I-171H Forecast Changed

After yesterday's phone fiasco, chasing down my 171H through Cincinnati went much better today! Woohoo!

For a little background... the form I-171H is paperwork that you get back from the immigration offices after you have filed the I-600A. The I-600A is one of the very first pieces of paperwork you should file after you've signed on with an adoption agency. It's very easy to complete and is necessary to bring your adopted child back into the US and I believe it's one of the major US forms that makes your child an "immediate relative" of the family... or something like that. I read it on a website once! :-) Anyway, you have to file it early because it takes so long for the government folks to process it. In Ohio, you can file it prior to having your homestudy done and then your agency will forward the homestudy to them when it's complete and officially stamped, notarized, apostilled and "blessed by the Pope".

I called the Cincinnati office (513-684-2934) and within 5 minutes I was on the phone with Miss McKann (sp?). She says our paperwork was approved on 12/21/05 and we should receive it any day now. She did indicate that she was having trouble getting the fax to go through to Kazakhstan and gave me the number she was trying. I told her I would check with my agency and see if they knew of another fax number she could try. She seemed very happy to hear that and was a very nice lady. (Very different from what I was expecting as most adoptive parents have shared some real scary stories about their calls to INS!)

I'm checking with WPA and will call Miss McKann back with whatever news I find out. As happy as she's made me today, it's the least I can do!

According to the calendar, we should be very close to getting our passports in the mail too! We applied for them on Nov. 23 and it's supposed to take about 6 weeks. Give or take a few days for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's and we should get them either this week or next at the latest! Once I receive our I-171H and our passports our I can send our dossier (bunch of adoption paperwork) to our agency and get the wheels turning faster. At that point... my part of paperchasing will be done and we can focus on fundraising and getting Emily's room ready!

My heart's beating a little faster this afternoon... we're that much closer to Kazakhstan and baby Emily! WOOHOO!