After a good, long 19 months, we are pretty much right back
to where we started….
But we are moving forward.
One of the first steps in the adoption process is putting
together a home study. Once this home
study is complete, you can file with USCIS (United States Customs and
Immigration Services). We have to file
an I-600a, which is asking permission to classify an orphan as an immediate
relative. USCIS will then get our
fingerprints, go over our home study and then send us an approval or
denial. If we receive approval from
USCIS, we can move forward with an adoption from a specific country.
Our home study has been updated. You must do this at least once per year, or
any time any information changes.
However, as timing would go, our approval from USCIS ran out
right around the time we found out that we would no longer be able to adopt
from India. Thus, we have spent the last
few months changing our home study and filing a request to extend our approval
with USCIS.
We are now waiting for our fingerprinting appointment. Once we get our prints, we will be waiting to
hear whether or not USCIS will extend our approval. THEN we will be able to move forward with a
specific country.
The boys are getting very anxious to have their sister
home. They talk about her all the time,
randomly. Nathan especially. He is always asking me, “Can we leave to go
get our sister in 15 minutes?” Or he
will say, “I am getting really big because I am eating all the food you are
making for me. When I can’t fit in my
clothes, my little sister is going to need them.” Precious.
We are continuing to seek the Lord for His timing and
direction. We are confident that He will
provide, and we are praying that He would show Himself faithful! We are looking forward to seeing how all of
this will develop for His glory!
