USCIS

Lots of activity this week!!!

We submitted our request to the USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services)to bring an orphan into the country. We must have approval from them before our court date to complete the adoption in Russia. In some regions you must have it before your first trip. They will contact us to set up an appointment to be fingerprinted by the FBI. Once we get clearance they will send us documentation stating the child will become a U.S. citizen once we return to the US.

Side note: some people refer to the USCIS as the BCIS(Bureau of Citizens Immigration Services) they are the same thing.

The documentation we sent to the USCIS included a copy of our home study and various documents from our agency with proof of their accreditation and their recommendation to allow us to adopt.

We are hoping to have an appointment for fingerprinting in the next 4-6 weeks. Fingers crossed!

Picture of the new chair for the babies room! It is very comfortable!!! The small red chair was mine when I was small. It was one of my favorite things. Hopefully the baby will enjoy it as well!

~ The Rileys

home study approval

Our agency finished our home study!! H-O-O-R-A-Y!!!!

They emailed us a copy Thursday. We proofed and reviewed the documents and things look great!! We will receive the hard copies early next week. If this schedule holds we will be to get all of our documents apostilled next Friday. 

A great picture of our friend, Kristin, notarizing one of our many many documents. 

Thank you Kristin!!! This was a huge undertaking!!!

The Rileys

quick update

Just a quick update:

After emailing with our agency they informed us we are next in line for our home study review! Awesome! The home study must be reviewed by a panel of three social workers from our agency. We should get an email version by the end of the week to review and then the original paper copies next week. Progress is being made!! 

The Rileys