From the Beginning....

6/06: Begin to request information packets from various agencies

7/5/05: Send in application

8/10/06: Start calling other agencies to see if they have shorter lists

8/15/06: Get offered the only available singles spot for 2007 with AFTH

~ ACTUAL START OF PAPERWORK ~

8/16/06: Meet with SW for initial information meeting and sign contracts, start the "paperchase" (complete the Dossier)

8/21/06: Received certified birth certificates
Applied for US Passport

8/24/06: Meet with SW and begin homestudy...and hand over the big $$$$$

8/30/06: Educational class at agency from 10am- 3pm

8/31/06: Dr. appointment, blood test(HIV)
Local police clearance
p.s. i'm not a criminal... its been certified, and blood test negative, just so ya know!!!!

9/12/06: Received income & employment verificaton letters

9/13/06: Appointment for 1st set of fingerprints (yes..1st of many!!!)
****update... I had to reschedule my fingerprints due to "Back to School Night", of all days they had to choose that one.. now I have to wait until the 19th. It was the next available appt. How Annoying!!

9/15/06: As of right now... I'm done with the HS portion of the paperwork, on my end. I have to have the actual home visit and group meetings and then wait for SW to write up the reports.
So right now.. I'm just WAITING and Waiting and some more waiting...

9/19/06: Got fingerprinted for the state today... Not the I600A ones. My HS set. NJ thing.
Also received my shiny new passport in the mail today.!

9/27/06:** just an update.... STILL WAITING

10/2/06:I just received an email from my agency. My HS meeting dates will be 11/2 & 11/9.. much later than I had hoped for but it is what it is!

11/2/06: I had my first Home Study group meeting today. It went very well. I met a single women adopting from Vietnam, and a couple adopting from China. All very nice people. I will see them again next week at the 2nd part of the group meetings. Then just the home visit and I can apply for the I600A.

11/9/06: I had my second and last home study group meeting. Next I will have my actual home visit and then I can send out the I600A (Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition) and then wait the 6-8 some-odd weeks for that last and FINAL piece of paper to arrive. That is when the "real" wait for "matching" begins. Currently the time frame to be matched is approximately 15 months from LID, (log in date, is the day that the CCAA, Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs, has entered you into their system and is working towards matching you with a baby). So wish for a quick DTC (Dossier to China) date!!!!

12/4/06: My Home Visit was today.. whoo hoo... very easy but glad finally that it is over with. Onto the I600A application!

12/8/06: Received horrible news of new regulations set forth from China.... NO MORE SINGLES allowed to adopt as of 5/1/07. To be grandfathered in my Dossier must be logged in before that date. VERY sad day :o(

12/15/06: Received confirmation from USCIS that my HS & I600A was received and I could come to Philadelphia on 12/27 for my fingerprinting.

12/27/06: I was Fingerprinted... during a very lackluster visit to the USCIS. Have to say... not very impressed with our nations immigration system. Disappointing at best.

1/13/07: Waiting and waiting for the ever illusive I171H form to arrive. All other paperwork is finished and waiting on this ONE DOCUMENT to be DTC!!!!

2/05/07: STILL WAITING.... HUUUMMMMPH!!!

2/07/07: Oh Happy Day... 6 weeks and 1 day.. I171H arrived today

2/12/07: Appointment at agency to have everything notarized, then off to fedex to send everything to Trenton to be certified.

2/23/07: Finally received everything back from Trenton... All pretty and certified!!

2/26/07: Brought everything to agency... they will Authenticate, translate and send to China.

~Goodbye Paperchase~
I am officially done...
and waiting for an LID

3/26/07: And I'm STILL waiting....

4/5/07: Official DTC. The CCAA has received my paperwork as of today. Now I wait for my LID which is the date the use to match families by. It should take about 20 days to be logged in.

4/16/07: LID !! YAY !! It didn't take as long as I thought!! Now if they could just get through the 2005 LIDs.... It's going to be a very long wait!

5/16/07: Well, 1 Month down, that went some-what fast... onto the forever wait!!!!

8/16/07: I'm posting on this 4 month LID because it also marks the 1 year Anniversary since I started the paperchase! hopefully the next two will go by as quick!

