Holy cow! There is a good possibility we could travel to meet Baby Jill within the next 6 weeks. It all hinges on getting our I-171H, a required document for Trip One within the next few weeks. The I-171H is issued by Homeland Security (formerly INS). It's a preapproval document allowing us to garner a U.S. Entry Visa for Jill from our embassy in Moscow. The Visa allows Jill to enter the U.S. and grants her instant citizenship upon touching U.S. soil. All-in-all, a very important document! It's a somewhat complicated process to obtain this, and the last step is fingerprinting. I believe they run our fingerprints against the Homeland Security and Federal Crime databases to make sure one more time (we've already been fingerprinted by the FBI & MO HWY Patrol) we're not criminals, terrorists or sex offenders. Both Tim & I were fingerprinted this week and now we wait. If the paperwork arrives by mid-June, it sounds like there is a strong likelihood we'll travel by the end of June to mid-July. One thing I really like about Lorien at Lighthouse is she gives you straight scoop and makes no promises. I believe her exact words are "no promises & we're trying hard" but if we don't travel now, we'll "travel in soon after Moscow re-opens in early September". We'd thought we'd be offered Trip One in September or October but at this pace, we could have Jill home and settled by then! So, we'll wait and see what the mailman brings over the coming days...... You can bet we'll be eagerly looking for a "Homeland Security" return address!
On another topic. JC promised me tonight that he'll be changing Baby Jill's diapers, "even the poopy ones". Hummm.....
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