EP!

We got an unexpected call from Holt this morning.  Sam has been submitted for an emigration permit!  I can finally put something new on the timeline and no more moping around feeling sick about the whole situation.  We are finally making progress!

We were told just a few weeks ago that it was unlikely that anyone would be submitted for EP until September at the earliest so this was a major surprise!  Much praise goes to Holt-Korea for pushing hard for getting more families submitted before the new adoption rules kick in for August.  Because of their hard work we are grandfathered in under the original rules and we shouldn't have to worry about delays caused by the impending changes.  And no worries about not making it under the yearly quota.  It's like a large weight has been lifted off of us.

So the next step is the EP has to be approved by the Korean government.  Then Sam gets a visa physical and gets submitted for a one way travel visa.  Once the visa is issued then he is ready to travel. Time from EP submission to travel call in the past has taken a month and a half to two months.  I think in our case it will take longer just because there have been so many submitted for EP in such a short period of time.  So it looks like fall or early winter.  We'll see how it shakes out.  If there's one thing I've learned it will be unpredictable.

For now we'll celebrate this milestone!