ShiHeZi Visit - Update and Social Studies Lesson

We were disappointed to learn that the team that visited Xinjiang was diverted and unable to visit ShiHeZi or another orphanage. We aren't entirely certain why. However, there was terrorist activity reported in that province the following week, so it may have been due to security concerns. It is hard to say. We are praying for safety and security in this province and other parts of China during the Olympics and beyond. Many people are not aware that China has many, many minority groups. The full name of the Xinjiang province is The Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. We were told this means that Uighur people hold the top offices in the government and Universities. The Uighur people are a completely separate ethnic group than the Han Chinese (those you would think of as "Chinese") and from what I understand are more closely related to Islamic Turks. As happens in many cultures and countries, there are some extreme groups that resent Chinese rule and would like to be independent. Most of the Uighur people live peacefully with the Han Chinese. The Uighur people are the largest of the 23 minority groups present in Xinjiang. Another of the larger minority groups are the Kazak people. Unlike the Uighur people, the Kazak people do have a land to call their own in neighboring Kazakhstan. When we were in Xinjiang to adopt Anna, we had a week of waiting for her passport. During that time, we visited areas populated by Kazak people and Uighur villages in the mountainous areas. If you look at pictures of these areas, you will see the colorful yurts (similar to the less colorful ones found in some Oregon campgrounds) where they live. This was where Rachel had her interesting horse ride down a mountain. Our visit to Turpan, where we were stranded in the desert by the donkey cart, passed through Kazak villages. China is a vast and fascinating country with many people and features quite different from those seen in Beijing! This is the end of your social studies lesson for today...

Home Study Approved

We had word yesterday that after going through all of the necessary reviews to ensure it is written in compliance with the new regulations, our home study has finally been approved by our agency! We should be able to submit it to USCIS (U.S. immigration) for their review some time in the next few days. Currently, we are being told it is taking 3-4 months for USCIS processing. When we have received acknowledgment that our USCIS application is moving along, we will be able to submit our EA-Electronic Acceptance (formerly the LOI - Letter of Intent) which officially tells China that we would like to adopt Li Meng. For Anna, we had done this at the beginning of the adoption process. However, the current rules from the CCAA (China Center for Adoption Affairs) require that the dossier (that thick, official, stamped and sealed package of required documentation for the adoption) be submitted within 3 months of submitting your Electronic Acceptance. Since the USCIS timing is a bit unknown, we have had to wait on submitting our EA. When the EA is submitted, we will be waiting for a PA - Preliminary Approval - from China. This should happen while we are waiting for our immigration approval from USCIS. When the USCIS approval is received, we'll be driving it to Salem to be stamped by the State of Oregon before express mailing it to The Chinese Consulate in San Francisco for their stamp. When that is received back and all is sent to our agency, our dossier will be on its way to China for translation, review and approval. At present, it looks to be taking about 3 months for the RA-Referral Acceptance (in effect the official approval) to arrive and then 2-4 weeks for TA-Travel Approval. Actual travel should then be in another 1-4 weeks. There! Now you have all been updated on our progress and given a lesson in adoption lingo!