The visas have been in Virginia for a while now. Maybe they will be on their way back by the latter part of next week.
I find myself thinking about Ari frequently. How can you miss someone you have never met and has no interest in seeing you?
Friday, December 28, 2007
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Visas
After the applications get to Virginia tomorrow (12/21) it will take about 10 days for the applications to be processed, and then a couple of days for them to return. Who knows over the Holidays, but it doesn't matter since it will take time for the Chinese Government to approve/setup appointments with our agency.
Looks like we can return to focusing on the Holidays and seeing family!
Looks like we can return to focusing on the Holidays and seeing family!
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Visas in the mail
Last night and this morning Lora finished up all the application paperwork for our travel visas and I sent them off to a courier service named "Assistant Stork" with our passports, applications for visas, and of course, money for the chinese embassy and the courier. It's a great time to visit the Post Office and I highly recommend it. You have a lot of time to get to know other people just hanging out, standing in line, and enjoying the ambiance.
It is a little bit disconcerting just sticking your passport in a mailer and hoping it makes it. Apparently they are worth a lot of money in todays identity theft climate. Sure there is tracking, but so what if the tracking tells you it made it and nobody knows where it is. Yes they are replaceable, but again, that isn't real feasible given the short time frame.
Nothing to worry about, but a thought non-the-less.
It is a little bit disconcerting just sticking your passport in a mailer and hoping it makes it. Apparently they are worth a lot of money in todays identity theft climate. Sure there is tracking, but so what if the tracking tells you it made it and nobody knows where it is. Yes they are replaceable, but again, that isn't real feasible given the short time frame.
Nothing to worry about, but a thought non-the-less.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
LOA back to Small World
Lora took the LOA back to work and had FedEX come pick it up and return it to Small World by December 19th at 10:30 am. Apparently we were the last family to get ours back as they called to check on it.
Doesn't anyone work?
Lora's note: It wasn't a phone call. It was just an e-mail asking, "Did you mail it(LOA)yesterday or today?" Not a real finger-shaking, but enough to imply that ours was the one that had not arrived.
Doesn't anyone work?
Lora's note: It wasn't a phone call. It was just an e-mail asking, "Did you mail it(LOA)yesterday or today?" Not a real finger-shaking, but enough to imply that ours was the one that had not arrived.
The LOA made it
The LOA document made it to our house. Lora is working today to get it back to Small World. Looking at the document, you had to choose one of two check boxes indicating if you still accept this child or not (yeah right).
The letter from small world talked about getting your Visa's going (which Lora has already been doing). Wait a minute.... the letter says to put an entry date of January 2nd. That has to be off by a few weeks!!
The letter from small world talked about getting your Visa's going (which Lora has already been doing). Wait a minute.... the letter says to put an entry date of January 2nd. That has to be off by a few weeks!!
Monday, December 17, 2007
Wait?? What?? What does that mean?? LOA?
It’s an early Christmas Present!
Every time I see the initials LOA it makes me think of Leave of Absence. In this case, it means Letter of Acceptance. Our LOA was received in the United States and was sent via FedEx on Monday to our home address. It took about 70 days instead of the usual 100.
What does this mean?
1. Ariana is officially ours in the eyes of the Chinese Government.
2. The timeline has changed.
3. Serious panic is setting in!
We will be signing the letter and returning it to our adoption agency today/tomorrow. There are 3 other families that have received their letters as well. Once all the signatures are collected they will be sent in a batch back China.
In China, they will schedule appointments with the consulate and other agencies. These are fixed appointment dates and will determine when we travel.
We will be working on our travel visas. The visas need to be completed and state where we plan to be traveling (but not exact dates). The visas and paperwork have to be couriered (delivered by hand) to the Chinese Embassy in San Francisco or Washington DC, and then be picked up (by hand) and returned to us. This process will determine the earliest we can travel.
Typically this means we could be traveling in as few as 4 weeks, and as long as 8 weeks. It is totally outside of our control.
We expect to be in china from 14-21 days.
Once we know our appointment dates we will need to by plane tickets and do some serious packing. You are pretty much allowed 1 carry-on and one checked baggage per person. That’s not much space for the length of the stay and needing to provide everything for a young child.
We are still in a bit of a panic (the wife says I need to emphasize this more) with the revised timeline but trust we will make it through this process by the help of others. Depending on the moment we are hoping for a 4 week turnaround, and then in the next moment longer.
Stay tuned as we learn more.
Every time I see the initials LOA it makes me think of Leave of Absence. In this case, it means Letter of Acceptance. Our LOA was received in the United States and was sent via FedEx on Monday to our home address. It took about 70 days instead of the usual 100.
What does this mean?
1. Ariana is officially ours in the eyes of the Chinese Government.
2. The timeline has changed.
3. Serious panic is setting in!
We will be signing the letter and returning it to our adoption agency today/tomorrow. There are 3 other families that have received their letters as well. Once all the signatures are collected they will be sent in a batch back China.
In China, they will schedule appointments with the consulate and other agencies. These are fixed appointment dates and will determine when we travel.
We will be working on our travel visas. The visas need to be completed and state where we plan to be traveling (but not exact dates). The visas and paperwork have to be couriered (delivered by hand) to the Chinese Embassy in San Francisco or Washington DC, and then be picked up (by hand) and returned to us. This process will determine the earliest we can travel.
Typically this means we could be traveling in as few as 4 weeks, and as long as 8 weeks. It is totally outside of our control.
We expect to be in china from 14-21 days.
Once we know our appointment dates we will need to by plane tickets and do some serious packing. You are pretty much allowed 1 carry-on and one checked baggage per person. That’s not much space for the length of the stay and needing to provide everything for a young child.
We are still in a bit of a panic (the wife says I need to emphasize this more) with the revised timeline but trust we will make it through this process by the help of others. Depending on the moment we are hoping for a 4 week turnaround, and then in the next moment longer.
Stay tuned as we learn more.
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