U.S. Citizenship
We have been notified that Emily has officially been approved for citizenship in the U.S. This approval confirms Emily's status of American citizen the second she hits American soil.
I try to imagine the moment our airplane touches down on U.S. soil, after leaving China with our daughter. I'm thinking there will be plenty of tears and high fives. I've already purchased her a new red, white, and blue dress for that day... Oh what a joyous day that will be!
Now that we have I800 approval, our file has been sent to the National Visa Center (NVC) in New Hampshire. In approximately one week, the NVC will create and cable a letter to the US Embassy in Guangzhou, China (while they are doing this, we will be busy filling out more paperwork, DS260 form, which is necessary in the process of obtaining Emily's visa). Here, our Article 5 (Emily's approved visa to leave China) will be produced and sent to the CCCWA. Once they receive this, they will issue travel approval and we will then travel about 2 weeks after that. It's all a bit confusing but basically we are now going through a process to have Emily's visa issued. It takes several weeks and we are still expecting to travel in late March or early April.
Take away from today's news... Progress continues to be made! We are getting closer and closer to travel. This reality is hard for me to grasp. I get overwhelmed when I think about the past year, how this all began, the many steps we've taken along the way, and where we are today. Some days have been hard. Some have been wonderful. Every one of them have had God's hand at the center. We are privileged, beyond explanation, to have received this calling.
One more step up our mountain of Hope... the mountain that we eagerly looked up at in Birmingham almost one year ago. The mountain looked so very tall and overwhelming but we now have a beautiful view from the top and are almost all the way there... one step closer to bringing home our little US citizen! God is good.
I try to imagine the moment our airplane touches down on U.S. soil, after leaving China with our daughter. I'm thinking there will be plenty of tears and high fives. I've already purchased her a new red, white, and blue dress for that day... Oh what a joyous day that will be!
Now that we have I800 approval, our file has been sent to the National Visa Center (NVC) in New Hampshire. In approximately one week, the NVC will create and cable a letter to the US Embassy in Guangzhou, China (while they are doing this, we will be busy filling out more paperwork, DS260 form, which is necessary in the process of obtaining Emily's visa). Here, our Article 5 (Emily's approved visa to leave China) will be produced and sent to the CCCWA. Once they receive this, they will issue travel approval and we will then travel about 2 weeks after that. It's all a bit confusing but basically we are now going through a process to have Emily's visa issued. It takes several weeks and we are still expecting to travel in late March or early April.
Take away from today's news... Progress continues to be made! We are getting closer and closer to travel. This reality is hard for me to grasp. I get overwhelmed when I think about the past year, how this all began, the many steps we've taken along the way, and where we are today. Some days have been hard. Some have been wonderful. Every one of them have had God's hand at the center. We are privileged, beyond explanation, to have received this calling.
One more step up our mountain of Hope... the mountain that we eagerly looked up at in Birmingham almost one year ago. The mountain looked so very tall and overwhelming but we now have a beautiful view from the top and are almost all the way there... one step closer to bringing home our little US citizen! God is good.
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