Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!!

Just called the NAC.
Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!!
Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!!
Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!!
Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!!
Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!!
Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!!
Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!!
Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!! Our COC is Ready!!

And it's only been 5 working days, not 7. Yeh, now on to the passport stage!!!!!!!!

Order Is In....Waiting on Certificate.

It's been two weeks since our final hearing. I emailed our lawyer to check on the status of our case. Apparently we received our Adoption Order within three days (wow!) and are still waiting on the Adoption Certificate. When we get those two things, I fill out a form called Article 23 Form and take all these things down to the NAC Secretariat:

Certified copies of:

1.      Adoption Order.

2.      Adoption Certificate.
and

3.      Approval letter from the receiving state authorising that the adoption may proceed.

4.      Individual approval certificate from the Adoption Committee.

5.      Freeing certificate of the child.

6.      Duly filled Request form (Form 23) by adoptive parents.

7.      Copies of passports of the adoptive parents.

Then the NAC will issue me our Article 23 Conformity Certificate aka COC.

Little Angels will release Zac's original birth certificate to me once they see all that above.
Then with those documents I can get Zac's Kenyan passport. That will take a couple of weeks (I think).
When I get his passport, then we can go to the US Embassy (with all the above documents) and get a Visa put into his passport. And then that's THE END.

Our Complete i800 Timeline

Someone asked me how long our i800 process lasted, so I thought I would write it out here. (You can also look at my timeline in the other tab.)

Essentially it took Immigration 8 days to issue our first part, which was the RFE. Our application packet had two main problems: 1) Zac's birth certificate listed the wrong date. LAN had to ask the hospital in Kenya to reissue a corrected birth certificate, and 2) the NAC letter was missing the official raised seal and stamp. The NAC's stamp was broken back when my approval was sent, so Immigration had to contact the US Embassy here in Nairobi to ask whether the NAC letter is still valid without the official raised seal and stamp. It is. (THANK YOU JESUS!).

Once we got all the corrected documents sent back in to Immigration, it took exactly three weeks for Immigration to approve our application. Our officer fedex'd it to us, and we should receive it here in Nairobi in a few days.


October 12, 2012 - i800 approved!

September 21, 2012 - USCIS received our corrected documents.

September 19, 2012 - Stateside agency mailed supplemental i800 documents.

August 22, 2012 - i800 RFE'd (Request for Further Evidence) - need to reissue birth certificate

August 14, 2012 - Email from USCIS that they received our application.

August 7, 2012 - Stateside agency mailed i800 application.

NAC Approval!!

I am ECSTATIC to announce I just received an email from my Stateside agency.
We have been approved by the Kenyan Government to adopt a child aged 12-36 months.

Thank you Jesus, Thank you Jesus, Thank you Jesus!!!

NAC Meeting June 13th

The NAC met yesterday. I could almost drive myself crazy checking email and rushing to the phone every time it rings...but I have decided to put my anxious feelings aside since we are not expected to hear anything for a month or so.  It's so neat to think that there is already an answer. They've already decided yes or no. Now a new level of patience waiting for the answer!