China Visas April 9, 2012

While we're waiting for our I-800 to be approved, it is now time to request our Visas from China. While most people are aware that you need a passport to travel abroad, some aren't aware that you need a Visa before you enter certain countries ( I know we didn't really know about it until we adopted Sophia). Unlike Ethiopia where the Visa is a routine matter approved at the airport when you land, China requires pre-approval of your Visa and only grants them in person at their embassy in LA and DC or their consulates in a few cities across the US. Since the closest consulate is in Chicago, we have to hire a courier through Holt's travel agency to file all of the paperwork on our behalf. Since Sophia has both a US and a Chinese passport, there are a few more requirements for her Visa that includes sending her original Chinese passport (that contains our earliest picture of Sophia) so that the Chinese authorities can mark it cancelled even though it expired in 2008. Go figure. Here's hoping that her Chinese passport with her precious picture is well taken care of and makes it back to Hiawatha for a treasured keepsake. To process the Visa, we have to have additional passport photos from what we have in our passports so we had a fun filled afternoon getting more passport photos at the post office. Audrey was along for the ride and the post office was nice enough to snap a picture of her so she could feel like part of the process. With the Visa's in the mail, one more thing can be crossed off the "to-do" list!