New Information on our Adoption Process

Ok, so things just sped up... at least compared to what we were expecting.  We mailed our I-600a to USCIS last Monday (8-1-11), and yesterday (8-4-11), we received our I-797c from USCIS.  This form (I-797c) is really only a recognition that USCIS received our I-600a and that they are going to process it.  (You like all the technical lingo, huh?)  The thing about all these numbers and forms is that we can actually send our dossier to One World Adoption Services (OWAS) to be put in the list for translation.  Once we get them our dossier documents, they will also put us on the wait list for a referral.  Then, once we get our I-171h back from USCIS (the actual pre-approval I think), we will send it to OWAS for translation.  While this is happening, we will be waiting for a referral.  If we get a referral of a child during this time frame, our dossier will be moved to the front of the translation list and we will send our Tribunal Letter to be paired with our dossier and translated.  At that point, it will be a matter of finances and God's good grace to get us to Congo and get our Congolese boy home.

So, what is the time frame, and how has it been sped up?  Good question.  We don't know yet.  But I can't tell you how excited we were to know that we can be put on a wait list this early.  We totally didn't expect that.  It may not mean much even at this point.  We may still have to wait for several months before anything significant can happen, but to know that our dossier can be translated and that we get put on a wait list was encouraging to us.  I suppose the wait list is just that... a wait list.  But it is still movement in the right direction as far as we are concerned.  We're praying diligently that the Lord will continue to help us emotionally through this process and not let the excitement of such news cause us to fall even harder if we get bad news.  In the meantime, we are going to bask in riches of God's mercy to keep us excited about our process.  Please continue to pray with us and we look forward to bringing our Congolese baby home.

Adam and Liz<><