I have not posted in a long time. We are at a stage in the adoption world where we are waiting on the US government, the Consulate in Guangzhou that is. We are waiting for our Article 5. Many have asked what the Article 5 is. Well, here it is the best I can describe it...it is a letter issued from the US Consulate in Guangzhou to serve as verification that the child meets all the requirements for a Convention Adoptee, and that the USCIS has provisionally approved your I-800 application--clear as mud right? After our I-800 was approved and we got the cable from the National Visa Center, this information as well as other documents along with the Article 5 letter will then be packaged up and sent to the CCAA in Beijing where they will issue our travel approval (TA). So two more steps!
We expect that our Article 5 will be ready for the courier to pick up in Guangzhou on Monday, November 8th. We really hope that there will not be any hold up to this standard two week wait and our agency has already said they are on top of it. If it is not picked up on the 8th they said it was not ready by the Consulate. When we get that package delivered to the CCAA, the projection is that TA will be about 2-4 weeks. We want to travel as soon as possible so we will not be asking to wait at all!
We are hopeful that the next two steps will go quickly! We would REALLY love to have Caleb back to Minnesota to enjoy his first Christmas with us!
Love to you all,
2 years ago