Today we sent in that monster of an application better known as the I-800A! No, it didn't look like this, but I would much rather picture it as this because, well, I love Sully! lol
It feels good to have yet another thing checked off the adoption 'to-do" list, but I must admit, as soon as I handed the Fed Ex envelope to our express mail guy, I felt a bit freaked. But why should I worry? I mean, I double-, triple-, and quadruple-checked everything. All the forms were there. The check was there. The application was signed and there. The evidence required was there. And even the pre-paid return envelope was there! Still, I won't be satisfied until we get that text/email they have received it and then get the approval letter from USCIS. I know this anxiousness is a normal feeling for all prospective adoptive parents, but I also know that its because its regarding something (and someone) very important. So now we wait, but soon that dossier will be complete and ready to go. And we'll be one step closer to our son!
Congratulations!! I am so happy for you sending in your I-800A!! I hope your fingerprint appointment is soon. Oh and you will probably receive a letter from them saying they are processing the application before you receive the letter with the fingerprint appointment time. You will be waiting before you know it!
ReplyDeleteThanks Heidi! Fingers (and prints) crossed! lol
ReplyDeleteHey, quick question: did you have to get the 171H apostilled and if so, by who- feds or state or ? I realize I'm jumping the gun, but I was just thinking about it.
Laura,
ReplyDeleteJust by the state. You can not have it apostilled as is. You keep the original, I think you have to take it with you to the Embassy appointment (at least we had to with Molly's adoption but that was over 7 years ago and from Russia.) To apostille the 171H you make two copies of it (one for each copy of your dossier.) Then there is a statement that you put on the back that says something about it being a true and exact copy of an original made by you and you sign that in front of a notary. The notary is not notarizing the document but is notarizing your signature. Then you can have it apostilled. The exact wording for the back should be in the info St. Mary's sent you about your dossier. If you can't find it let me know and I will track it down for you. We still have it somewhere I think. Oh and you also have to have the passport copies apostilled. If your state is like ours there will be a passport affidavit form that has to go with the passport copy before they will apostille it. We did not know this until we went to have it apostilled. The affidavit for our state was on the website for the apostille office. Let me know if you have any questions about apostilling. Having just finished that part a couple of months ago it is all pretty fresh in my mind. Let me know if my explanations are confusing. I just re-read it and realized it could be.
Oh and the 171H will not come back in the envelope you sent. We too sent in the requested prepaid envelope but found out from the person that was in charge of our approval that they have to use their own envelopes.
Great. Well, there's more money down the drain! Oh well. Thanks for all the info (and yes, it was clear, lol). I know the affidavit you are talking about and have it already done for a couple of things. I'm not sure SC does the passports like that, but I will definitely make sure. This is why I love these blogs- ask a question and get answers :) Thanks much!
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome. I'm glad I could help. We did not realize GA did the passports like that either until we got to the apostille office. It didn't end up delaying things though as we were still waiting to get our homestudies back from being apostilled in NC. Oh that reminds me, we also sent a pre-paid return envelope with our homestudies for their NC apostilles but they did not use it either. Instead of using our prepaid FedEx envelope they used regular US mail. So if you have not already sent that off you could probably save that money.
ReplyDeleteAll great info. Thanks! Ok, here's another three questions (that's it for now, I promise),
ReplyDelete1) Did you get the homestudies apostilled in GA before sending them to NC? I was just wondering which order is better. I was thinking that sending them to our state before NC was the way to go.
2) Are you near the top of GA? We are in the corner of SC by GA and NC so we aren't that far if so. You can send an email if you would rather- bnlred@bellsouth.net. If so, we should get our kids together if there are Polish related activities at some point in the future! We love the Atlanta area (aquarium, Falcons games, Thrashers games, etc)!
3)Anyway, the last question- since I am assuming you went to the Atlanta office- is, how was it? Decent? Scurvy area of town? Slow/Fast?
Thanks again for all the help! Hopefully I wont have too many more questions :)
Congrats on getting it in the mail! I was a mess when I sent things to USCIS.....always wondering if I missed something. I didn't rest until I had our letters/approvals. I think it is very normal as everyday you wait to get your stuff to Poland is an eternity. You will have your fingerprint appointment before you know it! What an exciting year you are going to have!
ReplyDeleteLaura,
ReplyDeleteYes we did get our homestudies apostilled in Georgia before North Carolina. I'm not sure if it has to be done that way or not but it worked out well. We went ahead and had that apostilled in GA just before receiving our immigration pre-approval and before apostilling everything else. That way we could go ahead and send the homestudies to NC hoping they would be back by the time St. Mary's approved our dossier copies for everything else (they don't need to review the homestudy again) and everything else was apostilled. It took a couple of weeks to get the homestudies back from NC so I was happy we sent them in early.
Is your last question referring to the Atlanta office for the immigration fingerprints or for apostilles? Both were in Atlanta. Actually I think the only GA office for each is in Atlanta. The fingerprint office was in a decent area and we felt safe there, Molly was with us and we felt it was safe to take her. They were really quick this time around. We were in and out within 30 minutes of arriving. With our first adoption it took more than twice that long but that would have been over 7 years earlier. If you are talking about the apostilles my husband took those so I really do not know much about it. I think it was in a decent area as well. For the homestudies they went ahead and apostilled those while he waited since there were only 2 documents then. But when he went back with the 2 copies of everything else for the dossier he left it and picked it up when they were done as it took several hours. I hope this helps. I will email you about the other question. Anytime you have questions just let me know.
Just want to say congratulations! It seems like yesterday we sent that stack of paperwork in, and here we are preparing to update our homestudy for the 1 year mark! I have heard USCIS is great and speedy even if you did forget something, which I'm sure you didn't!
ReplyDeleteThanks Ramie and Kara too! And I appreciate so much everything I have learned from your blogs. I know we'll have more questions but I just feel blessed for being able to have contact with such knowledgeable, kind women and fellow mommies!
ReplyDeleteThe fee changed a day before they received our i800, but they were happy to send it all back to us. If something is wrong, they are quick to send it back. So far the second time is a charm for us. We get our fingerprints done on Tuesday.
ReplyDelete