Our paperwork is finished...it's almost hard to believe. Last Friday we received the I-171H (Immigration Approval) which was the last piece to our Dossier. Everything was carefully packed in several layers of FedEx envelopes and sent off. Do you know how hard it was to watch 6 months of work and original documents thrown in a pile of packages that all look the same?! I wanted to run behind the counter, grab it and hand deliver it to Virginia. I resisted, and it safely made it to our agency's office (which of course happened to be the day they experienced an earthquake!) Our family coordinator has been thoroughly going through it this week to make sure all the i's are dotted and t's crossed...literally. Next week it will be taken by courier to the State Department in D.C. where it will go through another round of authentication before beginning the journey to Ethiopia. Our official DTE (Dossier to Ethiopia) date will be September 2nd, the day before my sister's birthday!
Now the real wait begins. Our current projected wait to referral is 11-18 months. Plenty of time to save money, share about adoption and pray for our daughter and her birth family.
Now the real wait begins. Our current projected wait to referral is 11-18 months. Plenty of time to save money, share about adoption and pray for our daughter and her birth family.