So what exactly are we waiting for?--Waiting 101

"Why do you have to wait so long?" I get this question a lot. This week was especially hard because with Chinese New Year, everything in China stops, as this is a major holiday with tons of tradition. This year is the year of the Ox. CCAA (China Center of Adoption Affairs) is closed for the week, so no paperwork is processed for 5 days. So here is what we are waiting for, and what some of the adoption abbreviations mean. This is only based on what I have learned from reading other blogs.

DTC: Dossier to China. This is the date that your dossier (paperwork that has been notarized, certified by the state, and authenticated by the Chinese Consulate in SF, CA). Ours is Jan. 5, 2009.

LID: Log In Date. We are currently waiting to learn what ours is. This is when your dossier is officially logged in to China's system, and the wait officially begins. Just because we don't know yet does not mean we are not logged in. It is common to not know for awhile. This date is usually 1-2 weeks after DTC.

LOA/LOC/LOSC: Depending your agency or website you are reading, these all mean the same thing. This is the official Letter of Confirmation, or the big "YES" from China. So not only are we waiting to find out what our LID is, at the same time, we are waiting on this piece of paper. From reading other's blogs, i know that this takes about 3 months on average from the LID. Keep in mind that I will have 5 extra days due to Chinese New Year, so we are hoping to get this in mid April. Then there is more paperwork, and you send that back to China and then wait for TA.

TA: I'm not sure of the the exact meaning, but basically it is the permission to travel and make your travel plans. This comes on average 5 weeks after LOA. When you get this, you have the green light! I have seen people travel in 2-5 weeks from TA. The agency sets the Consulate Appointment (CA) and when you have that, you travel about 2 weeks before.

And this is why we HOPE to travel in June! We shall see though. I'd go tomorrow if I could!

Have a great weekend. We are off to another basketball game for Kacie (she made her first basket in a game last week!).