Adopting From China
Robert S. and Suzanne Moreland
Email: robert.moreland@drexel.edu
Daughters: Robin, Summer, and Willow
adopted from the Shanghai Children's Welfare Institute in 1994, 1995, and 1998
at ages 6 months, 7 months, and 26 months
This article is an overview of the wonderful journey to adopt a child from China. It is not the definitive guide to adopting from China; you must consult your own adoption agency to determine their current requirements. This article provides a flavor of what you are about to do, where you are about to go, and what is about to happen. What we include in this document comes from our own experiences after traveling to China three times to adopt our three daughters. Our first two adoptions were performed "independently" which means we used neither an agency nor a facilitator. Beginning in 1996, China required that adopting families use an agency, thus we used an adoption agency for our third adoption. But, the experience of "doin' it alone" twice and using an agency once provided us a pretty good idea of the process. We hope by reading this you gain the confidence and the excitement to proceed. Our daughters have made our lives fuller than we ever imagined possible. Thus, we are more than happy to help other feel the love and wonderment that we now have in our lives. GOOD LUCK! And let us know what happens!
So read this in the spirit of “What Might Happen”. I have heard from many folks that even the best agencies are just too overworked to provide the big picture of the adoption process. So – although details will change often, the forest remains the same.
OK - so you have decided to adopt your child from China; where do you start? You begin by taking a deep breath, reminding yourself it is worth any level of effort it may take, and most importantly GETTING ORGANIZED. The only trick, if there is one to adopting from China, is to be organized. As you will read in the next few pages, we provided Beijing with a comprehensive dossier of our life. The exact documents that will make up your dossier will depend somewhat on your agency, so make sure you fully understand what they need from you (remember this is just a flavor of the process!).
The first big step is selecting an agency. We offer no advice on this point. Families with Children from China (FCC) does not endorse any adoption agency. What we do suggest is that you get as much information as possible from as many sources as possible. It can be extremely frustrating to compare agencies as they all "bundle" different services together. See “How to select an agency for a China adoption” ( http://fwcc.org/agencychoice.htm) for a more complete discussion of this step. Contact your FCC chapter for names and phone numbers of members who have volunteered to discuss their experiences (see http://fwcc.org/contacts.html for the current listing of FCC chapters). Use the internet. AOL has a great International Adoption message board. The Adopt-Parent-China list on Yahoo groups (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/a-parents-china) has over 6000 members in the process of adopting from China; these people are more than happy to share their experiences. There are also hundreds of more specialized lists on YahooGroups as well, see http://fwcc.org/chinamailinglist for the main categories. Not all agencies fit all types of people, so shop around. But do remember that this is one of the most emotion-filled things you will ever do, and be nice when things do not seem to be going exactly right.
The following description is loosely divided into five sections. A. Getting the paperwork together; B. Waiting to go to China; C. In China; D. The trip home; and E. Home.
Paperwork! Makes one shudder. As you decide on your agency your will find that some handle absolutely everything while some handle nothing. So the following should help those somewhere in between. For some of the paperwork described below you need a notarized signature. The notary's signature must be authenticated at the county level (the county where the notary is registered). Be sure the notary can be certified; some don't keep their county certifications current and this puts you right back to the beginning. Then the signature of the county clerk will need to be authenticated by the appropriate state official. Some of the documents, such as birth certificates which come from county, enter the authentication game at this stage. The signature of the state official, usually the Secretary of State gets authenticated by the Chinese Consulate for that particular state. If there is not a Consulate for that state and instead the Chinese Embassy has “jurisdiction” over that state, then you need to have the Secretary of State authenticated by the US Secretary of State who is then authenticated by the Chinese Embassy. OK, so if you read and understood this paragraph, then the rest is easy. You may be asking, WHY? Well if I wrote you a letter of reference for an adoption from China, the officials in China need to know that the letter was in fact real and written by whom you say it was; they do not know me, but they do know the Chinese Consulate. Thus, this tortuous paper trail of authentications is to prove to Beijing that the documents in your dossier are real. I, for one, am happy that International Adoption has these checks and balances.
