Paperwork. I only thought I had a mountain of it to do before little Lilah came along. Not that I'm minimising the 'before' paperwork part, because it was HUGE! I've just forgotten, a little. There's something to be said for time passing and a fading memory! Today was a rainy day, our swimming lesson was cancelled because of a pool fouling incident? Don't know how or why, but it sure sounds gross. Anyway, I like rainy days to a certain extent, I get things done that I wouldn't normally. And those 'things' are not running around with an umbrella jumping in puddles, although we did that too, and it was very fun. I digress. Moving on to paperwork stuff, but first a photo of my sweet girl singing in the rain today. I absolutely adore her, truly.
Six Month Placement Report:
Check. We met with our social worker on July 7th to discuss Lilah's progress and how we were all adjusting. We passed that exam, especially when Lilah fell asleep in her Baba's arms, so sweet. Even though we met with our social worker in July, we didn't have all the required documents we needed to submit our 6 month placement report until last week. That's how long it took the Ophthalmologist to send the paper, showing Lilah's clean bill of eye health, to our GP. I'm thrilled that it's all in our agency's hands now. Phew. Canadian Citizenship:
Half Check. I can't believe it took me this long, but I finally got Part 1 of Lilah's citizenship papers mailed away today. It's the easy part, just verifying that we (as Lilah's parents) are indeed Canadian. Hopefully it won't take long until we get the letter that says, 'sure you are, now go ahead and file Part 2'. That being said, I need to start working on Part 2, so I'm all set to go when the letter arrives. Currently Lilah has a Chinese passport and a Canadian permanent resident card, so we can't leave Canada without a visa. (Oh how I miss those mini-spur-of-the-moment vacations to the States!) When Lilah becomes a Canadian citizen she will have to give up her Chinese passport, which to me is sad. Colin and I are dual citizens, British and Canadian. I can't imagine giving up my passport, particularly for the country I was born in. Oh well, I guess there are laws for a reason. Name Change:
When Lilah gets her Canadian citizenship certificate, (they say it takes about 9 months to a year), we will then have to start the process to legally change her name. She is still officially Dong, Xiao Tong. All those first hospital and doctor appointments we had together, we would almost miss our turn because the receptionist would call out Xiao. Believe me, not a lot of people know how to pronounce Xiao (shee'ou), myself included, for a while! And just in case you're wondering, here's a link with an audio on how to pronounce it. It sounds beautiful. Canadian Passport:
After citizenship and the name change is done, then we get to apply for her passport. I don't think it'll be this year, hopefully next?! British Citizenship & Passport:
This will be more paperwork for another rainy day, once all of the above is complete.
Check. We met with our social worker on July 7th to discuss Lilah's progress and how we were all adjusting. We passed that exam, especially when Lilah fell asleep in her Baba's arms, so sweet. Even though we met with our social worker in July, we didn't have all the required documents we needed to submit our 6 month placement report until last week. That's how long it took the Ophthalmologist to send the paper, showing Lilah's clean bill of eye health, to our GP. I'm thrilled that it's all in our agency's hands now. Phew. Canadian Citizenship:
Half Check. I can't believe it took me this long, but I finally got Part 1 of Lilah's citizenship papers mailed away today. It's the easy part, just verifying that we (as Lilah's parents) are indeed Canadian. Hopefully it won't take long until we get the letter that says, 'sure you are, now go ahead and file Part 2'. That being said, I need to start working on Part 2, so I'm all set to go when the letter arrives. Currently Lilah has a Chinese passport and a Canadian permanent resident card, so we can't leave Canada without a visa. (Oh how I miss those mini-spur-of-the-moment vacations to the States!) When Lilah becomes a Canadian citizen she will have to give up her Chinese passport, which to me is sad. Colin and I are dual citizens, British and Canadian. I can't imagine giving up my passport, particularly for the country I was born in. Oh well, I guess there are laws for a reason. Name Change:
When Lilah gets her Canadian citizenship certificate, (they say it takes about 9 months to a year), we will then have to start the process to legally change her name. She is still officially Dong, Xiao Tong. All those first hospital and doctor appointments we had together, we would almost miss our turn because the receptionist would call out Xiao. Believe me, not a lot of people know how to pronounce Xiao (shee'ou), myself included, for a while! And just in case you're wondering, here's a link with an audio on how to pronounce it. It sounds beautiful. Canadian Passport:
After citizenship and the name change is done, then we get to apply for her passport. I don't think it'll be this year, hopefully next?! British Citizenship & Passport:
This will be more paperwork for another rainy day, once all of the above is complete.
I so love the image of the two of you running around in the rain jumping in puddles. Can I come join in?
ReplyDeleteUmmm..."Pool fouling incident"? Ewwww...
Ahhhh...paperwork. I'm glad you're slowing making your way through it. Is it a lot of work to get her dual British/Canadian citizenship?
Just when you think the paperwork is done, there's more. It sounds like it's much easier here, Kerry already has her citizenship papers. I love the picture of Lilah playing in the rain. We've had a lot of that here this week, as well.
ReplyDeleteGin =)
I love that umbrella shot of Lilah--so beautiful!
ReplyDeleteLove this photo!
ReplyDelete