Her: ?? Mr. ? Mrs. K ? ????
Me: ???
Her: ?? Mr. ?? Mrs. K??
Me: ???????
Her: Is this Mrs. K?
Me: Yes.
Her: Your Chinese is so good. I thought you were a Chinese person.
Me: absolutely delighted that I could sound local – even if it is all simple vocabulary!
She turned out to be calling from Homeland Security in Beijing. I was completely thrown for a loop that someone was calling our home phone number asking for “Mr. or Mrs. K.” Everyone calls us by our Chinese names. Even if they do know our English names, they certainly don’t know our family name because it is very difficult to say.
The fabulous news is that TODAY in the mini-Homeland Security Office in Beijing, we were given the seal of approval for our home study and back-ground clearances. They were producing the I-171H which is our FINAL DOCUMENT when…
First, let us rejoice that our I-600A was filed and completed in just 7 weeks!
…they noticed that we did not sign one part of our I-600A which they said was “their fault” so it is being sent express mail for us to sign right here in our lovely little city and then we’ll express it back to them to get our I-171H. I thanked her for allowing this because Beijing is not the easiest place to get to…with a 9 month old!
The fact that we are very, very close to almost being done with the paper chase blows my mind. Honestly, the paper chase was easy, but I already feel that the waiting for Little Sister might be tougher than expected as the Rumor Mill keeps churning out longer waiting times.
This is very happy news! Great that you don’t have to make another long trip just to sign your names. I’m sure the wait will be emotionally challenging (at least it has been for the other people I’ve known who have gone through the process), but WELL WORTH THE WAIT–can’t wait to see Little Sister. S will have so much to teach her!
Sandra,
Wow! I’m excited for you that the paperwork was finalized (well, almost) in such a short time. Does this mean you won’t have to redo things like fingerprints, etc? Meimei is on her way! How wonderful!
And congrats for being mistaken for a Chinese . . . that’s a victory!
Love,
Rachel
Wow – that is great news indeed!! What a blessing!
Unfortunately, our fingerprints will still expire 15 months after the 1-171H is approved. But hopefully, we won’t have to wait that long!
Yipee! that is great that it has all gone so well with the paperwork. Hope the rest continues to go as well. Hugs~