Speculation

It is very natural, and common to try and predict when you will finally hold your new child in your arms. Initially I didn't give it too much thought since I was busy enough with two little girls and knew that the USCIS process was unpredictable for the most part therefore no guarantee that we could have those final three documents off to China at any certain time. The very vague guess I initially had was the end of April which did come true. Now that my friend reusing her dossier with our agency received her Letter of Acceptance yesterday I feel a little more comfortable predicting. Funny thing is, our agency sent their monthly newsletter yesterday and mentioned a 6 to 8 month timeframe from LOI / DTC to travel. My friend who is a mere two months ahead of us expects to travel in 2 to 3 months after waiting 57 days for her LOA. That puts us at travel around 4 to 5 months from now barring any delay in receiving LOA. I'm not saying that won't happen, but I don't see a delay of more than a month or so and with the CCCWA getting more used to this new process I actually expect LOAs to speed up, not slow down. So my prediction is that we will travel either in September or October with a possibility of having to wait until after the October trade fair. The good thing about starting out in Shanghai is that we can avoid the trade fair initially by going to Shanghai during the final week of the trade fair which takes place in Guangzhou and then finishing up after the trade fair ends. My money is on September, though! Having her before her birthday on the 22nd would be ideal!