5/5/14

Moving Forward with the I-800A

More paperwork is coming our way!  I am excited (sort of) because for the past few weeks I  have had nothing to do for the adoption and I felt like we were at a standstill!

Our home study has been on hold for a few weeks, as it needed to be reviewed and approved. There were a few hiccups - as should have been expected.  The major hiccup concerned guardianship.  We needed to have documented who would take care of our children (including the adoptive child) if something were to happen to both Jason and I.  China has strict guidelines for who they allow to be guardians.  The person has to make a certain amount of money and be under the age of 50.  We had to change it twice.  After the third time filling out the same form, we think we have it!

We have gotten the go ahead to start the i-800A form.  It is long and complicated.  I would try to explain it, but I do not fully understand what it is.  It has something to do with US Citizenship and Immigration.  I think we have to prove that we are from the United States before we can adopt.  I do know that this i-800A packet is sent to a federal office in Texas to be reviewed.  We have to include photocopies of our birth certificates, marriage license, and other forms.  This can take at least three months to be processed.  We have to wait and include our home study with it, so we really cannot send it in until we have the physical copy of our home study in hand.

After the i-800A forms are sent in, we can start on our dossier.  You can read more about that here.  In the meantime we will be getting fingerprinted (again), even though we were just fingerprinted for our home study. 

The first is the i-800A, then after we receive a referral (which is after our dossier is submited), we will need to fill out the i-800. If this sounds super confusing - it is! I am
learning as I go.  Most of the home study information and forms were very straight forward and easy to fill out.  This i-800A amd i-800 form, cover letter, and additional forms has me a little overwhelmed.  I am glad we are going through an agency.  Our agency has been very helpful.  Everytime I email someone, they are so prompt to email me back!

Although I am excited to be moving forward, the amount of paperwork is quite overwhelming!  I know that I was warned - everything you read about adoption tells you there is a lot of paperwork, but BOY were they right!  I have a feeling that we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg.

It crosses my mind, I will be honest: "Why are we doing this?"  The paperwork.  The time.  The energy.  The emotions.  The money.  I am quickly reminded of a faceless little girl that belongs with us.  My heart is heavy with the weight of 20 million (or more!) orphans all around the world.  Is one little girl worth all of this hassel?  I can look into the faces of my three children and say YES - a thousand times yes!  A child is worth this hassel - and more.  A fatherless child is especially precious in the eyes of our Heavenly Father.

Please pray:
1. That the home study will be approved quickly! - This is done as of May 5, 2014!!!
2. That we can figure out this i-800A form and get it together to send in quickly.

Thank you for praying!

Here is a picture of our "adopiton box" -  I think I'm going to need a bigger box...

1 comment:

  1. We have friends going through the adoption process in Kenya right now. It's interesting to learn about how the processes differ depending on the country. I will pray for things to go well for you.

    Excited to host the link up with you next week, too!

    Becky
    @bybmg

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