Our check made out to "U.S. Department of Homeland Security" has cleared!

This week has been a rough one for me. I am feeling as if this is never going to happen and could cry at any given moment. I realize that we are only 4 months in, but I am feeling a bit emotional wondering and hoping that things are progressing with Immigration (USCIS). As posted in my prior post, our entire packet that went to USCIS on July 2nd was returned to us on July 18th. On July 22nd the packet was sent back to USCIS with a new check made out to U.S. Department of Homeland Security and we have been crossing our fingers ever since! We were not 100% sure that the check was the issue, as they were not very clear as to the reasoning why. So, since July 22nd, I have been going to the mail box not wanting to open it for fear that there would be another BIG yellow envelope. Also since July 22nd I have been accessing my checking account online every morning hoping to see that our check has cleared and each morning there is disappointment. But not today, first thing this morning I logged in, hoping and praying......and there it was, a copy of the cleared check! I immediately called my case worker at our agency to see if she could tell me what this means and what the next steps are. She first said that this is good news since we now know for sure that things are moving along. The cleared check means that USCIS has reviewed our application and found that everything necessary was included. She informed me that the next step is for everything to go to NBC (National Benefits Center).

What does this mean? Well, NBC is a special unit of USCIS that processes all Hague Convention intercountry adoption applications. Once they receive our I-800A application (with the home study) they will be sending us an "invitation" to get fingerprinted. Once they receive our fingerprints everything will be reviewed by NBC who will determine whether or not we are eligible and suitable prospective adoptive parents to adopt a Convention child. Once approved (we are expecting to be approved), an adoption placement is proposed.

Then what? After NBC approves Form I-800A, and after an adoption placement has been proposed, we file yet another form, the I-800. Along with the "Notice of Approval" for the I-800A we will be provided with filing instructions for the I-800. In adjudicating the 1-800 Form, USCIS assesses the eligibility of a child who habitually resides in a *Hague Convention country as a Convention adoptee prior to adoption by a U.S. citizen prospective adoptive parents. When completing this Form we will have to specify "The child will seek an immigrant visa, if the From 1-800 is approved, because the child will reside in the US with the petitioners after the child's admission to the US on the basis of the proposed adoption."

So, now we wait again, this time for our fingerprint "Invitation." I have to keep telling myself what my sister said to me just the other day..."each day is another day closer to having your child..." At this point in time it is hard to believe that we will experience the joy of little feet (not paws) running around our house, but I just have to be patient, which if you know me, is nearly impossible!


*Hague Convention: provides a framework for member countries to work together to ensure that children are provided with permanent, loving homes, that adoptions take place in the best interest of a child, and that the abduction, sale or traffic in children is prevented.