Getting Close

The end is in sight! Today we ventured up the the USCIS office and had our fingerprints done for our 171. Today makes the 2nd time we've had our fingerprints done this time (a much better record than last time when we had to have fingerprints done 4 different times!). The office we went to today was not the downtown Baltimore office that we've gone to in the past. These people were nice, quick (less than a 1/2 hour!) and treated us like people. No parking garage, no security check point. It was an almost pleasant experience. You have no idea what a breath of fresh air that is in this paperchase! I have gained a level of compassion for those who are trying to be in this country legally or who are trying to become citizens. It is not always an easy task to navigate the world of immigration, and we were born here, speak the language (most of the time :) ) and have college degrees. I can't imagine what it is like for someone who doesn't speak the language and is new to this country!
Our homestudy was sent off on Friday so we're hoping that the great alignment happens on Monday morning and that they get all the pieces together in one spot. A quick review (a girl can dream) and then they send us our 171! That is the document that allows us to bring home our child. Can't do it without that magic piece of paper. It is kind of like the holy grail in the international adoption community. It is always the last piece of paperwork that you need and without it, the whole thing is a no go. It is at this stage that people have been known to start stalking their mail person and camping out by the mailbox. Of course I've never done that, I've only read about it in books....
The record right now from the Baltimore office is a week - we're blown away that it could be that quick since it took us 6 weeks last time. Other offices have a wait time right now of up to 3 months so we are very blessed! Since we live here in the DC area, we can do all the authentication and hand deliver our dossier (all the documents that go to China) in 2 days. Yeah!!!! I'll be thrilled when that happens - the end to the paperwork (for now...)!
If all goes well, we should be dtc (dossier to China) by the end of March. Three years ago our dtc date was the last week of March. How cool is that? Now let's see if we can make it to China by the end of the year...