Brian and I are a bit in a state of shock today, but definitely good shocked. Right now we are waiting for AGCI to review and approve our homestudy. We should (Lord willing) have that approval sometime next week and hopefully no changes will need to be made to the report. At that point we take our approved homestudy downtown to file with immigration (USCIS). The office is open for walk-ins on Tuesday mornings only. I asked Michelle at Adoption Alliance (our homestudy agency) how long it takes California to approve us and mail us our Favorable Determination Letter (FDL) once we have turned in the homestudy. Once the FDL is in our hands we are on the wait list. This is HUGE!! The most exciting thing that will happen in the process is meeting our child, the second most will be legally becoming parents, the third most will be receiving our referral, and the fourth most exciting thing will be being added to the wait list. So we are very close to the 4th most exciting part of this journey! Michelle's response was this "Typically in San Diego County , families will receive their I-171H (pre-approval) or also called FDL the day they hand in the homestudy or in the mail 1-2 weeks later." WHAT?!? NO WAY!!
To sum up what this means:
IF AGCI reviews our homestudy on time and
IF there is nothing that needs to be changed and
IF we are one of the lucky ones who get handed their FDL the SAME DAY
THEN we could potentially be on the wait list next Tuesday - yes in 8 days. Now that was a lot of IF's so we are trying to not get too excited but it's basically impossible not to be ecstatic right now. We have definitely read enough blogs to know that at some point there is bound to be a big bump in the road BUT we didn't even know it was a possibility to have the FDL handed to you in person. WOW!
Brian and I keep e-mailing each other talking about how crazy it is that we are this close, that the process is moving this fast, and that SOON we will be parents. It all seems a bit surreal at this point. The thought of us being parents still seems so far away, but we couldn't be more excited about that thought!
4 comments:
Brian and Autumn,
Yeah, It's wonderful that you are so close to getting on the wait list. Are you looking for a boy or a girl?
Mike and I got our FDL two weeks after our fingerprint appointment, but it had been approved in 6 days. We switched from AGCI's Vietnam program to the Ethiopia program on 12-14-07; Had our entire dossier with FDL done and submitted to AGCI on 1-29-08; and were waitlisted at #17 that same day. On March 19th, AGCI called and asked if we'd be interested in a slightly older girl (4). Of course! So we were only on the waitlist for 50 days and now we are waiting to get to and through court.
Congratulations on getting to this point and know that God has a child for you already, you just have to wait for Him to reveal this child to you.
Sharon and Mike
Autumn,
I am genuinely excited for you and Brian. What a fabulous thing to think that in 8 days you might be a number and that much closer to your child. Even if it does take 2 weeks for the FDL, you will be on that list before you know it. I am celebrating with you here in Washington!
Thank you for your wonderful comment. I appreciate your prayer and I too am praying for a miracle.
Amy
No Way!!! That's so great. That is every adoptive parents dream....a FDL handed to you on the same day as being printed!!! I think all USCIS offices should work that way. How nice would that be.
GOOD FOR YOU GUYS!!!!!
I can't wait to hear that you are on the wait list.
Michelle
Yeah, how exciting!!! Our homestuyd actually reached AGCI today. Hopefully it won't need any changes!! I don't know how long it takes to get your FDL in PA. We will probably be right behind you on the list. Congrats on the exciting news.
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