Our Timeline

11/04/06: Attended Great Wall China Adoption (GWCA) Workshop in Columbia, SC.
11/05/06: Started ordering Vital Documents through Vital Check.
11/11/06: Attended second GWCA workshop in Greenville, SC.
11/16/06: Attended Chinese Children Adoption International (CCAI) workshop in Bogart, GA.
11/20/06: Sent Jeff's birth certificate to courier James Nelson-Traveling Notary in Ann Arbor to be certified at MI Secretary of State.
11/21/06: Sent Stacey's birth certificate to courier Johnna Horn in Jefferson City to be certified at MO Secretary of State.
11/22/06: Certified documents back from Michigan
11/28/06: Jeff got passport photo's taken. Missouri certified documents back from courier.
11/29/06: Sent Jeff's passport to Delaware for correction name spelling.

12/01/06: Sent the adoption application to CCAI.
12/04/06: CCAI received application.
12/07/06: Stacey got passport photo's taken.
12/13/06: Sent Stacey's passport to Delaware for renewal. Sent agency contract to CCAI.
12/16/07: Met with our accountant Helen Taylor in Missouri to go over the accountant letters.
12/29/06: Sent I-600 (Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition) to USCIS Application Support Center/Department of Homeland Security in Charleston, SC.

01/08/07: Sent marriage certificate and accountant letters to courier in Jefferson City to be certifed at the MO Secretary of State.
01/11/07: Got certified documents back from Missouri
01/16/07: Documents: birth certificates, marriage certificate, accountant letters sent to courier There's Always Hope in Chicago for authentication at Chinese Consulate.
01/18/06: Chicago courier received documents. Sent pictures and home study copy to CCAI in Georgia.
01/20/06: The Home study copy and pictures are lost, never made it to CCAI. Re-ordered pictures on snapfish. Got the pictures back the following week and sent another copy of the home study to CCAI.
01/29/07: Received authenticated documents from Chicago.
01/30/07: Fingerprint appointment at the USCIS Application Support Center in Charlotte, NC.

02/02/07: Stacey hand carried the original home study, police clearances, financial statement, physician forms, and adoption petition to SC Secretary of State in Columbia for certification.
02/06/07: Documents authenticated in Chicago sent to CCAI. Documents originating in SC sent to Washington DC, via courier: Assistant Stork to be certified by the State Department and authenticated by the Chinese Embassy.
02/08/07: CCAI and Courier received documents
02/09/07: Laura at Assistant Stork let us know that the documents were finished at the State Department and have been left with the Chinese Embassy in Washington. Charleston office of the USCIS called requesting additional copies of some documents, shipped today.
02/12/07: USCIS received package.
02/20/07: Received authenticated documents from Washington.
02/21/07: Got call from USCIS that they will be sending us a 171, but with Jeff's name as it was on his original birth certificate
02/22/07: Met with Brenda Ballard in our US Representative's Bob Inglis office.
02/23/07: Received the I-171H with Jeff's name spelled wrong.
02/26/07: Fedex'd all our documents that were authenticated in Washington DC to CCAI
02/27/07: Brenda faxed us the letter from Michigan stating it was common procedure in 1959 for the county clerk to change the name on a birth certificate when there was a misspelling without a court order. The letter has also been sent to the USCIS
02/28/07: Dossier in Critical Review at CCAI, with exception of I-171.

03/09/07: Jeff drove to Charleston and picked up the I-171, notarized a copy and stopped in Columbia to have it certified. Then sent it to Washington
03/13/07: I-171 authenticated by State Department and Chinese Embassy
03/14/07: Got the I-171 back from DC
03/15/07: Hand delivered the I-171 to the Atlanta CCAI office. Dossier sent from Atlanta CCAI office to Colorado CCAI office to be translated into Chinese
03/20/07: Dossier sent to China
03/26/07: Dossier delievered to China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) in Guangzhou, China.

04/05/07: Dossier logged-in at CCAA

05/09/07: Sent Medical Conditions Check-list to CCAI

07/17/07: Got the "Brown Envelope" from the Consulate in Gauangzhou.