I600A Sent in

We just received our finalized home study, which is awesome. This is the big report done by a social worker that tells all about our family, history, ability to care for a child. To give you an idea of how much work this represents: It required 3 TB tests, 3 physicals, 4 CPS checks, 4 county background checks, 2 federal background checks, 2 birth certificates, 1 marriage license, 2 autobiographies, 1 transracial parenting essay, 2 personal question responses, 3 reference letters, 2 employer references, 2 W-2's, 1 housing tax receipt, and a picture of the Bayly family :-) and I'm sure something else that I'm forgetting.

I then mailed in our I600A, which is the first form we file with the office of immigration to start the adoption/immigration process. This will allow us to be officially fingerprinted (again) in the next month. Then we'll wait anywhere from 2-12 weeks for another form, the I171H, which will be the last piece of paperwork before we send it all to Ethiopia and begin waiting for a referral.

Please pray that the office of immigration (USCIS) will act promptly and quickly on our i600a and fingerprints. Last adoption, we waited 3 months for the I171H, and finally got our senator involved before getting it. 

Also, now that we have a completed home study, we can begin applying for adoption grants. More paperwork.