A. Getting the paperwork together
I-600A. The first step is to get the paperwork for INS going. You are interested in adopting an unidentified orphan abroad so you need to file an I-600A form with the INS office responsible for your home residence. This is not always the most convenient INS office so check to find out which one does your home city. Call them to get the I-600A form sent to you. You can also get forms off the web. The I-600A form is very straightforward, the questions are simple - you will be going to the US Consulate General in Guangzhou, China. You will also need original birth certificates for you (and your spouse if applicable), marriage license, and divorce decrees if applicable. According to INS instructions, the person taking your case can see your original documents and then copy them for the file and return the originals immediately. A new alternate approach is to copy the documents and add a letter stating you certify these to be authentic unaltered copies of the original documents. Using this approach, the INS officer may ask to see the originals before issuing the I-171. File your I-600A as soon as you can get the form filled out, the original birth, marriage and divorce certificates, and the fingerprint cards finished (rules on how to have your fingerprints taken for the INS are changing constantly, so be sure and consult with your agency for the current rule). Do not wait for the homestudy before filing the I-600A form as it can be submitted later. The approved I-600A which is the I-171 is good for a year. However, INS now apparently wants homestudies which were approved within six months - so do not get your homestudy before starting the INS paperwork.
Homestudy. The next thing to get started is your homestudy. The homestudy and the INS forms are the two longest steps. Recent rules changes require that all homestudies be done by social workers employed by adoption agencies with a China adoption program. Contact your agency to get in touch with the social worker who will do your homestudy. The homestudy will require you to get letters of reference, letters of employment, copies of birth certificates, marriage license, and divorce decrees, certificates of health from your physician. The homestudy will include a visit from a social worker to interview you. It is a friendly visit; the interviewer is on your side. If you have no children from your current and all former marriages, make sure the homestudy explicitly states this information. Most states and now the INS require a child abuse clearance. This means getting the agency doing the homestudy to clear your fingerprints at both the FBI and the State Police (at least that was the procedure in New Jersey - check with your agency) as well as clearance from the Child Abuse Registry. The homestudy should explicitly state that you received child abuse clearance from these offices. This step can take from one to three months so get it going now. When you get the final homestudy, ask for it to be notarized and, if possible, authenticated at the county level - this will save you some time. As soon as the homestudy is completed, send a copy to INS. The homestudy then goes to the state, then either the Chinese Consulate or to the federal level and then the Chinese Embassy for authentication.
Birth certificates. Contact the records office in the county of the state you were born. If the state is small, it may be the records office in the capital. Ask them for two copies (why not two since you are going to the trouble of getting originals; one will go to Beijing) of your birth certificate in a form that can be authenticated for use in China. Some states offer package deals with birth certificates authenticated by the responsible official and authentication by the State Secretary of State, be sure to ask about this. These offices may be just down the hall from each other. Always be nice but ask them twice for the correct type of birth certificate. We had to send one of ours back to get the correct version for authentication. Ask if a money order or personal check is required and if a self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE) is required. Also ask what information is required like why you want the certificate, etc. The birth certificates then go to the state either the Chinese Consulate or to the federal level and then the Chinese Embassy for authentication
Marriage license. Get original copies of your marriage license. Again ask for the type that can be authenticated at the state level for use in China. Ask if a money order or personal check is required and if a SASE is required. Also ask what information is required like why you want the certificate, etc. This license will go to the state then either the Chinese Consulate or to the federal level and then the Chinese Embassy for authentication. For single parents adopting from China, please contact your agency for any special paperwork requirements.
Divorce decree. Get original copies of any divorce decrees. This will be available at the county clerk's office in the county of the state where your divorce was finalized. As before ask for the type that can be authenticated at the state level for China. It will go to state then federal then Chinese embassy.
Letter of introduction. This letter is to introduce yourselves to the officials in Beijing and to provide a brief synopsis of your lives. Your agency will tell you exactly what they wish to have included in the letter. The following provides a synopsis of what we included in our three letters. It usually includes several statements regarding how you will raise your child. The letter should state that you wish to adopt a child who is "fill in your wishes" and that you are childless (or not). If you wish to suggest a particular region of the country, a particular age range, or a particular Children's Welfare Institute, do so in the beginning of the letter and include why (such as, our first child was adopted from Shanghai and we wish our children to have a similar background). In tabular form, provide the following information for each of you: Name (include maiden name), address, birth date, occupation, place of work, salary, social security number, parents' names, parents' address if living (or if deceased say so), parents' birthdates, and parents' occupations. Also state that your parents are not financially dependent on you. Then a paragraph of who you are and what kind of a home you have, any hobbies, and a line or two of what special thing your adopted child will have in your home and life - we stated our child will have their own bedroom and bathroom and swimming pool. Then a paragraph promising to provide your child with financial security and the best education available. Promise to love and care for the child and say that the child will be listed in your will as the person to inherit from you. Promise never to abandon the child, to honor her Chinese heritage, to educate her about her Chinese heritage, and to treat her as if she were your own child. This letter should be signed by both spouses and notarized. Then obtain county, state and then either the Chinese Consulate or to the federal level and then the Chinese Embassy for authentication.
