Adoption Blog

Online Chinese Language Course for Parents

Chinese For Parents is a “social venture providing parents adopting children from China with a Hague compliant linguistic cultural training. Using the online training, adoptive parents learn how to communicate with their newly adopted children, express gratitude to social welfare workers in China and sing Chinese lullabies.” They are offering reduced fees to AWAA families who are preparing to travel to China through January. Families interested in taking the course can email Grant Pemberton at grant@chineseforparents.com and view the course overview at www.chineseforparents.com

New Referrals Arrive!!

America World is pleased to announce that we received 12 referrals today-- 11 healthy girl referrals and 1 healthy boy referral!  Families receiving referrals were logged into the China Center of Adoption Affairs on 3/27/2006 (former Gift of Love Families) and 3/28/2006 (group 256).  All referrals were from the Jiangxi province and the children ranged in age from 7 to 21 months old.  Please join us in congratulating these families, and in praying for them as they prepare to travel.

Referral Matching and Dossier Review

The CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application documents (dossiers) registered with their office before December 31, 2007.
 
The CCAA has finished the placement of children for families whose dossiers were registered with the CCAA through March 28, 2006.

USCIS Changes Mailing Addresses For Adoption Applications

Filing a first time I-600A or I-600 application
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced a new address for prospective adoptive parents to submit Form I 600, Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative, and Form I 600A, Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition.  While the change takes affect immediately, applicants have a 30-day transition period before USCIS will return incorrectly filed petitions.
 
Applicants were previously required to file at a local USCIS field office. This new mailing system will allow USCIS to process applications more efficiently by eliminating duplicative work, and maximizing staff productivity. Affective immediately, applicants in the United States, who are filing to adopt an orphan, must submit Forms I 600 (if required to file in the U.S.) & form I 600A, and all supporting documents and fees to the following address:

Regular Mail:
USCIS
P.O. Box 299027
Lewisville, TX 75029

Express Mail or Courier Service Deliveries: (FedEx, UPS, etc.)
USCIS
ATTN: Hague
2501 S. State Hwy 121 Business, Suite 400
Lewisville, TX 75067

USCIS will forward incorrectly-filed Forms I-600A and I-600, application fees and supporting documents to the Lewisville, Texas  facility for the  30 days, until Friday November 9, 2009. 
Families filing a Hague I-800a/ I-800 Application
Effective immediately, U.S. citizens seeking to adopt a foreign child under the Hague Adoption Convention must submit Forms I-800, Petition to Classify Convention Adoptee as an Immediate Relative, and I-800A, Application for Determination of Suitability to Adopt a Child from a Convention Country, and all related supplements, forms, and fees to the USCIS lockbox facility located in Lewisville, Texas for initial processing, using the following address:

Regular Mail:
USCIS
P.O. Box 299008
Lewisville, TX 75029

Express Mail & Courier Service Deliveries (FedEx, UPS, etc.)
USCIS
ATTN: Hague
2501 S. State Hwy. 121 Business, Suite 400
Lewisville, TX 75067

Previously, applicants were required to file these forms at the Chicago Lockbox facility.  The Chicago Lockbox facility will forward any filings of Hague Adoption Convention forms to the Lewisville Lockbox facility for the first 30 days after the effective date of the change of filing location.  USCIS will consider applications or petitions forwarded from the Chicago Lockbox facility or other USCIS offices properly filed when received at the new Lewisville, Texas Lockbox facility.

After the 30-day transition period, USCIS will return any incorrectly filed applications to the sender.

Families Filing an Extension of their I-800A or Filing the Supplement 3 Form
When filing to request a change on a  previous approval or renewing a current I-800A approval, families must submit the I-800A Supplement 3 form to the new USCIS Dallas, TX lockbox facility.

Families Filing an I-600A Grandfathered Renewal or Free Extension
Families filing an I-600A free extension or a grandfathered renewal I-600A application will continue to file all applicable renewal documents with the local office which has jurisdiction over the family’s case. Families in this category will not send their renewal documents to the new Texas location.

Additional Information
Families can verify the instructions for their particular case by going to www.uscis.gov , clicking “Forms” and then “Adoption Forms” and reviewing the I-600A or I-800A instructions. These instructions have been updated and will provide complete details of how each form or renewal should be filed. Families are encouraged to check with their social worker prior to filing,  to confirm if there are any exceptions in the state in which they live.

