[susanandgrace]

We just went to an information meeting for a large China only adoption agency.

Just in case some of you are getting started, this is what they said

4 months for preperation (could be less) including homestudy and completion of dossier.

19 months until completion

23 month wait

However, they did say it could increase or decrease. They also answered a lot of course questions and relieved some of my concerns.

Anyway, just thought I would share!

[tbrown0428]

HI! I just sent you a PM!

[KarenInCa]

Thanks, I think the 19 month is a little optimistic because the current wait time is 19 months after DTC. Is your agency saying then, that the wait is expected to stay what it is now? Or were they giving you current info, for those currently next up for referrals?
Our agency said the wait from DTC to referral should be expected to be around 24 months, and that does not include prep time before DTC.

[Trace7]

Our paper chase took about 9 months (a little longer than most, yes - but lots of stuff was out of our hands during it so it wasn't our fault that it took so long), and we have been waiting to adopt for almost 18 months since LID, and I am quite sure we won't get our referral until we have been logged in for almost 21 months or possibly even almost 22 months, and people right behind us may wait even longer than that - and who knows about those logged in after them. So I would be quite happy if that "23 months" total were true - but in my case and many others who have a similar LID, it has not proven to be the case anymore.

[edensmommy]

Hi. We went to one of those meetings last summer and were logged in last month. At our meeting we were told the wait was about 13 months but could "fluctuate". After some research I learned that "fluctuate" could mean years not months. I am planning on a three year wait from our log in date and know that it could very well be even longer than that. The wait time right now may be 19 months but there is a huge backlog of dossiers waiting to be matched. Each month the wait increases. If you are interested in timeline projections and would like more information about why the wait is so long and expected to increase you may want to check out this web site:
www.chinaadopttalk.com

[jetgirl]

FYI, our paperchase took 6 months - it is highly dependent on your local USCIS. We did everything as quickly as we could on our end, but it was all waiting for that I-171H! I believe a more realistic estimate would be 4-6 mos for paperchasing, and then 19-24+ mos from DTC to referral. Not to discourage you, but I would like you to have all the info you need to make an informed decision. Good luck!

[Couchkat]

The dossier preparation time totally depends on your social worker, your USCIS, and whatever issues you may run into along the road. We had an unexpected change of job, a super slow USCIS, and a very hairy situation with my foreign birth certificate and it took us 8 months to compile the dossier.

However some friends were just DTC in two months.

[mjan]

We also expected our dossier to take 3 months to compile. Wrong. It took us 6.5 months, and I even drove our docs to the consulate for same day authentication. USCIS took longer than I thought it would.

[lovemybulldog]

A year ago when we attended our first meeting, they stated the wait for referrals coming in THAT MONTH at 12 months and even "way back then" stated that they expected waits to increase by about 2 additional weeks per month until the end of the year. Here, a year later, that's almost exactly right (except for the end of the year part...EVERYONE was so overly confident that things would speed up again).

I think some agencies quote to people wait times for referrals being received right then and not necessarily upfront in the beginning about how much time tables can change by the time they're LID. I think it's sad when they paint a glossy picture knowing darned well that most people who sign on that emotional dotted line have no idea yet that there's way more to the IA math than they realize. I know that not all agencies are like that, but it seems like there are some bad apples out there... as Lissa would call them "Dream Stompers!"

We took 6 months almost to the day from beginning of HS to LID. We wasted pretty much the entire month of December without doing much, so we technically could have gotten done in 5. We received our I171 H pretty quickly and we paid our agency to do our authentications, which was expensive, but saved me tons of time and stress. Worth every penny in my opinion.

[specialk4b]

Our paperchase took seven months, including preparing our application (I had just had knee surgery and they needed documentation that repair was successful).

I don't know what to say about the wait. I think the truth is that no one knows. Our agency says "the current wait is X and it could be longer or shorter for you"

Completely OT : Rachel, Margaux is growing so much. She's just precious!

[ttcasey]

Our paperchase took 3 months from start to LID, we were lucky that everything came together so quickly. We were told approximately 12-18 months from LID (this was last August) but could fluctuate. I can't even stipulate how long the wait will be. We are patient and busy so we will wait.

[NeshRoo]

Just adding my 2 cents. Our Paperchase took 5 months (and we didn't run into ANY snags, plus our docs were all easy to get). We were originally told to expect a 12 month wait, just today, our agency told us to expect to wait 24 months (after DTC), and realistically, we'll likely wait longer.
------------------
~Danesha

LID June 15, 2006 for #1!!
South Meets East

[Karen in MT]

We are LID 7-14-06. The paperchase was a few months. We were told 6 or 7 mo to referral. We are now 10 MONTHS LID today! We would have had her by now. We will wait. The months do roll by. It has been hard though to have a very big dream, quite out of your control. We believe in it completely though! To be a mother and father with your heart outside your body and in a different country......... Yikes! Blessings to all of you as we wait. -Karen

[mommy2B2Nina]

Our agency has a weekly update hotline we call every Monday and it still says 19 months to referral after LID.

[Trace7]

Originally Posted by mommy2B2Nina

Our agency has a weekly update hotline we call every Monday and it still says 19 months to referral after LID.

And that is currently actually still the case (those who get referrals in June will have waited 19 (or 18+ months). However, it is still growing from that timeline - does your agency only state the current time? Or do they comment about the future at all? Our agency always says they expect the wait to get longer than it currently is.