Well, at around 3pm today Cari from Great Wall called to say that our certified I-171H is probably permanently MIA. The Sec. of State claims that it was sent out through FedEx on the 17th and FedEx has no record of ever touching it. So, at 3:15 I loaded all 4 kids including 2 sick with the flu into the car and headed out on "Operation I-171H." I was prepared to drive to Phoenix and get the darn thing certified in person but when I called to get directions and office hours I learned that there is a satellite office right here in Tucson! So two stops, three dollars and 1 1/2 hours later...The I-171H is certified.!!!...AGAIN!!!!
It was actually quite easy. I was expecting a DMVesque line and hassle but instead found our way into a very small office with 1 guy at a desk. I was the only dossier-crazed pre-adoptive parent in sight.
I especially enjoyed all of the stupid comments that I received on the way up to the office with 4 kids in tow. We got the usual, "You've got your hands full!!!" and "Wow, you brought the whole tribe!" We also got a handful of that look in people's eyes that says, "Lady, are you nuts?" I refrained from informing anyone that we were there to process paperwork for #5. They may have fainted on the spot. Can't wait to hear the lovely things we will get once Meili joins the brood!
We were in and out of there in about 10 minutes-most of our time was spent in traffic and finding a parking space. It was kind of fun to see the certification process and expose the mystery of it all since our agency has done all of this for us and we had not yet seen what any of it looked like. (Whoop-dee-do!)
Tomorrow, our dossier consultant is going to e-mail to us the cover sheet for the authentication process and we will send it directly to the courier ourselves instead of paying for more FedEx shipping than this UPS-family cares to think about. We are now crossing our fingers for a Feb. 3rd DTC date!
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2 comments:
Congratulations on your new addition to the family. But are you really going to name your kid Meili? Most Chinese people consider that name to be very "tu" which means "tacky" or "unrefined". Maybe you should consult with some Chinese friends to come up with a more meaningful name. Meili is NOT a good name. Actually it's terrible. I'm not trying to be mean. I'm just being honest. But then again, my family is Chinese but they're from Taiwan. Maybe they do names differently in China.
Hello Jenn -Thank for your comments on our site. I am excited to read your story and follow your journey. I pray you get that precious 171!
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