I Got the Brown Envelope!

(I know I'm supposed to be recounting my journey to Elizabeth, but I just had to celebrate a milestone on my journey to Baby#2...) To the uninitiated, this means absolutely nothing, but to an adoptive parent, this is good news! I received the famous "brown envelope" that all China parents receive. The brown envelope doesn't have anything to do with the CCAA or with my dossier's log-in date. After I filed my I-600A, the USCIS approved me to bring an adopted child into the U.S. It then did two things. First, it sent me an I-171H which meant that I was approved (the I-171H went into my dossier). Second, it sent a cable, indicating the approval, to the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou. (On the I-600A, one of the questions was where I wanted the approval cable sent, and since I'm adopting from China, I wrote that it should go to Guangzhou). The cable tells the Consulate that, at some point in the next (18 months?), I'll arrive there with a child. It indicates that, if the baby's paperwork is in order, the Consulate can issue her a visa, since my own paperwork is approved. When the U.S. Consulate receives the cable, its normal process is to send you the brown envelope. Technically, what's in the brown envelope is not really all that important--some forms, a map. You can download the I-600 (the companion piece to the I-600A, needed by the Consulate to approve the baby's paperwork), and you can get the visa application from your guide when you're in China. The brown envelope simply is proof that the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou has received the USCIS cable. And it's something to celebrate!