1/9/08: Well it's the new year... more waiting. And a marker of the day that "the box" on the CC*A website has ended. No more information about the review room or the actual "cut off" date will be available to the mass public. The very last public thread of information has been cut. Will I ever truly know that I'm out of review? No one knows and if they do... no one is telling!! Sad day :o(

** Side-note... Agencies now have access to a private CC*AA website where there is still a "box" with updates, so the agency has been keeping us informed when it changes.


4/16/08: One Year LID... what does this mean? NOTHING... there are still approximately 2 more to go. The CC*AA have only completed through Jan 9, 06 at this point, and reviewed through Dec 31, 06. So at least I'm slowly creeping towards being out of the review room!!

** Side-note... I've decided to let my paperwork expire. With the implementation of Hague this month, I would have to file for the new I800A anyway, so I will wait till closer to the end of this year to start renewing my HS and USCIS approval. I'm slightly nervous about doing this, but my options are limited, so it is what it is.

1/3/09: Well here we are... It's 2009. Not anything to report. Well scratch that... My agency office that I use closed on 10/15/08. My SW was let go, and I have yet to be reassigned to a new SW at the new office. Fun Stuff. I will contact them soon if I don't hear anything. I have not yet received word that I made it through review, but I know that I am in there now... pins and needles here people... waiting patiently. sort of. So thats it's for now... happy 2009!

10/25/09: Well, we are well into 2009. The CC@A has matched dossiers dated up to 3/28/06. Not good numbers. And here I sit, patiently waiting for word from my agency where I will be transferred to. My agency did not get Hague accreditation. They shut down their international program, so as of Dec 1st of this year all previously logged in dossiers have to be transferred to an accredited agency. It is a bit unsettling, the unknown is never good. I let my paperwork expire... so I'll have to file under the new I800 application. It is lengthy, and complicated, but with the possibility of such a long wait.... necessary. I can't keep updating paperwork that will expire. The cost is unreasonable. So I will wait until I get closer and then do the re-newing of all of my paperwork. Maybe this is a good thing and from here on out I'll have something positive to report. But for now... This process has become hard to digest, and the questions from others... hard to answer. 

05/29/10: Wow... it's 2010. How on earth did that happen. I was switched, pretty seemlessly, to a new agency in Dec. They seem Ok... but what choice do I have, none if your asking!. There has not been much movement in referrals. They have completed dossiers logged in through 4/21/06, so I am finally within less than 365 days in front of me... How long does that give me... well if you go by the number of 6 days per month, which is what they have been doing... that still leaves about 60 more months. It physically hurts to write that. I have been officially waiting 37 months. They are referring people who have been waiting 49/50 months. Who knows if it will stabilize or continue to grow longer... I still think it will get longer before it stabilize. Although I don't understand why as I continue to see people drop out or switch to other programs. Speaking of which, I tried to change to the SN program with the new agency. They would not allow it. They are interpreting the rules very differently from other agencies... obviously by the recent referrals that other single friends have recently received from their very knowledgeable agencies, whatever. Everything happens for a reason right... pardon my skepticism...  I've become pretty annoyed by the differences in interpretations of the "rules". So no, I have not updated my paperwork yet... what's the point if I still have 60 months... and the dossier that sits on their ever increasing dust filled shelves reflects the 33yr old that was brimming with hope and expectation... maybe that's a good thing. The one I would have to submit now would show years of frustration and wrinkles and gray hairs... Not the person I want them to look at when they do get around to "matching" me to my future. So here I stand..... still waiting, with a shred of hope and more knowledge of IA than the average person will ever have. *sigh*   



01/13/11: Sadly it is now 2011... and I have nothing new to report... I am still "trying" to switch to the SN program, with no approval in sight. It's still "up in the air" as I have not received a "no" yet... but until the answer comes I am in limbo. They have referred up to 5/29/06 in the NSN line, if your counting, they only processed 53 days in all of 2010, unbelievable... so in that program I am virtually still a lifetime away. It is frustrating and overwhelming to believe that I have already waited this long. I've moved twice, let my paperwork expire, and packed up all the "stuff" I collected over the years... it's just too painful to look at on a regular basis. I'll be back when I have something better to report.... *sigh*