As I was reading what Derek has posted previously I realized that the majority of you may not know what some of the abbreviations are for certain things. The US government is notorious for acronyms, as is most of corporate America. So I thought I would define a few of the terms for you.

USCIS - United States Citizenship and Immigration services
BCIS - Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (formerly the INS)
I-600A form - Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition (application to be a parent)
171H - Approval of Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition (approval to be a parent)
I-600 - Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative (form to say, "Yup, this kid is mine!")
SW - Social Worker (the guy officially stating we will be fit parents)
AIA - Alaska International Adoptions (the agency facilitating our adoption)

There are so many others. I will keep you updated as they arise.