The China Dossier Proper!

(I originally started typing this on June 19th...before we received our I-171H!)

The following will be a listing of the paperwork that is included in the dossier to China. We need TWO ORIGINALS of each and every document. Once completed, copies of these documents are to be forwarded to the agency where they will be checked to see if we need to make any changes or corrections. Once those are made the documents must be notarized, certified by the county, and state certified by the Secretary Of State. It is possible to skip a step by going to an attorney whose notary seal is current and valid for the entire state of Ohio...which we plan on doing again! This takes care of the first two steps. Once that is finished, we will drive our dossier to Columbus, write them a check, and wait the 10-15 minutes it will take for them to staple a piece of paper to each one that says it's certified. We are blessed to have an attorney who is also a family friend. He graciously did ALL of our paperwork for Hope as a gift. I believe there is a fee, per document, to have them county certified...and if I remember correctly, there is a $5 per document fee to have it certified by the Secretary Of State's office...you do the math. ") As always, any of the paperwork that requires a fee will be enclosed like *this*.

1. *Home Study*---This has already been completed and approved. The agency has already notarized it, gotten the county certification, and sent it to Columbus for state certification...as well as forwarding a copy to the INS/BCIS.

2. *Marriage License*---Garry drove to Wooster to get these. They already come certified with the raised seal so they will only have to receive certification from the Secretary Of State.

3. *Birth Certificate*---Garry picked up his while he was in Wooster and since I'm a Wadsworth Lifer, he only had to go downtown to get mine. Two copies per parent, these also come certified with the raised seal and will only need Secretary Of State certification.

4. Divorce Decree---N/A

5. China Medical Statement For Adoptive Applicant---These were first filled out by our doctor, then the form changed. So I filled in the new set and returned them for his signature! A basic physical exam is required along with blood tests and a urinalysis. This was covered under our insurance for Hope and we're fairly sure it will covered for Claire as well. The form wants name, date of birth, and address. There are 11 Yes/No questions under Medical History. It is basically a list of have you ever had Tuberculosis, Tumor, Heart Disease etc. The next section consists of information gathered during the physical exam and lab work. Height (in meters), weight (in kilograms), blood pressure, vision, hearing, heart, lungs etc. There is a lisiting of all of the blood/lab tests required and they want to know the date they were completed and if they were normal/abnormal or negative/positive. You will all be thrilled to know (as were Garry and I) that we are still HIV negative. Sarcasm folks...sarcasm. They want a list of any medications we are taking and for what purpose and if our health is suitable for raising a child. Doctor's signature, date, MD license number, and SPECIAL stamp...done. We got so wound up about this "special" stamp. We thought it was something issued by the AMA or something. Nope, it seems they just have a hard time reading the doctors' handwriting so they want a stamp on the paper showing name, address, phone number etc.

6. Employment Letter---To be written on company letterhead, by the employer, and state length of time employed and salary amount. We had this done at the same time we did our home study documents. We just asked for THREE originals at once! The wonderful woman who did this for Garry even gave us a spare. THANK YOU!

7. Non-Employment Statement---I wrote this one for myself, by myself. All it says is that after adopting Hope I decided to become a full-time stay at home Mama, and plan to continue as one after bringing Claire home.

8. Local Police Clearance---Again, we simply asked for THREE originals per parent when we went to have this done for the home study.

9. China Financial Statement For Adoptive Applicant---Name, annual income this year and last year, other annual income, life insurance amounts, listing and amount of assets, listing of liabilities, their monthly payment, and totals owed...totals for everything, and signatures!

10. Tax Form---Copies of pages 1-2 of last years 1040 form.

11. Passports---Copies of the inside front cover of our passports showing our picture and signature.

12. Letter Asking To Adopt---I think this one is pretty self explanatory! If you're interested in reading our letter let me know and I'll email you a copy. There are several statements that must be included but basically you are telling the Chinese officials about yourselves, why you want to adopt, and the type/age of child you are interested in.

13. Guardianship Statements---These are actually two separate documents. We need to write a letter to the Chinese officials stating who will be responsible for our daughters' care should anything happen to us. They want to know names, ages, jobs, if there are any other children in the home, if they are in good health, etc. The people whom we have appointed as guardians, need to also write a letter stating that they accept the responsibilty and re-state all of the same information we had in our letter.

14. Copy of I-171H Notice Of Favorable Determination---Holy Grail time folks. When you begin this process you are faced with Holy Grail Part One, the I-600A. This is called the Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition. You are letting them know your intent. I can't give you many details because Garry filled it out both times. We mailed it off, along with our check to the INS/BCIS in Cleveland on April 13th. They received it on the 14th and sent us a receipt for our check. A few weeks later we received a letter telling us when to report to Cleveland to have our fingerprinting done. If you remember, we had those done on May 31st. The INS/BCIS can't complete the process without the completed home study. They received ours on June 1st. You are told to expect Holy Grail Part Two, the I-171H within 60-90 days after they receive your home study. I STILL can't believe we actually HAVE it already...just 21 days after the home study reached Cleveland! The I-171H states, "Your advance processing application has been forwarded to the American Consulate or Embassy at Guangzhou, People's Republic of China and email sent 6/22/05. Approved for one (1) child. WHOO HOO!!!!!