Archive for July, 2011

Update on adoption case processing by MOWCYA in Ethiopia

Tuesday, July 19th, 2011

The U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia has received information from the Ministry of Women, Children and Youth Affairs indicating that processing of cases that received a court summons prior to March 8, 2011 is still ongoing.  This exceeds their estimated 15-20 days to expeditiously process this caseload, as indicated in our April 5 notice.  The Embassy also understands that processing of cases with court summons after March 8 is proceeding at 5 cases per day, and there is no indication that these numbers will increase in the short term.

Prospective Adoptive Parents and parents awaiting final approval of their match from the Ministry of Women, Children and Youth Affairs are cautioned to anticipate continued and considerable delays and are encouraged to remain in contact with their agency for updates to their case.

Please continue to monitor http://adoption.state.gov/ for updated information as it becomes available.

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Adoption Notice: Vietnam

Tuesday, July 19th, 2011

June 15, 2011
Intercountry adoption is not possible from Vietnam at this time.  Adoption service providers and prospective adoptive parents should not seek or accept new (or potential) adoption referrals from Vietnam until an announcement is posted that the United States Citizenship and Information Service (USCIS) is again processing new I-600 or I-800 petitions for intercountry adoption in Vietnam. 

 In June 2010, the Vietnamese legislature passed a new adoption law which took effect on January 1, 2011.  The Vietnamese Prime Minister subsequently signed the new adoption decree on March 21 which took effect on May 8.  Vietnam continues their efforts to implement the new law and achieve Vietnam’s stated goal ratifying the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-Operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (the Convention). 

 Vietnam signed the Convention on December 7, 2010 and has expressed its intent to ratify the Convention in July 2011 which means that the Convention would enter into force (and Vietnam would become a party) in November 2011.  Under U.S. law, if/when Vietnam becomes a party to the Convention, the United States Central Authority (USCA) must evaluate whether procedures leading to the adoption of a child in Vietnam conform to the standards established by the Convention and the U.S. Intercountry Adoption Act (IAA). 

 The United States recognizes Vietnam’s initiatives as significant developments in the renewed commitment by the Government of Vietnam to strengthen its child welfare system and the integrity of its domestic and international adoption process.   Nevertheless, adoption service providers and prospective adoptive parents are cautioned that important steps must still be taken before Vietnam completes this reform process and before intercountry adoptions between the United States and Vietnam can resume. 

 The USCA cautions adoption service providers that they should not offer or appear to offer adoption services in Vietnam until specific adoption service providers have been accredited or otherwise approved by the Government of Vietnam.  In addition, under applicable U.S. regulations, accredited or approved adoption service providers may only provide services in a Convention country if the USCA has determined that the Convention country is compliant with Convention standards. 

 The United States welcomes Vietnam’s strong efforts to create a child welfare system and an intercountry adoption process that will meet its obligations under the Convention.  At this time it is not possible to estimate when adoptions between the United States and Vietnam may resume. 

Updated information will be provided on www.adoption.state.gov as it becomes available.

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Secretary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov Sign Adoption Agreement

Tuesday, July 19th, 2011

July 13, 2011

The Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security announced today, July 13, 2011, that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov signed a bilateral adoptions agreement that will strengthen procedural safeguards in adoptions between our countries.

This Agreement will provide additional safeguards to better protect the welfare and interests of children and all parties involved in intercountry adoptions. Under the Agreement, only adoption agencies authorized by the Russian government will be able to operate in Russia and provide services in adoptions covered by the Agreement, except in the case of an adoption of a child by his or her relatives. This will largely eliminate independent adoptions from Russia and create a better defined framework for intercountry adoptions between the United States and Russia. The Agreement also includes provisions designed to improve post-adoption reporting and monitoring and to ensure that prospective adoptive parents receive more complete information about adoptive children’s social and medical histories and anticipated needs.

The United States is committed to working with the Russian Federation on implementing the provisions laid forth in this Agreement as soon as it enters into force.

The Department of State will publish criteria, procedures, and clear guidance related to the Agreement on adoption.state.gov prior to the Agreement’s entry into force.

For additional FAQs on the agreement, please visit adoption.state.gov.

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Ukraine Adoption

Tuesday, July 19th, 2011

July 12, 2011

On July 8, 2011, the president of Ukraine signed an order which extends the State Department on Adoption’s (SDA’s) authority to process adoptions. We have been informed by the SDA that the order will not take effect until the order is published, likely within a few days. The SDA currently is not accepting adoption applications. According to the order, the SDA will have the authority to continue processing adoptions until the Ministry of Social policy is ready to take over as the new adoption authority in Ukraine. The Ministry does not yet know when they will be prepared to take over adoption processing.

We will continue to ask the Ukrainian government to resume adoptions as quickly as possible. We will also continue to encourage the Ministry of Social Policy to protect adoptions where U.S. prospective adoptive parents have already been approved by the SDA to adopt a particular child.

According to the SDA, there are approximately 139 U.S. families registered with the SDA, some of them already in-country. We will be following new developments closely to understand how they will affect the families currently in process and will be posting relevant updates. In that respect, we recommend that all American families that are currently in Ukraine or have appointments with SDA during the next few weeks send their contact information to the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine’s Adoption Unit at: kyivadoptions@state.gov. Families should contact their local adoption service provider for further updates and details.

