Wednesday, February 28, 2007

DTC

Five weeks to the day and I got an email from USCIS that our approved form 171H was ready to be picked up! The LAST OF THE PAPERWORK. This mean we should be DTC (Dossier to China) March 5! That will give us a LID (log in date) in March...well ahead of the May 1 changes.

Saturday, February 3, 2007

171-H...week 2

Everything is at US Asian Affairs, except the 171-H from from Immigration. They used to be able to send everything to China without that form,but I guess it has changed. It was 2 weeks ago that I walked the form into Immigration in downtown LA. Helen and Juanita work in the special Orphan Petition Unit. Helen told me 4-6 weeks, but I've been down their twice and each time it was not crowded at all. In fact I only waited 15 minutes the first time, 5 the second. How amazing is that! I keep hoping that they may process the form faster. We did our FBI fingerprints before Christmas, so all they really need to do is read thru the homestudy.

I'll start bugging them in a week. I'm told that if you call them, and get them at the right time, they will let you know when your papers are ready and you can go and pick them up...saving a few days in the outgoing mail bin.

Aiming for the March 5 cut off!
I've been taking Mandarin Chinese classes every Sunday. Since our daughter will be a toddler, I figure if I start now, by the time we get the call I will know enough words to communicate the basics and comfort her. In addition to my language classes at the Language Door in LA, I came across ChinesePod.com. They are based in Shanghai and teach everyday "real" phases, not just the ones from a textbook. They also have special lessons on "baby talk" to teach phrases like "baby don't cry" and " mommy and daddy are here." You can upload the audio lesson to your ipod. How cool is that!

菜鸟71 Adoption – Comforting Words
Visit ChinesePod.com