EP Submitted!

Any day now, we should be receiving updates from Rai's well baby check appointment (from early February). In the meantime, we a little more news...

Yesterday afternoon, we received an email stating that Rai's EP (Emigration Permit) was submitted on February 11th and should be approved in 3-4 weeks. This is great news!

Here are the steps left in a nutshell:

US-side:
1. I-600A/I-600 Approval (USCIS)
2. NVC (National Visa Center) checked in and checked out to issue Rai a US visa

Korea-side:
1. EP (Emigration Permit) issued - gives Rai permission to leave Korea for the purpose of being adopted
2. Travel Certificate issued - like a passport but only one way
3. Visa Physical Exam
4. P3 (Packet 3) - paperwork sent from Embassy to US agency to obtain paperwork for Visa Issue

Once both sides are completed, Rai's visa is issued and then he is ready to travel!

Based on the "formula" created by an adoptive mom on the Holt BB, we could potentially travel as early as March 18 (if a miracle happens at USCIS and the I600 is approved quickly). If our I600 approval is delayed, we're looking at April 2nd or 9th. If USCIS loses our paperwork then it's a different story. :-)

Since I have my doubts about the speed of the I600 processing, I contacted the USCIS office this morning and hope to have a better idea by next week. There is an Asian Studies conference in Chicago in late March I would love to attend, but I'd much rather be in South Korea earlier if that's possible. If not, the conference will be a nice distraction.

As a side note, there are four other families on the Holt BB who received the same email notification on the same day. Although travel times vary considerably, it would be nice to meet some of these families while we are in Korea. Everyone has been so supportive and helpful in explaining this crazy process to us!