Travel Approval Has Arrived
For the last month we have been awaiting our "travel approval." That's a document from the Chinese government that tells us when we can travel to China to pick up Selah. We received word from our agency yesterday that our travel approval has arrived. The last major scheduling hurdel is to get an appointment with the U.S. Consulate where we will complete adoption paperwork for the U.S. government. Once we have that appointment, we will have firm travel dates. However, it's likely we will depart for China on November 16th, and return between November 29th and December 2nd.
Travel Dates
We received notification today that our tenative departure date will be November 23rd (Thanksgiving Day). We will be in China 13-15 days. However, our agency notes that there is a 50% chance that this date could change. On a separate note, several people have commented (independently) on the strong resemblance between Selah and Jonas. Jennifer and I looked again at the pictures of Jonas we sent to China. Those pictures of Jonas and Selah's pictures (below) do bear a striking resemblance. We wonder if that was a major factor in Selah being matched with us.
What Next?
Now that we have received our referral, we have another round of paperwork to complete. This round includes applying for visas, reapplying for a document that has expired, and making travel arrangements. Our agency will be handling most of the travel details, and we are thankful for that. This is also the leg of the journey when the bulk of our financial responsibilities will be discharged. We hope to travel in about six to eight weeks from now.
Our trip to China will be about two weeks. The first few days will be spent in Beijing acclamating to China, and learning what we can of the history and culture. From there we will travel to Guanxi province (the very Southern part of China), where we will pick up Selah! Well spend a few days in Guanxi to complete paperwork, and sightsee in Selah's home province. From there we head to Guangzhou. We will also have a few days in Guangzhou where we will complete paperwork with American consulate.
