I-800 The Paper Chase April 1, 2012

While I enjoyed the 1970's era movie, The Paper Chase, the adoption paper chase can be a bit daunting for the uninitiated. Even though this is our third time through, there are new wrinkles/requirements every time. The I-800 is one of them. While Sophia and Audrey were under the old I-600, the ever changing USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services which changed its name from INS and is now under Homeland Security), has revamped the entire process. Even though adoptive parents all receive provisional approval through the I-800A application several months before receiving their referral (the I-800A is a very extensive application that requires a detailed home study containing tax returns for the past 3 years, clean medical exams for both parents, clean criminal history verified through separate Local, State, Federal and International criminal history checks and State and Local fingerprints, a personal visit to the local USCIS office in KC along with their large filing and fingerprinting fee) our government still requires a separate I-800 once you receive your child referral. To make matters worse, while our child is waiting for us in China, we have to mail the I-800 to a Texas lockbox facility only for them to hold it two weeks and mail it to the USCIS office in Lee's Summit, MO where the officer takes another two weeks to review the same application they approved 7 months ago. Then, add another 10 business days for the officer to "cable" the approval letter to our Consulate in Guangzhou, China and you can understand the frustration. But, it is what it is, and if the end result is holding Isabella in our arms and making her a part of our forever family, it's all worth it in the end.....