What’s black and white but turns to gold once in your hands?

The hard copy of the I-171 arrived in the mail on Monday, and Susan you were right, it sure is an unimpressive document. First, it’s laser printed. Second, there isn’t even a real signature on it, just a stamp. Even the notary questioned whether it was the original copy. For all its plainness, it is our ticket to getting our little boy home. And that’s gold in our eyes.

Today, Bob heads to the Secretary of State for the final apostille. And then on Monday, our dossier should be on a Fed Ex jet heading west to Portland. (Woo-woo.)

For those of you waiting on your I-171H, when you receive your approval document, scan down to check box #3, which tells you where the petition is being forwarded. Our approval was emailed to the National Visa Center (NVC) in Portsmouth, NH. Our agency contact questioned why it wasn’t going directly to Almaty. I immediately had our social worker check into it. As it turns out, once a case is approved, the advance processing application is sent to the NVC who then in turn forwards it on to the Consulate in Almaty. To ensure this happens in a timely manner, you may want to have your agency do a follow up.