I-800A approval! and a catch...

We submitted our I800A mid November, and got fingerprinted December 10.  Due to some recent postal delivery issues in our neighborhood, we had become concerned (I was plain worried) that our approval might have been lost.  So, after consulting with our agency, I gave USCIS a call, and immediately got a very friendly person who was happy to help look it up! Apparently we have been approved! Praise God! So very, very thankful to hear this! The only catch is...our approval letter is not here yet...and the mail has already come today, chuckles...

When the letter arrives, DV, I need to get a copy of it notarized, then certified by the county clerk, then certified by the state, then authenticated by the US Dept of State,  and finally a sealed by the Chinese Embassy.  This is the last document for our dossier, and then, God willing, it is off to China! (the homestudy will be traveling with it too, as cost wise I was waiting to do them together.)

Now we need to decide if I should take it all to DC myself, or use a courier. Courier service takes at least a week, and therefore is much slower, but, its a long, long drive! Last set of documents we did ourselves and it was very smooth and super quick. Hmm.