Medical Certificate. CCAA now has a medical certificate form on their website, get it there (http://www.china-ccaa.org/zxwje.htm) if your adoption agency does not supply you with copies. This needs to be notarized, then county, state, and then either the Chinese Consulate or to the federal level and then the Chinese Embassy for authentication.
Letter of employment. This letter, on official company letterhead, should state where you work, how long you have worked there, and your annual salary. The letter must be notarized, county, state, and then either the Chinese Consulate or to the federal level and then the Chinese Embassy for authentication.
Two letters of reference. Simply re-type the letters of reference used for the homestudy but address them to the address provided to you by your agency. Offer the signers a nice lunch or something and walk or drive them to a notary to sign the letters, then take them to county, state, and then either the Chinese Consulate or to the federal level and then the Chinese Embassy for authentication.
Passport pages. We have no idea why these are necessary; in fact they may no longer be required, but we have heard from several sources they are wanted by Beijing. By the way, your passports need to be valid at least six months after the date you plan to travel to China. So look at the dates and if they expire soon - FedEx them to your local passport office for renewal. Anyway copy the informational and picture page and the signature page on the same sheet of paper. Then type across the top of the page, "I hereby certify that this is a true and authentic copy of the picture and signature pages of my passport." Sign the certification and have it notarized, then county, state, and then either the Chinese Consulate or to the federal level and then the Chinese Embassy for authentication.
Statement of assets. CCAA now has a Certificate of Financial Status form on their website, get it there (http://www.china-ccaa.org/zxwje.htm) if your adoption agency does not supply you with copies. Have the signer notarized, then county, state, and then either the Chinese Consulate or to the federal level and then the Chinese Embassy for authentication
Translation. This is almost the last step of the whole process. You need to get the entire dossier translated into Mandarin Chinese. This is not as hard as it seems and in fact may agencies offer their own translation services. There are two good sources of translators. One is to simply look in the yellow pages of the closest large city under translators. Philadelphia for example has several columns of listings. Call around and ask for estimates of price and time required. The second is in our opinion the best route. Contact local universities and find either the Language Center, Language Department, Chinese Arts and Languages Department, etc. We used the Language Center at The University of Pennsylvania. They did a wonderful job in a very short period of time for a very reasonable price. Most universities will have such a service. In terms of what needs to be translated - follow the recommendations of your agency.
I-171. This is the approval form from the I-600A from INS. We did not have the I-171 translated nor did we include the original I-171. We included a "certified copy" (see passport pages above) of the I-171 in our dossier, notarized, county, state, and then either the Chinese Consulate or to the federal level and then the Chinese Embassy for authentication
Certified copies. After the all of the documents were translated and the I-171 received, we copied the entire dossier - documents only not all of the certifications and authentication flags. We made four copies and attached a page stating, "I certify that these are true and authentic copies of the original documents. The documents included in this package are: then we listed everything copied. Then one of us signed, notarized, county, state and then either the Chinese Consulate or to the federal level and then the Chinese Embassy for authentication. We have no idea if this is still required, so once again consult the paperchase materials provided by your agency. One thing to keep in mind however is that your child may appreciate a copy of his or her dossier. Our oldest child is now 7 and is very interested in everything to do with her adoption including looking at her dossier.
CONGRATULATIONS!! YOU ARE NOW READY TO MAIL YOUR DOSSIER TO YOUR AGENCY AND THEN OFF TO BEIJING!!!!! YIPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!
A few final words about the document collection. Be very nice to everyone you talk to as another adopting family may be their next phone call. We recommend sending all documents by Federal Express and including a filled-out Federal Express airbill for the return of the documents. For the return of the documents use an address where someone is available during the day - such as your work address. FedEx will not usually leave packages at your home without a signature or a signature releasing them from liability. A good alternate approach is the 2-day, Priority US mail envelopes. Every time you request a document or send a document to be authenticated, wait about five days from their receipt (not your mailing) of the documents and follow up with a phone call kindly asking if they have everything they need to process your request. Do not call and say, "Well when do I get the stuff?" This will put your request on the bottom of the pile. The follow-up call is especially important when you send your package to the Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC. Our documents were authenticated within two days, but sat on someone's desk for three more days until we called and asked if they were completed and mailed back. The people at the Chinese embassy said, "Oh did you want us to mail them back in the FedEx envelope you provided?" In terms of INS, call the appropriate office one month after you send your documents. The I-171 should not take more than two months, but you may have make some follow-up calls. If you cannot get through any phone number they provide you then call the next phone number in numerical order, e.g. if the number they give you is 555-1267, then call 555-1266 or 555-1268; chances are this is the next desk or next office. State very nicely that you have been trying to get through to the other number for days and ask if there is another number you could try. We always got a direct phone number using this approach. Also contact your Congressional Representative's office and let them know what you are doing just in case you need their help. You will have to sign a waiver of the privacy act and write a few sentences as to what you are doing. No big deal and these people have been helpful to a lot of adopting families.
