Papers, papers, papers

We got our dossier guide on Friday.  Whew!  I can't even imagine how many trees are being killed in this process...


Here's our current to-do list.


This week:


For homestudy
-Return a notarized release form so they can run our criminal clearances
-Each of us needs to get fingerprinted
-Each of us needs to schedule physicals with our Drs
-Change my name at Social Security (I got the DMV part done, but need to try to catch SS when they open, usually the wait is too long and it doesn't work with my work schedule)

For Dossier
-Order notarized letters from our banks and investment accounts (this is supposed to be a giant pain in the you know what...I sent the initial inquiries today so we'll see how it goes)
-Order the transcript of Ababa's 2007 tax return from the IRS b/c we can't seem to find it
-Order extra original certified copies of our marriage certificate

Still left:
-Order Ababa's passport (can't do this until his birth certificate arrives) and a new passport for me with my married name
-Give our references the guidelines for reference letters
-Have our in-person homestudy visit
-get notarized employment letters
-get notarized physician statements (yep...we have to bring a notary to our Dr's appointments!)
-Type and notarize some misc. documents for the dossier and homestudy (adoption petition, etc)

Right now we're just moving forward one step at a time.  Our goal is to have the dossier and homestudy wrapped up before Christmas--ideally Thanksgiving! (The biggest potential hold-ups are the criminal and child abuse clearances, the bank letters, and NYS approval of our home study.)  Once our dossier is complete and approved then we will officially be on the waitlist and the official waiting countdown can begin.

Once our homestudy is approved then we can get biometrically finger printed and submit a form called the I-600A to USCIS (US Customs and Immigration Services).  This form is the "Application for Advance Processing of an Orphan".  Once the US government determines that they approve our adoption an Ethiopian child then we get the I-171H.  This is the form we have to have in order to be able to accept the referral of a child. Processing time is quite variable and can take anywhere from 6 weeks to 6 months!

The whole long homestudy and dossier process exists just so you can get this form.  Kind of anti-climactic, right:-) I think we'll be grinning from ear to ear the day this form shows up in our mailbox!