Our Adoption Timelines

CHINA

The Process Begins

          ·       December 29, 2016: Requested her file

·       January 4, 2017: Put her on "hold" 

·       January 13, 2017: Received home study paperwork

·       January 18, 2015: Said yes to her adoption and submitted all of our pre-approval paperwork! 

·       January 20, 2017: Our agency approved our paperwork and sent packet to China

·       January 23, 2017: Mailed completed homestudy paperwork to agency

·       January 26, 2017: Received PA (pre-approval) from China!

·       March 3, 7, 21, 2017: Social Work Visits 

·       April 20, 2017: Homestudy Finalized and Approved

·       April 26, 2017: Mailed I-800A form mailed to USCIS

·       May 17, 2017: Fingerprinting done at USCIS

·       June 12, 2017: I-800A Approval Received

·       June 23, 2017: Dossier mailed to agency

·       July 17, 2017: Dossier verified by Chinese Embassy in D.C.

·       July 19, 2017: Dossier mailed to China!

·       July 26, 2017: Logged In Date (LID)

·       July 27, 2017: Dossier being translated

·       August 4, 2017: Dossier in review

·       September 11, 2017: To Be Matched 

·       September 14, 2017: Letter Seeking Confirmation (LSC)

·       September 15, 2017: I-800 Form mailed to USCIS

·       September 26, 2017: I-800 Provisional Approval 

·       October 6, 2017: NVC Letter and DS-260 Submitted

·       October 10, 2017: Article 5 Documents Dropped Off

  ·       October 23, 2017: Article 5 Received 

  ·       October 26, 2017: Travel Approval Received 

  ·       December 4, 2017: Take custody of Olivia

  ·       December 5, 2017: Sign adoption paperwork

  ·       December 9, 2017: Medical Exam

  ·       December 12, 2017: Visa Appointment at the Embassy

  ·       December 14, 2017: Pick up visa and fly home!

  ·       December 15, 2017: Arrive home with our girl!

UGANDA

The Process Begins

·      July 15, 2014: Contacted ABC Adoption Services to conduct our home study

·      July-August 2014: Waiting for inter-agency contracts to be confirmed and waiting for verbal approval from our orphanage to proceed

·      August 24, 2014: Received orphanage paperwork

·      September 6, 2014: Submitted orphanage paperwork

·      September 9, 2014: Approved by our orphanage to proceed with our adoption

·      September 10, 2014: Submitted home study application and signed initial contract with referring agency

·      September 17, 2014: Signed and submitted our referring agency contract with part 1 of our financial commitment 

·      September 19, 2014: Received home study paperwork in the mail and got right to work!

·      October 16, 2014: Home study paperwork complete and mailed!

·      October 16, 2014: Received dossier paperwork and checklist

·      October 27, 2014: Received social worker assignment

·      November 12, 2014: Social Work Visit #1

·      November 18, 2014: Received Referral

·      November 19, 2014: Social Work Visit #2

·      November 20, 2014: Accepted Referral

·      December 10, 2014: Social Work Visit #3 & #4

·      January 23, 2015: Home Study Finalized

·      January 28, 2015: I-600A form mailed to USCIS 

·      February 17, 2015: Received biometrics date of 3/2/15 from USCIS

·      February 25, 2015: Fingerprinting done at USCIS

·      March 18, 2015: Mailed Dossier to agency

·      March 21, 2015: Received approval from USCIS

·      March 27, 2015: Dossier being hand-carried over to Uganda

·      April 28, 2015: Paperwork submitted to court

·      May 25, 2015: Call from our director letting us know to be packed and ready to go

·      July 23, 2015: Email from our director letting us know our court dates are August 25 and 26!

·      August 17, 2015: Left for Uganda!!

·      August 19, 2015: Met our boys!!

·      August 25, 2015: Court for J

·      August 26, 2015: Court for L

·      September 4, 2015: Received our verbal rulings for both boys!!

·      September 8, 2015: Received court order for both boys, and were told we could apply for passports without the written rulings

·      September 10, 2015: Submitted passport applications 

·      September 14, 2015: Went for passport interviews 

·      September 28, 2015: Passports ready! Mean passport man refused to give them to us without our ruling 

·      October 2, 2015: Written rulings written but not signed

·      October 5, 2015: Written rulings signed but not sealed 

·      October 6, 2015: Written rulings signed and sealed!

·      October 7, 2015: Written rulings and passports in hand!!!

·      October 12, 2015: IOM Day 1

·      October 14, 2015: IOM Day 2

·      October 22, 2015: Embassy Document Check

·      October 26, 2015: Embassy Visa Interview - Delayed due to inaccurate ID for family

·      November 9, 2015: Embassy Visa Interview #2 - Approved!

·      November 10, 2015: Visa pick-up!

·      November 13, 2015: Arrived home on U.S. soil!!!!

·      August 17, 2016: Our adoption was finalized in the United States and our boys officially became Stevens!!!!

·      September 21, 2016: Mailed Certificate of Citizenship (COC) Paperwork

·      June 5, 2017: COC Approved

·      September 13: COC in our hands!!!