i800a Receipt Notice

Yesterday (2/23) we finally received the notice that our i800a application had been received at the USCIS lockbox!  It was mailed 2/10 and received 2/11.  The notice was printed 2/13 but it took another 10 days for us to receive it.  This is part of the frustration in international adoptions.  Nothing is fast.  We are impatient.

From here we wait (again) on a biometrics appointment to be assigned to us and the notice to come; thats another 10-14 days.  We will then rush and hopefully walk-in early to be fingerprinted.  This step is to allow us as Americans to be determined by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services as suitable to adopt a child from a Hague Convention country.  That also helps down the line when we return from China with Sadie, she will become a US citizen immediately.  Its a lengthy process but one that simplifies the "after".