you're not going to believe this, but...

WE HAVE TRAVEL APPROVAL!!! That means we'll travel around May 1, if all goes well...

..."if all goes well" includes of course the assumption that the Consulate will allow us to keep our appointment with them. This morning, they informed our agency that they don't have any of our information on file. The good folks at the CIS (Center for Immigration Services) were supposed to cable the Consulate a document called a "Visas 37"--it confirms that we've been approved to pursue citizenship for our boy. Without it, they don't have the verification they need, including our fingerprints, to finalize the process.

What does it all mean? Well, this morning it meant that I had 24 hours to come up with some action before the Consulate would cancel our appointment. If they did that, it would mean we'd have to wait for another Travel Approval to be issued. One hour of trying to call the visa processing center passed, then another of trying to reason with officials at the CIS. Then our agency's local office called with some helpful ideas, and where did I wind up but on Senator Lamar Alexander's phone line!

Now, I've never spoken with the Senator. I've been glad in the past to see him support the President's package for AIDS treatment in Africa--in fact, my plan was to call his office today or tomorrow to express my support for that bill, a 5-year plan, to be renewed for many many reasons. But, as it happens, I found myself asking for help with expediting this visa thing.

I was told to send an email to the Senator's office with our necessary information and precise wording about the situation. I sent that, and now we wait. I'll give it two days before I start new phone calls. When I copied the email for the Senator to our travel coordinator in St. Louis and Caseworker # 3, they both said "Excellent" and the travel coordinator indicated that would be enough to hold our appointment at the Consulate for now.

For now...