Cable date

We received a letter today that said our file was cabled to Guangzhou on Sept 19th. One more step checked off!

Priceless Photos!

Look what we got!!

We were told back in May that we would not receive any updated information or any photos before travel. This is the norm for Meilin's orphanage. We belong to an Internet group for parents who have/are adopting from here. On this group we found out that another family received an update on their child in August when they requested it after they received LOA. We had to ask again, sure glad we did! These photos are priceless! We also received the following updated measurements.

height：79cm；weight：9.5kg；head size:45cm；chest size： 49cm。

Meigan and Meilin nearly weigh the same, Meilin is 1 inch shorter

I-800 Approved!

Our I-800 has been approved!!! So now what? It's all new to us as this I-800 process is different than the I-600 paperwork we did for Meigan. So the next steps go something like this...

The National Benefits Center (NBC) will forward your file to the National Visa Center and the NVC will forward your file to the American consulate in Guangzhou. Your DS-230 (application for immigrant visa) has been submitted to the consulate. After the consulate receives your file from NVC, it will process your article 5. When the consulate signs the LOA, it will notify our representative in Guangzhou and she will overnight the signed LOA to China Women's Travel Services, CWTS will hand deliver it to CCAA. CCAA will then issue the TA.

Whew! Guess we do some more waiting!

LOA Signed and I-800 Sent

We finally got our LOA in hand(it's been at our agency), we signed it and sent it off. We also sent off a stack of papers to the USCIS for the US A's final approval to bring Meilin into the country. The USA has changed this process since we brought Meigan home and it adds another month to our wait. So glad to have these forms done and signed! A BIG THANK-YOU to Brian for doing most of it!