to US Immigration). 
  • Then I sit back and wait for the US and Chinese governments to shuffle some documents back and forth and wait for my Travel Approval (TA). 
This entire process, from DTC to TA, usually takes anywhere from 12-16+ weeks. Realistically, this would have me hopefully traveling either the last few weeks of May, or the first few weeks of June at best. 

Meanwhile, I am hopeful that some updates on my little one will land in my inbox. It has been almost 4 months since I have received any new photos or information, and it gets harder every day. While I wait, we will continue with our fundraising efforts and learning as much about China travel as possible!