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The Federal government passed the Adam Walsh Act that requires more stringent criminal processing for applicants. The State of California has interpreted this change to mean that applicants must have an FBI clearance in addition to their California Department of Justice and their Child Abuse Clearance. In the past we have relied upon the FBI clearance done as part of your USCIS I-600A application. The State’s interpretation along with the Hague requirements that all criminal clearances must be done prior to home study submission does not allow us to avoid this. Sadly this means you will have to get two FBI clearances to get your approval.
We received notice from the US Embassy in Moscow that they will be changing their processing procedures for the I-600 approval. The task of approval has been the responsibility of the USCIS but had been passed on to the State Department employees stationed at the embassies. The USCIS will be reassuming this responsibility as of April 1, 2009 in Moscow. What this means to families presenting their adopted children for final approval and requesting visas to bring their children home is that they will have an additional step than those prior. We hope this will not mean delays but it could possibly lengthen your final trip. What families need to be aware of is that there will be more scrutiny of the medical issues, ages, gender, and number of chilldren matching their home study approval. If they do not match a home study update will be required and a new I-171H given by their local USCIS. We are currently working on procedures to streamline this process.
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