I'm in Hanoi right now

It took a month to get the I600 pre-approval. I traveled 6 weeks after that. But I have a friend whose agency has families traveling 9 days after approval, so it really depends on your agency. I arrived in Sagion on the 27th of Dec. G & R was on the 29th in Da Nang. We flew back to Saigon and stayed until this past Saturday. (Sorry I'm not sure what date it is anymore). We got our children's passports in Saigon also. We arrived in Hanoi on Saturday night. The visa paperwork was submitted on Monday. Today we had our interview and got the kids' visas. I can now leave Vietnam. I'm waiting to hear back from my travel agent to see if we can get a flight out. I'm scheduled to leave on Friday. My agency is all business and getting their families in and out. I'm praying I can leave tomorrow. Good luck.

For some reason flights are booked leaving Vietnam, which is odd when Tet is on the 25 or 26th. One family with me has been told there are no flights out for them.

Thanks, Amy. And all the people who got referrals right before the doors closed are still being processed, along with families that had to do DNA tests and other issues that might have come up with their cases.

Such great news! :cheer: I have also been following your story. Remind me how old she is and tell us all about her. What is the mood in Vietnam about continuing international adoptions with the US?

FBB, She will be 1 on the 21st. She's a tiny thing wearing 6 - 9 months (I think this was just so she could get her own wardrobe and not wear Sasha and Rowan hand-me-downs) and size 1 shoe. She smiles for her mommy, other people - well that's a work in progress. She can crawl, but can't sit up independently. She's got a delightful laugh and best of all she's mine! Mine! This beautiful girl is my daughter. I talked to our Hanoi escort and he says in his opinion, his also an ex-VN govt worker, it will be a while. He says the US wants everything very straightforward and laid out and that's not an easy thing for the VN govt. He says maybe with a new administration maybe talks can improve. He did say that VN trying to do adoptions like China and Korea is probably not the best fit for that country. He also said he thought those two programs might close down in the next few years. So take this info with a grain of salt and with the whole language barrier in mind.

Congrats and safe travels!

Thanks GCS. I'm glad to be back home and settling into things. I go back to work on Wednesday so real life will really kick in then.

Best of luck!!!

Thank you all for your well wishes and posts. Here's my little Layla

She is too sweet! Thanks for posting!

She is too sweet! Thank you.

Congratulations on your beautiful daughter :-)

Thank you!

Aw! She is so cute! How wonderful!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you. I completely agree with you. She's a doll in looks and personalities.