B. Waiting to go to China
In many ways this is worst part of the process. You have sent all the documents to Beijing and are just waiting. You no longer have the document collection process to keep you busy, so time just drags by.
While you are waiting however there are a couple of things you can do. First off, JOIN YOUR LOCAL FCC CHAPTER! Get to know the folks and their children. We have found FCC to be a tremendous resource. Right now, it is for fun and getting to know new people. After you return from China it will be for fun and showing off your new child. But as your child grows, FCC takes on a whole new dimension. It may be the only place where your children can talk to other children who joined their families the same way from the same place. Your children will have some difficult issues to face and having life-long friends with whom they can talk to may make it easier.
And guess what? You can get ready for the trip. We have provided a list of what we took with us in an appendix to this document. Some of the over-the-counter drugs were not needed, but who knows when they will be. An important part of your packing will be the "small gifts" that in our opinion must-must-must be taken with you to China. Again, check with your agency as to their recommendations. Some agencies pool resources from all families travelling together while some agencies forbid small gifts. The definition of "small" is size, not price. The deal is that the gifts may be given to several people but must be small enough to be given without receiving a lot of attention. These gifts are simply that, gifts of appreciation for helping in our adoptions. Much the same as when you go to someone's home, or someone helped you with a difficult project. We gave "small gifts" to about 15 people. We took 8 one pound boxes of USA-made chocolates - these were quite a hit. The best gifts we took however were small jewelry boxes each of which contained three silver or gold bracelets. These were found on the discount tables of Strawbridge and Clothier (an east coast Macy's-like store) jewelry section and cost about $15-$25 each - not expensive but very well received. Another hit were the inexpensive $20-$40 watches that are in the same section of the store. You could also consider cosmetics, fancy panty hose, pen & pencil sets, cigarettes, souvenirs typical of your town, etc. On our second and third adoption trips, we also received small gifts from the officials in China, thus proving that these are as stated above, simply thanks to friends for helping.
So get your gifts, get your packing completed, get the child's room together, and wait for the referral - that is all you can do! When you are considering your flight plans, keep in mind that you can take your daughter into Hong Kong without a visa for up to 7 days, so you can plan a visit to Hong Kong on the way home. It is an interesting city. Also remember that you will be returning to the United States with a citizen of the People's Republic of China. You will think of her/him as your child, but the world still sees the child as a PRC citizen. Therefore, do not try to stop-over in Taiwan or Canada or another country - you will not be permitted entry. In fact, if you use EVA you better make your connection in Taipei or you will be sleeping in the boarding area as you cannot enter Taiwan.
Not much else to tell you about the waiting period. Keep in touch with your friends and whomever you have picked as comfortable people to use as a support group. Waiting is a bear and talking to others does help. By the way when making airline reservations, make sure you tell them you are going to adopt - it may get you better seats. At the minimum they will tell you that you must buy your child a lap ticket costing 10% of the return fare once you are in China for the return trip if your child is under two or a full fare ticket if she is over two.
Do not forget to get your US dollars together for the donation to the institute, notary fees, etc. If you are going to a large city like Shanghai you can probably take travelers checks and cash enough each day to keep up with the expenses. If you are going more "in country" we recommend you take cash - in a money belt or around your neck. Remember that many adopting parents meet their child and must provide the donation within hours of landing in China leaving no time to cash travelers checks.
At the end of this document, we include a suggested packing list. It’s meant to get you started thinking about what you’ll need and NOT as the definitive list.
C. In China
Great - now you have your referral, your travel approval, and your flight leaves in hours!!! Excitement and fear are normal emotions to have at the same time during the trip. The airports are pretty calm. Customs is trivial and declaring anything is a joke. We declared several cameras and large sums of cash and the officer said, "OK go on." Your interpreter should be there to meet you, but if not taxis are extremely cheap, in Shanghai 1.60 Yuan/km for a small car up to 2.0 Yuan/km for a normal size car. Remember to change at least a few $100 US into Yuan at the airport as you will need them for taxi, food etc. Get to your hotel, get settled, and then collapse if possible. The roller coaster is about to begin.