Updated information will be provided on www.adoption.state.gov as it becomes available.

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Update: Democratic Republic of Congo

Tuesday, July 19th, 2011

May 13, 2011

  

Change to travel requirement for prospective adoptive parents


The U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa has been verbally informed by the Direction Generale de Migration in Kinshasa (Immigration Office) that a change in regulation will now require prospective adoptive parents to travel to the Democratic Republic of Congo to pick up their child in order to receive exit clearance.  This change has not yet been confirmed in writing, which the U.S. Embassy has requested through formal diplomatic channels, nor have any other details been released.

Prospective adoptive parents are encouraged to work with their agencies regarding details of any planned travel to bring their children home. The U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa will post any new information that becomes available.

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Adoption Notice: Ukraine

Tuesday, July 19th, 2011

April 29, 2011

SDA authority and adoption processing in Ukraine

 

On the evening of April 7, 2011, President Yanukovych signed a Decree transferring all functions of, the State Department for Adoption and Protection of the Rights of the Child (SDA– the current central adoption authority of Ukraine), to the Ministry for Social Policy.  We do not yet know how the implementation of this transfer will affect processing of adoption cases in the immediate future however the SDA is continuing to process current pending cases at present. 

We understand the Decree to amend the Ukrainian Family Code to reflect the transfer of adoption authority to the Ministry of Social Policy is currently in effect. However, the SDA has continued to carry out the functions of the adoption authority. We will continue to encourage Ukraine to ensure that adoptions between Ukraine and the United States are not interrupted as the Ukrainian Family Code is amended and the procedural and logistical aspects of the transfer is implemented. 

According to SDA, there are now 134 U.S. families registered with the SDA, some of them already in-country.  We are asking all American families that are currently in Ukraine or have appointments with SDA during the next few weeks to send their contact information to the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine’s Adoption Unit at: kyivadoptions@state.gov . Families should contact their local adoption service provider for further updates and details.  

 We will keep monitoring the situation and will provide updates as they become available.

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Adoption Notice: Update on Adoptions in Nepal

Tuesday, July 19th, 2011

April 22, 2011


Government of Nepal Announces Amendments to 2008 Terms and Conditions

On January 5, 2011, the Government of Nepal, Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare (MOWCSW) in its Notice No. 1 announced that children found by the police will not be available for intercountry adoption until further notice.  This and other amendments to the Terms and Conditions of 2008 may be found at: http://www.mowcsw.gov.np/inter-country-adoption-15-en.html. 

Nepal Forms New Government

On February 3, 2011, in the 17th round of voting, Nepali parliamentarians chose Jalala Nath Khanal as the new Prime Minister.  On the same day, Parliament passed a resolution censuring Sarba Dev Ojha, the most recent Minister of Women, Children, and Social Welfare, for negligence, lack of responsiveness, and violation of the parliamentary Committee on Women, Children, and Social Welfare’s rules.  On March 12, 2011, Khadga Bahadur Bishwakarma was appointed as new Minister of Women, Children and Social Welfare.  Bishwakarma previously held this same position from 2007-2009, during the Government of Nepal-imposed suspension of intercountry adoptions.

  

Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Janice L. Jacobs’ Visit to Nepal

Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Janice L. Jacobs visited Nepal on February 16-17, 2011. During her visit, she met with officials in the Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare and the Prime Minister’s Office.  They discussed the United States Government’s concern with the lack of integrity and transparency in the adoption system in Nepal.

 Assistant Secretary Jacobs encouraged the Government of Nepal to work with the international community, including The Hague Permanent Bureau, to implement The Hague Adoption Convention and reform its adoption process to protect children and families. 

 Assistant Secretary Jacobs noted that recent changes to the adoption process in Nepal are inadequate to address concerns about the origin of the children being matched for intercountry adoption.

 The U.S. suspension on new adoption cases involving  abandoned children will remain in place until substantive progress is made on the issues raised by a February 2010 Hague Convention report.

 Permanent Bureau meeting with Government of Nepal Adoption Officials in Rome

On March 29, a joint Department of State/U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services delegation attended meetings in Rome organized by The Hague Permanent Bureau (HPB) and the Italian Central Authority to discuss how to improve Nepal’s intercountry adoption and child welfare system.  Nepal sent representatives from the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare, and the Intercountry Adoption Management Committee.  The two-day meeting involved representatives from 12 major receiving countries (Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States) as well as participants from UNICEF and Terre des Hommes Foundation. 

  Update on Adoption Case Processing

Since the August 6, 2010 announcement that the Department of State and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) were suspending processing of new adoption cases from Nepal that involve children who are claimed to have been found abandoned, sixty four families filed Form I-600 petitions with the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu on behalf of their adoptive children. Of these, Embassy Kathmandu found six petitions approvable and sent 56 petitions to the USCIS office in New Delhi as “not clearly approvable.” One case in which the Form I-600 was recently filed with Embassy Kathmandu is under investigation by the Consular Section. USCIS approved one case after an initial review, and sent 55 families Requests for Evidence (RFE) asking for additional information in their case.  As of April 15, 2011, USCIS found those 54 petitions approvable after reviewing additional information submitted by the families. One petition remains pending.  Embassy Kathmandu has issued 46 immigrant visas to the beneficiaries of those petitions; the remaining families are in the process of finalizing their adoptions and applying for their adopted child’s immigrant visa.

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