By the time I understand the complete process I will have been home for 6 months. I read on my group page about the steps we need to do after referral and our social worker has told them to me in numerous emails when I ask questions, yet every time I get a new letter I question "what does this mean? I guess it is because it is not the timeline we were told to follow at all, luckily we are going much faster. I guess doing that paperwork twice was worth it.
So, today we got a letter from the National Visa Center saying they have forwarded Shella May's packet to the U.S.Embassy in the Philippines. I had kind of skipped over that entire step in my original interpretation, so luckily it only took a week to get past that stage.
Now your saying "what does this mean?" Adoption friends please correct me if I am wrong, this means that her packet is in the Philippines waiting for appointment dates. She has to go to Manila and have a medical exam and a visa interview. Once these appointments are completed and she has passed with flying colors (think positively) we will go to the Philippines. We are hoping for the end of May or early June, but we can't get there on wishes alone. I'll keep you posted as we find out new things.
6 comments:
YAY!!!!! We are so excited for you guys! Love you guys! Let us know if you need anything!
Sorry, last comment was from Karma :)
I had to go back and look at our timeline b/c I don't remember what happened when now!
Okay, our timeline took a little longer b/c they were trying to get so many families finished up before Christmas, but here's how ours looked after NVC approval:
October 17 2008 - The NVC forwards our petition (I-600) on to the US Embassy in Manila.
October 30 2008 - The US Embassy in Manila sends out Packet 3 to ICAB. This gives them the go-ahead to schedule the visa medical, which sets the rest of the visa process in motion.
November 21 2008 - Discovered the visa interview was scheduled for December 8 2008.
December 5 2008 - Received travel approval. Scheduled our flights for December 13-21.
December 8 2008 - Eze has his medical appointment. We never hear that he passed or not, but decided no news is good news and proceed with our travel plans.
December 13 2008 - Leave for the Phils!
Thank you Rachel for the timeline to compare to. We are really hoping to travel late May-early June, but even if we go later June we are happy. We are so close.
Wow, you really are close! I am glad that your wait to travel is going faster because it must be so hard to wait especially after you have your child's picture. I hope that things continue to move along smoothly and that you travel in May or June!
I think your little girl's timeline is similar to Elena's. Here's how ours turned out for this part of the process:
5/29-NVC sent our approved files from USCIS to US Embassy in Manila
6/12-Visa Medical
6/15-her documents presented to Embassy (i assume this includes her official birth certificate which the National Stats Office in Manila releases)
6/19-Visa Interview (facial recognition is done via email)
6/27-Travel
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