DoS Alert on El Salvador: Adoption Delays and Complications

El Salvador and the United States are parties to the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption ("Convention").  Therefore, all adoptions between El Salvador and the United States initiated after April 1, 2008, must meet the requirements of the Convention and the U.S. and Salvadoran laws implementing the Convention.

The U.S. Embassy in San Salvador continues to work with the Salvadoran Central Authority – the Public Defender’s Office (Procuradoria General de la Republica - PGR) – to ensure that intercountry adoptions comply with the requirements of the Convention and U.S. and Salvadoran law.  However, the U.S. Embassy in San Salvador continues to see both out-of-order and incorrectly processed intercountry adoption cases that are not in compliance with these requirements or valid for U.S. immigration purposes.  Adoptive families have encountered serious delays, additional expenses, uncertainty, and unexpected difficulties.  The Department of State therefore advises U.S. citizens to proceed with caution when deciding whether to adopt from El Salvador.

All U.S. citizens and Adoption Services Providers (ASPs) should consult with the U.S. Embassy prior to beginning the adoption process in El Salvador.  Those with adoption cases already underway should likewise consult with the U.S. Embassy.  The U.S. Embassy can provide background on the common problems that arise so that both ASPs and prospective adoptive parents (PAPs) can monitor their adoption case carefully to ensure that it is compliant with Convention requirements and valid for immigration purposes. 

Most adoptions in El Salvador take at least two years to finalize, and some have taken as long as eight years.  PAPs and ASPs should be prepared to work closely with the Public Defender’s Office for Adoptions (Oficina Para Adopciones – OPA) to ensure that their adoption case is following the correct path and meeting all legal requirements so that it will be valid for immigration purposes once the adoption process is finalized. 

To contact the Immigrant Visa Unit at the U.S. Embassy in San Salvador regarding a pending or future adoption case, please send an e-mail to adoptsansal@state.gov.

http://adoption.state.gov/country_information/country_specific_alerts_notices.php?alert_notice_type=alerts&alert_notice_file=el_salvador_1

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Ethics, Transparency, Support
~ What All Adoptions Deserve.
http://www.pear-now.org/

Update on Intercountry Adoptions in Guatemala

Joint USCIS-State Delegation to Guatemala

During the week of May 13, 2013, Special Advisor for Children's Issues Ambassador Susan Jacobs traveled with USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas to Guatemala for meetings with Guatemalan government officials of agencies directly involved in adoptions, including the Procuraduría General de la Nación (PGN) and the Guatemalan National Council on Adoption (CNA). They also met with members of the Supreme Court, the Ministerio Publico (MP), the Ministry of Social Welfare, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).  Their visit provided an important opportunity to meet recently-appointed Guatemalan officials and emphasize that the timely and transparent resolution of all the remaining pending transition adoption cases in the best interests of the children remains a top priority for the United States.

The meetings were also an opportunity to review the progress on completion of these remaining cases following recent administrative and personnel changes in the Government of Guatemala. In the last several months, the Guatemalan government has accelerated its completion of cases, and fewer than 100 pending transition adoption cases are awaiting resolution as of the date of this notice.  Since January 1, 2012, 28 cases have moved to CNA's Acuerdo process, and nine cases have concluded with the immigration of the adopted children to the United States with their U.S. citizen parent(s).  Fourteen cases have concluded with the child's reunification with a biological family member in Guatemala.

Officials at the PGN, which has the authority to complete the investigations in the pending cases, report having 52 cases in various stages of investigation.  The PGN has received renewed funding for its investigators, allowing them to continue their work with a goal of completing these investigations within two months.  PGN will then send any cases that cannot continue to completion under the notarial procedures to the Guatemalan courts for either adoptability decrees or family reunification.  According to the Guatemalan Supreme Court, there currently are no backlogs at the courts, so that legal process should proceed without delays.  The cases with court decrees will go to the CNA for completion of the adoptions through the Acuerdo process. 

The USCIS and Consular staff of the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala City are in constant communication with the Guatemalan officials responsible for adoption procedures.  U.S. Embassy staff monitor and promote Guatemalan progress in resolving the remaining cases by attending the semi-weekly meetings of the technical group where these authorities work through the cases. Prospective adoptive parents may contact USCIS directly at Guatemala.adoptions@dhs.gov, and the Immigrant Visa Unit of the Consular Section directly at AdoptGuatemala@state.gov, in order to inquire about the status of individual adoption cases.

http://adoption.state.gov/country_information/country_specific_alerts_notices.php?alert_notice_type=notices&alert_notice_file=guatemala_11

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Ethics, Transparency, Support
~ What All Adoptions Deserve.
http://www.pear-now.org/

South Korea Ministry of Health and Welfare Signs Hague Adoption Convention

“This signature will serve as a pivotal case ensuring the best interests of children born here to grow up in a family here as well, while taking responsibility of the safety and human rights of internationally adopted children to show our country’s will to realign our children’s rights standard to match the global standard, herein and abroad,” said Minister Chin Young at the signing ceremony. 

http://www.korea.net/NewsFocus/Policies/view?articleId=108341

The Convention has yet to be ratified and implemented.  For additional information and analysis, please see:  Signing Hague Convention: Implications and Challenges for Korea

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2013/05/197_136433.html


Ethics, Transparency, Support
~ What All Adoptions Deserve.
http://www.pear-now.org/

Oklahoma USCIS Notice Field Office Closure

Due to the devastating tornadoes that struck the Oklahoma City area, the following facilities will be closed on May 21:

• The Oklahoma City Field Office is closed.
• Oklahoma Application Support Center will be closed due to facility issues.  We will automatically reschedule all applicants to the next available appointment date.  We will process walk-ins on a case-by-case basis.

For updates, please visit: http://go.usa.gov/b3Ee

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Ethics, Transparency, Support
~ What All Adoptions Deserve.
http://www.pear-now.org/

DOS Alert: All Adoption Cases with the Ghanaian Department of Social Welfare are Subject to Suspension

Ghana 

May 20, 2013

The Government of Ghana has temporarily suspended processing of all adoption cases, including intercountry adoptions, pending Ghana's review of its current adoption procedures. All adoption cases which have not received final approval by the Ghanaian Department of Social Welfare are subject to this suspension.

At this time, adoption cases which have completed processing with the Ghanaian Department of Social Welfare, and are either before a Ghanaian court or have a completed adoption order, are unaffected by the suspension.  Urgent or emergency cases subject to the suspension can be referred directly to the Ghanaian Director of Social Welfare in Accra for consideration.

The U.S. Embassy will continue accepting orphan petitions and approving qualified visa applications of those cases not subject to the suspension.

The Department of State will continue providing updated information on adoption.state.gov as it becomes available. If you have any questions about this notice, please contact the Office of Children's Issues at 1-888-407-4747 within the United States, or 202-501-4444 from outside the United States. Email inquiries may be directed to AdoptionUSCA@state.gov.

http://adoption.state.gov/country_information/country_specific_alerts_notices.php?alert_notice_type=alerts&alert_notice_file=ghana_2

Ethics, Transparency, Support
~ What All Adoptions Deserve.
http://www.pear-now.org/