Many things have changed since we first adopted in 1994 and even after our last adoption in 1998. So, if you read the next section, read it for fun and for an idea of what will happen. This was our experience in October of 1994, November of 1996, and September of 1998 – yours will probably be slightly different. But as stated, what we want to provide is a flavor of the journey, not the exact scenario.
The first step in China is usually to go to the Adoption Center Office of the Civil Affairs Bureau to be interviewed, then to the Welfare Institute to see your child, pay the donation fee, and take her back to the hotel with you. In our case, the first meeting in the Adoption Center Office was trivial and we really did not say anything. We were told it would be OK to adopt and we left. We then went to the Welfare Institute and were seated in a small room. Robin was brought to us and we were asked, "Do you love this baby?" We were lucky - we saw Robin and decided in about 10 milliseconds that she was to be our daughter forever. So we filled out some forms including one that listed her new name (therefore decide on her American name before you go to the Welfare Institute), obtained receipts for the donation, and one of us had to write a paragraph about why we were adopting from China and what our responsibilities were to our new child. In this paragraph, you can say that you want a daughter rather than a son (if you are adopting a female), that adopting in America is difficult, that you will provide an education and a good life for her, that she will be in your legal will to inherit your assets, that you will teach her about her Chinese heritage, that you will never abandon her, and that you will treat her as if she were your own. You will be given a new health report on your child at the Welfare Institute. Most of it will be in Chinese, but some may be translated. If you are interested, weight, height, and head circumference charts for Chinese girls which we received from the University of Minnesota International Adoption Center can be found at http://www.fwcc.org/growthchart.html. This may also be of help in deciding what size clothes to take to China if you know the age of your child.
The next step is to go back to the Marriage Records and Adoption Center of the Civil Affairs Bureau. This is an informal meeting at which you will be asked questions that are in your dossier sitting in front of the questioner. Basically we were asked the same questions that we listed answers for in the paragraph written at the Welfare Institute. It really helps if you take a still camera and take pictures of the individual at the Adoption Center with your baby and say you will send copies of the pictures. Mrs. Yang in Shanghai brought out three books of photographs showing all of the babies she has placed in homes in North America and Europe. She was very proud of the work she has done and asked that we also send pictures as our children grow up. In Shanghai, this is a fun place since it is also the Marriage Records Office, so it is filled with new brides and grooms. They actually perform ceremonies in this office as well as the adoption paperwork. We were told that Mrs. Yang worked very hard and put in a lot of overtime to get our paperwork ready so would we mind paying for her overtime – it amounted to 300 Yuan which is just about $38US. We also paid the adoption registration fee of $140US and the interpreter fee of $150US and another $100US for who knows what.
It will take about two days for the paperwork from the Marriage Records and Adoption Center Office to reach the Notary's Office. When it gets there, you will see the Notary to fill out more paperwork and have yet another interview at which time you will be asked the identical questions as before - you should by now be able to answer the questions even before they are asked. In Shanghai, the Notary is Mrs. Zheng Qi who is extremely pleasant and very efficient. She asked our names, dates and places of birth, square feet size of our home, annual income, place of work, occupation, why we were adopting, if we had other children, if we were ever previously married and if so were there children, and did we know the responsibilities involved in adopting a child – the answer to this is the same as that stated above. The Notary fee was $200US. This step is supposed to take 7-10 working days. We were then told to go have fun for a few days as there was nothing else to do until the Notarial Certificates were completed. We recommend that you stay in the city or at least close by so you can check on messages left at your hotel. This is because, although they said it would take 7-10 working days to get the Notarial Certificates, ours were finished in 2½ days.
Finally, you go to the Notary's office to pick up the Notarial Certificate certifying and finalizing the adoption, the notarized birth certificate, the notarized statement of abandonment (if the Welfare Institute will not tell where your daughter was found this document lists the location and the date when she was found), the notarized health certificate for travel (good only for travel in China, this is not the health certificate for Guangzhou). Read the English translation carefully; these are required documents to get the US entry visa in Guangzhou. If you do not get an abandonment statement, you may have trouble getting the US visa.
After you leave the Notary's office, you go to the Security office to apply for your child's passport and exit visa. Ask your interpreter if the Security office will include in the passport a statement on an Observation page such as, "The name of the bearer of this passport is also spelled Jane/John Doe." This will make it easier to get the US Visa and green card in your daughter's new name. Also you can start using the new name on plane tickets, etc. The passport should take two days to receive. If your interpreter says it will take longer, ask if you can pay the expediting fee, similar to expediting fees in the US.
