The single most frequently-asked question we have gotten since announcing our adoption plans-  “So when are you going to China???”

Short question. Long answer.

There are many options families can take. We are pursuing what is considered a “full service” program, where we are with the same adoption agency from the first day of our home study through the five years of post-placement visits. As briefly as possibly, below is what we have to look forward to, with an estimate of when we’ll be making the big trip.

1. Submit an application to an agency and be accepted into a program.
2. Complete a home study packet, which is basic documentation about your family, finances, FBI fingerprinting, and physicals. (and yes, our cats each had to have a physical too– Valentine was NOT a happy camper!)
3. With a Hague-accredited agency, complete a homestudy, which includes 3 onsite interviews, 1 home visit and home inspection, and complete at least 10 hours of educational credits.
4. Send approved homestudy and state background checks to Illinois DCFS to be state approved.
5. Send homestudy to the United States Customs and Immigration Service as a petition to adopt a child.
6. Attend interview and “biometrics” appointment at USCIS office– more fingerprinting! (Steps 5 & 6 can take up to 90 days to process, but current wait times are closer to 40 days)
7. Submit homestudy as part of dossier submission to send to China. Have all required documents notarized, State certified, and authenticated by a Chinese Consulate office. Send the whole shebang back to the agency to be translated and sent to China. This huge milestone is called the DTC– or Dossier To China!
8. CCAA processes the application, and if all is in order, issues us a LID- Log In Date number. This is the magic number that allows our social worker to “lock in” a referral on the CCAA’s website. Technically, our social worker could receive our LID and find a suitable match for us on the same day.
9. We wait for a referred child from our agency given our list of approved medical conditions/age limitations. When we get The Call, we have 72 hours to make our decision. We’ll most likely be immediately sending the file to an international medicine specialist for an assessment of the case. If yes, things start happening really fast.
10. Once it’s a go, our agency sends an electronic petition to the CCAA and we wait for a PA– preliminary approval.
11. Then, more waiting! Within a month or so, our agency should receive a formal declaration from the CCAA, which we have to sign and submit along with yet another petition to USCIS.
12. As soon as we receive approval from the US Consulate, there’s a whole lot of wiring, cabling, and other expedited documents flying between Chicago, the US Consulate in Guangzhou, and the CCAA in Beijing.
13. The CCAA will send us a formal invitation to travel, and our agency will arrange for our appointment at the Chinese Consulate.
14. Off we go to China! We’ll be in China for probably close to three weeks. Placement of our son or daughter will happen within the first few days of the trip, then we’ll most likely be traveling with our agency rep and translator to our child’s province to visit their former Social Welfare Institution. At some point, we’ll go for exit visas, passport photos, and medical assessments for our little one.
15. After what I’m sure will be the Longest Plane Trip of our Lives ™, we’ll come back to Chicago. After clearing CBP at the airport, we’ll celebrate with our newest U.S. citizen!

I told you it was a long answer!  If all goes well and we don’t have any documents lost or delayed, we’re hoping to match before the end of this year and travel within the first few months of 2013. After such a long and arduous process though, we’re taking everything day by day!

As time gets closer, I’m sure we’ll be soliciting opinions on places to visit while we’re in China. This is going to be an experience of a lifetime, to say the least.