So FINALLY, 9 days after our court day we received word that preliminary approval had been granted. One other couple from our group also received their's on Dec 26 while all others had already received their preliminary on Dec 20 or 23. Nothing like being last but just happy we got it!!
Great news as now we would be in the 14 day wait period before it could become a final approval. I know from the groups I am in with other families that 14 days on average really runs 18-20 days before you hear of final approval. So we're hoping our judge (whose a new judge) follows suite and comes in with our approval around January 13. Once final approval is given we must still have an appointment with the US Embassy to receive a visa for Benjamin.
We've decided to take a leap of faith (or risk) and head back to Seoul early to take custody and spend some time working through the transition while we we continue to wait. Today we found out that we can take custody of Benjamin on Monday, January 6!!! In 3 days we fly back to Seoul! In 6 days he will finally be in our arms! And then we hope in about 15 days we'll be on our way back home with him! We understand there are still a number of unknowns including how long this judge will take to grant final approval and how quickly they can get us a US Embassy appointment. But we'll be in Seoul, we'll be with out little guy, we'll finally be into the next phase of our journey!!
