July 13, 2005
Tyler's US Visa Approved

This morning following breakfast all the parents in our adoption group met in the hotel lobby for the "red couch" photo. This is sort of a tradition with families adopting from China. All of the babies are lined up on a red couch for a group photo. This was an interesting logistical challenge, but we all seemed to pull it off okay. We also staged a group photo in front of the waterfall inside the White Swan hotel where both parents and babies got in on the action.

Immediately following the photo shoot, we went to the US Consulate right down the street from the hotel in Guangzhou to get Tyler sworn in for his visa. Typically, this is done individually but because these adoptions are so common in Guangzhou, the Consulate does the ceremony for groups of adopting parents. The Consulate does not allow any cameras, water bottles, backpacks, fanny packs of any kind inside the building. This was the result of the security measures taken at embassies in response to 9-11. So, we were not able to get a photo of the babies getting sworn in.

Now we are all set for Tyler to return to the US. Once he goes through immigration at LAX he will officially be an American citizen! There is one more step which follows this that allows Tyler to get a US birth certificate and that is called "re-adoption". We will begin this process once we return to the States and get Tyler settled in.

The visa ceremony took place late morning so this left the rest of the day to do what ever we like. The day pretty much was uneventful and Alana and I spent it with Tyler playing in the Swan Room at the hotel. We also did a little 'last minute shopping'. Dinner was as uneventful as the rest of the day and included take out food from the local noodle house Shamian Coffee Shop. Here Alana and I can eat for $5.00.

The rest of the day was primarily spent packing up our belongings for the trip home.

Below are some pictures we took of Tyler throughout the day.

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