As soon as you get back to the hotel, make your flight arrangements for Guangzhou. We recommend in order of preference: Shanghai Air, China Southern, China Eastern. Fly first class if possible because in coach you are only permitted one piece of luggage each with a weight limit of 20 Kg (44 lb.). In first class you are permitted two carry-ons and the weight limit for checked luggage increases to 30 Kg (66 lb.). Moreover, the line at the first class window is almost non-existent whereas the one at the coach window seems to contain every other Chinese citizen. The difference in price is not much – for example from Shanghai to Guangzhou in coach was $112US/person and first class was $150US/person.
When you find out what time you will land in Guangzhou, call the US Consulate to make your interview appointment for your child's entry visa into the US (currently the agencies are doing this before you leave for China). Last if not done already, make your hotel reservations for a two night stay in Guangzhou. We recommend that you stay in the White Swan Hotel which is right next door to the US Consulate and is where many US adopting families stay. It is quite a hotel with good service, good food, and some nice shops. It is $140US/night but actually when you include the room surcharge and the mandatory traffic construction surcharge it becomes $172US/night (many adoption agencies can book this for $99US/night). The White Swan Hotel also offers a pretty nice feature in that they will pick you up at the airport and whisk you and your luggage away in a shiny new Mercedes Benz. The charge for this service was $24US (actually charged as 140 Hong Kong dollars, exchange rate as of 11/94 = $0.17US). The advantage is that Guangzhou is one of the only cities in China where crime is actually a problem. More importantly, they will get you to the hotel, and therefore to the US consulate, quicker. To get the pick-up service you must fax them your name, date and time of arrival, and flight number – no phone orders accepted.
During the two days it will take to get your child's passport and exit permit, if you have not done it already, now is a good time to get her US Consulate health certificate filled out and to get her US visa picture taken. The US visa picture is an angle picture – you should have precise instructions that were sent to you directly from Guangzhou before you left for China. They are very picky about this picture. We took a picture that was angled too much to the side of the head and had to have it re-done in Guangzhou. This is not a problem because there is an instant photo shop three blocks from the US consulate. If you happen to be in one of the cities that has an approved hospital for the US visa health certificate – do it there as it will save you time in Guangzhou. Again it will not be a problem in Guangzhou because the health clinic is close to the US consulate.
D. The trip home
OK, two days have passed and you've received your child’s passport and exit permit. Get out while the getting is good! Make sure you tell the taxi driver or shuttle driver that you want the domestic terminal. It seems that most drivers assume all westerners want the international terminal. The airport scene is simple especially if you bought first class tickets. The coach lines are chaos, but the first class line is non-existent. Check your luggage, pay your airport tax fee, go through security, and see if there is a first class lounge. There was one in Shanghai and they served coffee, tea, etc. and provided a quiet place to sit, feed Robin, change her, etc. They also let us know when our plane was boarding. Again the coach line was chaos but first class was empty. It is only an extra $80-100US for two people and the convenience and lack of all hassle was well worth it.
When you arrive in Guangzhou, go to baggage claim and either look for a young lady holding a sign with your name on it (if you booked the car from the White Swan) or go outside and we guarantee a taxi driver will find you. Get to the hotel, check in, dump your bags, and relax. When you need to get to the consulate, go out the back door of the hotel (opposite of registration) turn left and walk the distance of about two city blocks. You cannot miss it as it will have a bunch of people standing outside waiting for their turn to go inside for a US visa. Do not wait in this line, but go to the side door and show them your US passports – you will be buzzed in (a word of caution, although thefts are rare, please know that a US passport is worth about $60,000US on the open market). Go inside the main building, sign in, and go up to the second floor. Make sure you take all of the paperwork on your child that you have been collecting. Also you will need to have an I-600 (blue sheet) and a visa application filed out. If you do not have these, they will give them to you at the Consulate. In addition, you will need the child's health certificate (the one sent you by the US Consulate) filled out by an approved hospital and a visa picture. They will take you to another room and conduct the interview. All they asked us was if the Shanghai people and the Shanghai Children's Welfare Institute were helpful, clean, etc. They also wanted to know a little about how we did the adoption since we were independents. We showed them the original letter from Beijing and a couple of other documents. They'll tell you the visa application is approved and send you outside and around the corner of the building to pay the $200US visa fee.
