I realized after a round of questions from some friends and family that we had failed to explain the most important part of the Grace adventure: bringing her home!
This is what we do know:
1. We signed and returned our Letter of Acceptance officially accepting Grace. This document is now in China, and we are awaiting the CCAA (governing body in China in charge of all domestic and international adoptions) to give us Travel Approval. We could get this travel approval in two weeks or six weeks. Let's hope for two weeks, people.
2. We will get a "window" of when we might travel when we get our travel approval, but our official dates will not be ready until 7-10 days prior to departure. So much for cheap tickets!
3. Once we get travel approval, our agency here in Colorado will ask for an appointment at the US Consolate in Guangzhou, China. Grace will need a visa to enter the United States, and as the last step, this appointment sets up the entire itinerary of our trip.
4. We'll be in China for 14-16 days. Bret is going over early for business, and I am meeting him in Hong Kong. We'll tour Hong Kong and then move mainland to visit his work. Then, we are going to take the train to Nanchang. Our agency has strongly urged us against traveling on our own, but what's life without a little adventure. We'll be in Nanchang for about a week before heading to Guangzhou. Finally, somehow braving 24 hours of travel and flight time with a one year old, we'll make it back to the Hoosier state.
5. Grace will be a US citizen (the United States will not let her keep dual citizenship) the minute she steps on United States soil (which will probably be the airport in New Jersey!).
6. We could travel as early as late July... or as late as late August.
So, there's the run down of what the next few weeks hold for us. We are busy with load and loads of paperwork, visa applications and money wires. In addition, we have to have gifts for about ten different officials and orphanage workers, so I'm trying to get those together. I spend a lot of time researching other adoptive families who have traveled to Nanchang to make sure I have everything I need.
This sure isn't the most interesting post, but I hope it will quell the questions that seem to be popping up the most.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
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3 comments:
Thanks for the update! Will be praying for all of you as you prepare for this fabulous adventure. Congratulations to Grace for getting the best mom, dad, and big brother!
CONGRATULATIONS!!! We just returned from Nanchang with our sweet pea Darci. I would not spend a whole lot of time getting gifts together. When we went to the Adoption center in Nanchang we gave a gift to the director of the Adoption Center is given one gift, gifts to the workers at the orphanage and the director of the orphanage. The notary at the notary office gets a gift as well. I can tell you that both offices are very busy and they are seeing many people one right after another so all the gifts are piled on the side of their desk. I am not trying to discourage you, just trying to save you a lot of time and effort into getting something elaborate that will be put into a pile and the individual will never know who it came from. SORRY Overall our trip was wonderful and we had a great time. Hope all goes well and if you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask!!!
As a mama-in-waiting with LID 3/21/06, I have been enjoying your blog. Thanks for the recap of how this next phase will go. Also, I so love the humor. From copy machines to the piglets in the photo to Grant's desires for Cosco or Walmart, y'all bring joy to my day.
Kimberly
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