I-171H Received

I almost didn't believe it at first. Today, while opening the mail, I came to the envelope I had been expecting since last Friday's email stating our I-600A approval. I hurriedly opened it, all the while praying (not sure why since I already received approval notification). Out came a measly little plain white piece of paper. Yes, it stated it was from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services - but it was so ... unofficial looking. Not that I care what it looks like, but it did make me panic thinking for a minute that maybe I had imagined that we were approved and somehow we really hadn't been. I flipped the paper over and looked EVERYWHERE for the label: I-171H ... finally I found it. It was in a tiny font at the very bottom right hand corner of the page. WHEW! This little plain piece of paper is what the U.S. considers our golden ticket to adoption. I am praising the Lord for it and am so very thankful for such a quick approval process. We will be busy at the notary tomorrow and then off we go on Monday to our capital for apostilling. If all goes well, we should be mailing our dossier out of country on Tuesday! Once the dossier is received, it then has to be translated. Our team in Eastern Europe will translate and ready our dossier for submission to the SDA (court system) for approval. Once the SDA makes a decision of approval, a travel date is given. Right now, people who submitted a couple of weeks ago are receiving travel dates for October. It is a very real possibility that we could be travelling in early November! That is amazing to think about. Please continue to pray for a smooth process and for the country to remain open to adoption.