Now you are ready to make your final plans to go home!!!!!! Our return flight originated in Hong Kong at 10:00 AM. Because we did not trust the any airline to get us to Hong Kong in time to catch an early flight and also because we wanted to see a bit of Hong Kong – we made plans to fly out the next morning and stay one night in Hong Kong. On the ground floor of the White Swan is a ticketing office that will make your flight arrangements for you and charge the cost to your hotel room. The cost of the tickets on 11/94 was $66US/person. Flights leave at something like 8, 10, and noon. There were no afternoon or evening flights – at least not when we were there. It takes about an hour to get to the airport and you need to be at the airport about an hour or so early. The White Swan has a free airport shuttle service that is very convenient. At the airport, the first step is to pay the airport tax BEFORE you check in at the counter. Finding the counters can be tricky if your flight is not the next one. There are four counters and they are for particular flights. Ask at the information desk or simply wait near the only counters visible until someone puts up the placard listing your flight number. Then check-in, go over to the change money counter and change your Yuan for either Hong Kong or US dollars, and go into the immigration area. Find the declaration forms and fill them out for all three of you including your child. Have the adoption documents and US entry visa very accessible as they will ask for these. It is all very friendly and easy. As soon as someone in the room noticed two westerners with a Chinese baby, the immigration people sent an English speaking official to check our paperwork. It took about a minute, then he said go through aisle number 1 and we were on our way to luggage check, past security, and into a large waiting room. Finally, board the plane and believe it or not you are on your way home. If you are anything like us, you'll be ecstatic. China was interesting and quite an adventure – but we wanted to get home with our daughter.
After you land in Hong Kong, which is only a 35 minute flight, you go through customs then get one of the carts available to put your luggage on; they are free and easy to use. In terms of where to stay in Hong Kong, we took the easiest approach and stayed at the Regal Airport Hotel which is at the old Hong Kong airport; we made our reservations from the White Swan. The new airport also has a Regal which should be very nice. The Hong Kong Sheraton is also was extremely nice. If you want to see Hong Kong - the Bell Captain of any hotel can set you up with a tour of the city for $33US/person. It lasted for about five hours and was fun – for an extra $6/person we even got a 30 minute sampan boat ride through Aberdeen.
E. Home!
Next stop is the USA! On the plane, you will fill out one declaration form for the entire family and one I-94 entry card for your daughter. We are not really sure if the I-94 was necessary but it is easier to fill out a few lines of words on the plane than at the customs counter. After you get off the plane, you go through the non-US citizen line. We landed at Newark non-stop from Tokyo and it was not too bad. The lines were really long because seven 747's from overseas all landed at the same time. However, one of the customs agents took all of the people with babies out of the line and directly to the customs counter. So – we suggest you look really tired and have the baby seem a bit fussy; it may work! The customs counter thing took about a minute and then you are sent to the immigration and customs room – you know the one you always thought was for drug dealers and smugglers? Well it is, but it is also for your new daughter. This goes OK as it only took about 30 minutes. The problem was that the room was filled with people waiting and nobody would tell us how long it would take or for what we were actually waiting. However, it did not take long – apparently they bump US citizens to the top of the list – and they stamp your daughter's passport with the I-155 stamp right there and then! This is the green card. The actual green card should arrive in about 3 months, but then again with the new citizenship law will probably never arrive.
Now that you are in the US, your child is an automatic citizen. Time will tell how easily this will work and if you need or want a Certificate of Citizenship.
The last step is a State Birth Certificate. A lot of this depends on whether or not both of a two-parent household traveled to China. If only one parent traveled, then you will need to re-adopt in the US. If both traveled, then no problem. After receiving our daughter's Declaration of Citizenship, we took copies of all the standard documents to our State's Vital Records Office and ordered United States-style birth certificates. For New Jersey, all it required was $6 and copies of the Declaration of Citizenship, adoption decree, Chinese birth certificate, our birth certificates, marriage license, and Suzanne's maiden name. We received a new birth certificate for Robin in 2 weeks. I would suggest that you wait until US Citizenship is secured if you live in New Jersey. For some strange reason, they stamp the birth certificates with "by adoption" if your child is not a citizen and do not stamp it if she is a US citizen. We are very proud of our daughter's heritage and adoption, but quite frankly do not need every person signing them in for soccer over the next 15 years to yell – oh you were adopted! This is our children's story for them to tell when and if they wish. Social Security number is also easy and can be obtained immediately. You need the standard list of documents, but your child does not have to go to the Social Security office with you.
Several people have told us that it is a good idea to re-adopt your daughter in the USA. We do not know all of the pros or cons of this, but it does sound like a good idea. And, we did.
