Wednesday, July 14, 2010

The United States said YES!

I am proud to announce that we had our appointment today with the U.S. Consulate office here in Guangzhou to petition for Mia's visa to come to the U.S. At this appointment we had to show the U.S. that we had completed the necessary paperwork, had received approvals on all the paperwork, had secured Mia's passport, and had completed all necessary immunizations required by U.S. law. We met all this criteria, so the U.S. said YES! They will issue her a visa... which for those of you who have not traveled internationally (like us), a visa is a page inside the passport that states that you have permission to enter a particular country. It is my understanding that not all countries require visas, but China does, and so does the U.S. So you see, a passport isn't enough, you must inform the country WHY it is that you are traveling to that country. We are now finished... the actual visa page in her passport will be ready for pick up Friday afternoon at the Consulate's office. At that time, we are free to leave. Unfortunately, we must wait until Sunday morning to catch our flight. We will be heading back to Hong Kong Saturday in preparation for leaving. So many prayers have been answered and we are very, very thankful. I am now thinking ahead to our journey home, the trip over here was a struggle... long and exhausting. The trip home will be harder with an infant in tow. God gave us a little "happy" at the Birmingham airport, by allowing our flights to be changed, thus giving us EXCELLENT seats for the long, 16-hour flight. I am already praying that God grant us another "happy" for the trip home. Nothing is impossible for God, especially something so simple as an airplane ride... :)

1 comment:

  1. YAY! I know you are thrilled to be heading home. Beware: Jet Lag is a KILLER! It took us a little over 2 weeks to fully recover from our last trip to China, so don't be alarmed if you feel like you have the flu for 10-14 days. It took me every bit of those 2 weeks to get Sarah Martin acclimated to our time zone. Again, congratulations and happy packing!

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