Slowly but surely

There are three main things needed to be completed before our dossier (the big stack of paperwork that gets sent to Darya's country for translation and approval).  There are many things that overlap and are required in order to complete each major step (ie: birth certificates, physicals, criminal history clearances, etc.).  These three things are: homestudy, I600A, and the dossier.

Our homestudy is almost complete. We have all the paperwork but our physical.  We have our physicals scheduled for next Monday morning, then that same evening we have our homestudy visit with our social worker.  It should last a few hours. Once that's done, she will write it up and it should be complete shortly after that!  She is a lovely woman and we are very happy to be working with her. So, if you live in Florida and are thinking about adoption, let me know and I'll refer you to her!
The next thing is the I600A application (advance processing of orphan petition - approval from our government).  That includes the application, copies of our birth and marriage certificates, homestudy, and a lovely check of $830.  We will then get a date where we go and get our digital fingerprints taken.  Once they review all of that and give us the okay, they send us the form I-171H.

Finally, there is the dossier. This includes all sorts of documents and official approvals, including our homestudy and I-171H.  Once it's all perfect and meets country specifications, it has to be apostilled (official verification of the authenticity of it all at the state level).  After that, it oh so carefully gets sent across the Atlantic to Darya's country.  Once it reaches there it will be translated and submitted.  If her gov't approves it all, then we will get an appointment where we will receive a referral for her.

Even though there is a lot of paperwork and our minds are filled with all that needs to be done on our end, we have not forgotten what it's all about - Darya! Please continue to pray for us that there will be no major bumps in the road and that Darya would be well cared for.  If all goes well, we would love for our first visit to be in August and have her home by September!  We can certainly hope for that :)