Russia
January 24, 2013
Alert: Russian Supreme Court Letter on Implementation of Federal Law No. 272-FZ
On December 28, 2012, President Vladimir Putin signed into law
Federal Law No. 272-FZ. This law went into effect on January 1, 2013. It
bans the adoption of Russian children by U.S. citizens, bars adoption
service providers from assisting U.S. citizens in adopting Russian
children, and requires termination of the U.S.-Russia Adoption
Agreement.
On January 22, the Deputy Chairman of the Russian Supreme Court
issued a letter to city and regional courts explaining the
implementation of Federal Law No. 272-FZ. The letter states that for
adoption cases in which court decisions involving U.S. citizen parents
were made before January 1, 2013, (including those that entered into
force after January 1, 2013 following the 30-day waiting period), the
children should be transferred to the custody of their adoptive parents.
[Note: the original letter in Russian can be found at
http://www.supcourt.ru/Show_pdf.php?Id=8403; an unofficial English translation is available at
http://moscow.usembassy.gov/adoptions-supreme-court.html.]
We understand that several U.S. families have already obtained final
adoption decrees in accordance with this guidance. The Department of
State continues to strongly encourage U.S. families, in cooperation with
their adoption service providers, to seek confirmation from Russian
authorities that their adoptions will be processed to conclusion, prior
to traveling to Russia.
The United States continues to urge the Russian government to allow
all U.S. families who were in the process of adopting a child from
Russia prior to January 1 to complete their adoptions so that these
children may join permanent, loving families. U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services and the Consular Section at the U.S. Embassy in
Moscow continue to process Forms I-600, Petition to Classify Orphan as
an Immediate Relative, and immigrant visa applications for children
whose families have obtained all required documents as part of the
adoption process.
U.S. families in the process of adopting a child from Russia may continue to contact the Office of Children's Issues at
RussiaAdoption@state.gov.
The Office of Children's Issues will reach out directly to families as
additional information becomes available. Further information regarding
intercountry adoption from Russia will also be posted on
www.adoption.state.gov.
http://adoption.state.gov/country_information/country_specific_alerts_notices.php?alert_notice_type=alerts&alert_notice_file=russia_10