Important Updates for Families Waiting For Referrals

All China Program families  who are paper-chasing or dossier ready and waiting for a referral, whether in the healthy or waiting children program, received two important emails last week:  “Important Update on the CCAA and China program” was sent on Thursday October 1st and “Waiting Children Program Referral Announcement” was sent on Friday October 2nd.  Families should carefully read the details provided in these emails. If your family did not receive this information, please email your Family Coordinator. It is our goal to keep families informed regarding their adoption process and we hope these two emails have been helpful and informative.

September Waiting Children Referrals!

The CCAA posted a new group of shared and agency specific waiting children referrals today! The China team will be working diligently to process the referrals and call families with matches. In addition to calling families with referral matches, we will also be emailing a referral announcement to families in the WC program sometime in the next 1-3 business days. We are praying for all waiting families and we also appreciate your prayers during this time.

CCAA Completes Review of Dossiers for September/October 2007 LID’s

The CCAA has finished the review of dossiers and paperwork registered with their office during September and October of 2007. This means that all families with September and October LID’s for 2007 have been reviewed. The timeframe for the dossier review process varies as it is based upon the number of dossiers that are logged in during the particular month that is currently under review.

What Does it Mean when My Dossier Has Been Reviewed?
Families often ask what it means when a dossier has been reviewed. The review process is when the CCAA is checking all documents in a family’s dossier. If the CCAA requires any additional information or has any questions about the family, they will contact the agency to request this information and the family will then be contacted to follow up on anything that is needed or requested. Though the dossier review stage is most often when any issues or questions about a family’s dossier are addressed, the CCAA can sometimes request additional information once a family’s dossier is in the matching room.

Though it is more rare, families should be aware that they can still be asked to provide additional information at that stage as well.

China Program Update for August – New Referrals Arrive!

Families Receive Referrals- CCAA confirms cut-off date

America World would like to congratulate families receiving referrals on Friday, August 21st! America World received 7 healthy referrals on Friday and the little girls were all located in the Jiangxi Province, ranging from 6-10 months of age. One family receiving their referral were expedited due to Chinese heritage. This family waited 28 months from LID.

Families receiving referrals were logged in at the CCAA on 3/24/2006 (AWAA Group 255) and waited 41 months from their Log in Date (LID) for their referrals.  America World’s next group waiting to receive a referral have a LID of 3/27/2006.

The CCAA matched 2 days of LID’s for August referrals. (3/23/2006-3/24/2006). The CCAA continues to process an average of 2-6 dates each month. The matching is based upon how many paper-ready referrals that the CCAA has available, that are ready to be matched with families from around the world who are logged in on specific dates that the CCAA has chosen to match for that month.

Who is Next To be Matched at America World?

America World’s next group to be matched have a LID of  3/27/06. America World has the following March 2006 LID’s that have not yet been matched by the CCAA:

• March 27, 2006
• March 28, 2006

Please note that while the above dates represent the LID’s for AWAA families, there are other families from other agencies around the world who are logged in on other dates throughout the month of March. The CCAA issues LID’s to agencies throughout the entire month as agencies send their dossiers to the CCAA.

Where is the CCAA in the Dossier Review Process?

The CCAA has recently finished the review of dossiers and paperwork registered with their office in July and August of 2007. We have noticed that the CCAA appears to be reviewing more months of dossiers in a shorter amount of time. The timeframe for the dossier review process will vary as it is based upon the number of dossiers that are logged in during the particular month that is currently under review.

Because the CCAA has completed the August 2007 dossier review, it is likely that the CCAA is currently reviewing dossiers for September of 2007, though the CCAA does not report to agencies which month(s) they are currently reviewing.

What is the Current Wait Time?

The current wait from LID to referral is 41-42 months at all agencies and increasing. This represents the wait time for families who just received a referral in August (waited 41 months) and who could potentially receive a referral next month.  Families who may receive a referral in September, will have waited 42 months from LID to referral. The wait time is calculated from the Log in Date when a dossier is sent to China, to the date that the referral is received. For families with LID dates after March 24, 2006, the wait time trend continues to increase half a month to a full month each month.
The current estimated wait time for families who are expedited due to Chinese heritage is estimated to be 28-32 months from LID.

