In Other News

I finally heard back from the USCIS--my petition was approved! I found out on June 3 that they had mailed my notice of acceptance on May 31, then I got it on June 4th. Apparently, the USCIS mails the approved petition to the Department of State, and then they review it and give it a new case number and mail it to the embassy in Manila. So the USCIS isn't Federal enough? Whatever. That should be 2-4 weeks they say. Then once the thing is in Manila, the actual visa can be applied for! As far as I know, that requires more piles of paperwork, much of it the same, but since some things are expired they must be acquired again. Blah. He fills out and gathers paperwork, gets medically examined, and has an interview and then we should be set for me to bring him home with me. I don't know really how long this phase will take but our newest (rather uninformed) goal is for the rather auspicious event to go down on or around August 17, 2011.