By the way, if you are reading this just after you returned from China, after about a week at home, your daughter will adjust to the new time zone and life will become normal, but wonderfully hectic.
HAVE FUN!
Sample Packing List
Here's a list of what we took to China with us on our first trip in 1994. We were gone 17 days including air travel and Hong Kong. Robin was with us for 14 days and was 6 months old. We pretty much stuck with these items for the next two trips to China, too.
For Robin
Medicines:
Pedia Care cough medicine (didn't use it)
Infalyte (didn't use it)
Cortisone for kids (used for small sores on the back of her head)
Ear syringe (didn't use it)
Oragel for baby (didn't use it)
Neosporine (used for small sores on the back of her head)
Children's Tylenol elixir (didn't use it)
Infant Tylenol liquid (used for teething, 2 drops on bottom teeth)
Rectal thermometer (important because Robin had a fever one night)
1 cc syringes (very useful, we had to give Robin i.m. antibiotics)
25g needles (ditto, see syringes)
25g butterfly (didn't use it)
Nose aspirator (didn't use it)
Eye dropper
Oral syringe
A&D medicated ointment - 2 tubes (diaper rash disappeared within days with this)
Accessories:
80 #2 Huggies UltraTrim diapers (should have brought two bags - we bought more there)
72 #3 diapers (too big, did not use)
150 scented diaper disposal bags (these were great)
4 boxes of baby wipes, 84 each (two would have been plenty)
Johnson's Baby Bath, 1 bottle (should have brought a small bottle)
Baby lotion, 1 bottle
Baby nail clipper (very very important)
ALL-free detergent for Robin and us (worked great)
12 cans (14 oz) of ProSoBee dry formula (20% of Asians are lactose intolerant, we gave two cans away to a family that ran out of formula and only came home with two cans)
Thermos to cool water in the room and to keep boiled water for daily travels (very important)
Bottle to carry cooled water (can use empty bottled water bottle)
3 pacifiers (useless for us)
2 bottles to be used with liners (lifesavers)
250 bottle liners (ditto, see above)
2 extra nipples (get high flow nipples)
120 Wash n' Dri's (worked great, get antibacterial)
Q-tips
comb and brush (didn't use it)
Sara's Ride to carry baby (essential, necessary, do not leave home without it)
Rattles - three all soft (didn't use it)
One musical bunny (she didn't like it)
One book of games for infants and toddlers (didn't use it)
Diaper bag (essential)
Teething ring (useless for us)
6 cloth diapers (essential for lots of stuff)
Clothes:
3 receiving blankets
1 crib blanket
5 pajamas
4 onesies (take more, we were always running out)
6 "outfits" (9 and 12 month size)
1 jacket
2 bibs
1 hat
10 pairs of socks
2 pairs of "booties" (not necessary but will keep the local Chinese happier)
1 snow suit (not necessary but we could not resist)
For us:
Immodium AD (didn't need it!!)
Sine-aid
Tylenol
Campho-phenique
Pepto-bismol (didn't use it, thank goodness)
Maalox (lots, remember you are dealing with bureaucrats)
Band-aids, selection of sizes
Contact (didn't use it)
Kleenex tissues (useful as toilet paper when you're on the road)
5 rolls of toilet paper (we used them - even the nice hotels had lousy toilet paper)
Extra long supply of any prescription drugs
Color print film
Voltage converter and plug adapters
Swiss army knife
Travel clock/alarm
Lots of video tape
Camcorder
5 days of casual clothes, wash clothes every 4 days, don't need dressy clothes
Food:
20 packs of oatmeal
20 packs of cup of soup
200 packs of sugar (didn't use it)
18 packs of cocoa
20 bags of tea
57 bags of coffee (the coffee bag singles are easy and pretty good)
It may seem silly to bring this kind of food, but it was really helpful. Some nights we just did not feel like dealing with meals, especially when we first got Robin and we were getting to know how to work as a threesome. It also made mornings very easy when we had early appointments with some official and were hungry but needed to get Robin fed, changed, etc. Lastly, a cup of oatmeal and cup of coffee made by us was about $20 less than room service in some hotels. All of the hotels provide either a constant supply of boiling water or have in room water heaters. We brought the sugar because we heard Robin might be used to sweet food, but she didn't want sugar in her bottle.
For the orphanage we took a duffel bag stuffed with:
17 toys
crib and receiving blankets
as many clothes of small, medium, and large that we could cram in - we concentrated on easy on/off outfits like onesies and footed pajamas
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