I-800, Cable letter, and Article 5

We have some good movement to report!  Last Wednesday, we heard from our immigration officer that our I800, the petition to classify Hannah as our child, was approved.  Thursday, we received the physical approval by mail.  Friday, we confirmed that our visa paperwork for Hannah, which is necessary to be in place before we can travel, was sent to the US consulate in Guangzhou, China!  We completed more paperwork ;-) and early this morning we learned that an important letter from the National Visa Center was cabled (okay, now it's an email) to the US consulate in Guangzhou, where our interview on Hannah's behalf will take place.  This is still called being cabled....So, we have been cabled!   

We are now waiting for that letter, along with some other paperwork, which together comprise our Article 5 documents, to be dropped off in China.  Once they are picked up (a standard two weeks later), we will be waiting for our Travel Approval (TA).  Yes, that is exactly what you think it is.  How awesome is that?  TA typically takes two weeks, but can be more variable.  We will need to secure a consulate appointment (CA) once TA is issued, which usually takes only a couple days.  And that's it- at CA it will be time to book flights!

Receiving our I800 approval and being cabled allows us to better calculate our travel dates.  Or it would, except for Chinese New Year coming up!  The couple weeks everything is shut down, plus the fact that Hannah day and our consulate appointment are really bookends in a two week process that includes several steps from the legal process of her adoption, obtaining her Chinese passport, her medical exam for immigration, and our immigration interview.  So although we might have all the approvals needed to travel, we most likely will not be able to complete our adoption process in time for the holiday.  There is a cut off date that is our latest possible family day prior to Chinese New Year- after that, it's almost a month until the next possible date....that's if the consulate does not get a backlog of appointments following the holiday.  Our travel window is happily getting too narrow for me to talk about dates here, though!   

Our updated prayer request list includes:

• Continued prayers for Hannah's heart to be prepared for her adoption and for her to heal and thrive while she waits
• Preparation for our hearts as a family
• Safety and protection on all fronts as we progress through the last steps and travel
• Praise!  We need to guard her circumstances because this blog is open, but we can share that Hannah was moved this past fall, and she is receiving wonderful care where she is now.  On Christmas Eve, we received a beautiful update about her.    
• This new home for Hannah is also a prayer request, because her adoption will now make a total of three huge moves where the important people in her life all changed...all of it in the space of a couple years of life.  We are thankful that Hannah will have had several months in this healing home before we meet, and we know she is there and our timing to come for her is all for a purpose.