Once all of the documents for the homestudy are gathered, I will meet with a social worker face-to-face four times. The social worker will write up a report (hopefully) recommending me as a good parent and will also state what age child I should receive (my hope is 0 - 18 months). The long version of this report is sent to the INS and a short version is given to me as part of my dossier.
After I have gathered all of the documents required for my dossier, I will send them to the Pennsylvania Secretary of State to be certified and then I will send them to the Chinese Consulate in NY to be authenticated (except for my birth certificate which, due to being born in VA, must first go to the US State Department for authentication and then to the Chinese Embassy). After all of my documents have been authenticated, they will be sent to my agency for translation. CCAI will then send them to the CCAA in China.
Once they are logged into the CCAA, I will officially be DTC (dossier to China). Currently the wait once you reach DTC is 11 - 12 months and is looking like it may get longer. Part of this is due to the large number of applications that reach China every month. There is definitely a growing backlog. Once I reach the front of the line, so to speak, my dossier will go to the review room. This is where Chinese officials will go through my records with a fine tooth comb to make sure that every 'I' is dotted and every 'T' is crossed. After my dossier has been reviewed and approved, it will move on to the Matching Room.
Just like me, each child to be adopted has a dossier that has been compiled by their orphanage. The Chinese officials wave their magic wands and "match" each child to their parent(s). At this point, the official referral is sent to my agency. This referral consists of a brief description and medical history of the child as well as at least one picture. CCAI will translate the information sent and forward it along to me. Of course, I plan on immediately accepting it. I then wait for my travel approval from the Chinese government and I am off to China to pick up my daughter!!! |