No one can accurately predict how long the China wait time will become or when it may start to decrease due to a large number of unknown factors, such as the following:

• the number of infants that will be available for adoption and paper ready within the upcoming year
• the number of domestic adoptions that will occur within China this year
• the number of families from around the world who have login dates between the last referral LID and today
• the number of families who will withdraw from the China adoption process due to the increased wait time
• the number of families who will adopt special needs children and will no longer have their dossier waiting in the non-special needs line
• the number of families who will switch programs during their process and no longer adopt from China

Families are encouraged to calculate their wait time as a projected estimation, knowing there is no way to predict the actual wait time for each family. The wait time changes as it is based on the number of LID’s from around the world and the number of referrals that are paper-ready each month. America World will continue to report monthly wait time trends. Families should continue to anticipate a long wait for a healthy referral.

China Program Update for July

Families Receive Referrals!!

America World would like to congratulate families receiving referrals on Tuesday, July 21! America World received 7 healthy referrals and the little girls were all located in the Jiangxi Province, ranging from 5-8 months of age. 

Families receiving referrals were logged in at the CCAA on 3/22/2006 (AWAA Group 254) and waited 40 months from their Log in Date (LID) for their referrals.  America World’s next group waiting to receive a referral have a LID of 3/24/2006.

How many days did the CCAA match for July referrals?

The CCAA matched 2 days of LID’s for this month’s referrals. The CCAA confirmed that families with a LID of 3/21/2006 through 3/22/2006 received their referrals for July. The CCAA continues to process an average of 2-6 dates each month. The matching is based upon how many paper-ready referrals that the CCAA has available, that are ready to be matched with families from around the world who are logged in on specific dates that the CCAA has chosen to match for that month.

Who is Next To be Matched at America World?

America World’s next group to be matched have a LID of  3/24/06. America World has the following March 2006 LID’s that have not yet been matched by the CCAA:

• March 24, 2006
• March 27, 2006
• March 28, 2006

Please note that while the above dates represent the LID’s for AWAA families, there are other families from other agencies around the world who are logged in on other dates throughout the month of March. The CCAA issues LID’s to agencies throughout the entire month as agencies send their dossiers to the CCAA.

Where is the CCAA in the Dossier Review Process?

The CCAA has recently finished the review of dossiers and paperwork registered with their office in July and August of 2007. The timeframe for the dossier review process will vary as it is based upon the number of dossiers that are logged in during the particular month that is currently under review. Because the CCAA has completed the August 2007 dossier review, it is likely that the CCAA is currently reviewing dossiers for September of 2007, though the CCAA does not report to agencies which month(s) they are currently reviewing.

What is the Current Wait Time?

The current wait from LID to referral is 40-41 months at all agencies and increasing. This represents the wait time for families who just received a referral in July and who could potentially receive a referral next month.  The wait time is calculated from the Log in Date when a dossier is sent to China, to the date that the referral is received. For families with LID dates after March 22, 2006, the wait time trend continues to increase half a month to a full month each month.

The current estimated wait time for families who are expedited due to Chinese heritage is 27-29 months.

No one can accurately predict how long the China wait time will become or when it may start to decrease due to a large number of unknown factors, such as the following:

• the number of infants that will be available for adoption and paper ready within the upcoming year
• the number of domestic adoptions that will occur within China this year
• the number of families from around the world who have login dates between the last referral LID and today
• the number of families who will withdraw from the China adoption process due to the increased wait time
• the number of families who will adopt special needs children and will no longer have their dossier waiting in the non-special needs line
• the number of families who will switch programs during their process and no longer adopt from China

Families are encouraged to calculate their wait time as a projected estimation, knowing there is no way to predict the actual wait time for each family. The wait time changes as it is based on the number of LID’s from around the world and the number of referrals that are paper-ready each month. America World will continue to report monthly wait time trends. Families should continue to anticipate a long wait for a healthy referral.

July Referrals Have Arrived!!

America World would like to congratulate families receiving referrals on Tuesday, July 21! America World received 7 healthy referrals yesterday from China. The little girls were all located in the Jiangxi Province, and ranged in age from 5-8 months of age. 

Families receiving referrals were logged in at the CCAA on 3/22/2006 (AWAA Group 254) and waited 40 months from their Log in Date (LID) for their referrals.  America World’s next group waiting to receive a referral have a LID of 3/24/2006.

Please join us in praying for these families as they prepare for travel!