Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Two DOS Adoption Notices for Lesotho Published Today

DOS has published two Adoption Notices concerning Lesotho today. One concerns adoption agencies wishing to assist with adoption from Lesotho and the other concerns information for families looking to adopt. Lesotho has become a Hague Partner Country and the Hague Convention will enter into force on December 1, 2012 for adoptions from Lesotho. Recent adoption statistics from Lesotho show a small number of adoptions each year: FY 2011- 10; FY 2010 - 11; FY 2009 - 2; FY 2008 - 1; FY 2007 - 0; FY 2006 - 4. We caution adoption service providers and prospective adoptive parents against overwhelming the country's new Hague program with an abundance of applications.


Lesotho
October 31, 2012 
Notice: Ministry of Social Developing Accepting Applications from Hague Accredited Adoption Service Providers that Wish to Facilitate Adoptions in Lesotho
On June 18, 2012, the Kingdom of Lesotho deposited its instrument of accession to the Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption Convention (Hague Adoption Convention) with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the NetherlandsOn August 24 the Kingdom of Lesotho designated the Ministry of Social Development as the Central Authority for the Convention.  The Hague Adoption Convention will enter into force for Lesotho on December 1.

The Ministry of Social Development, Lesotho’s Central Authority under the Hague Adoption Convention, is accepting applications from Hague accredited adoption service providers who wish to facilitate the adoption of eligible Mosotho children by qualified U.S. citizen prospective adoptive parents.  The Government of the Kingdom of Lesotho wishes to select an adoption service provider who meets the following criteria:
  • Hague accredited;
  • Experienced in helping the sending country establish and run a successful domestic adoption program;
  • Experience working in Africa;
  • Experience working in a country with a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS; and
  • Experience working in a country of orphaned and double-orphaned children.
Interested adoption service providers may submit their application, or direct inquiries, directly to:

Mrs. Limakatso Chisepo
Principal Secretary
Ministry of Social Development
Parliament Road
Maseru 100, Lesotho
Telephone:  226 58038783
Email:  selloaneqhobela@yahoo.com
Please continue to monitor adoption.state.gov for updated information.

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

Thursday, October 25, 2012

DOS Adoption Notice: Taiwan - PAIR Process

Taiwan
October 25, 2012 
 
Notice: United States and Taiwan to Discuss Implementation of a Pre-Adoption Immigration Review (PAIR) Process
 
From September 17–24, 2012, a joint Department of State and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) technical team traveled to Taiwan to discuss the intercountry adoption process between Taiwan and the United States.  The team met with the Taiwan authorities regarding the possibility of implementing a Pre-Adoption Immigration Review (PAIR) process.  This process would provide Taiwan courts with information regarding the child’s likely eligibility to immigrate to the United States before the court enters an order establishing a permanent legal relationship between the U.S. citizen parents and the child.  Taiwan authorities indicated a desire to implement the PAIR process in Taiwan soon.

The PAIR process would provide systematic safeguards for prospective adoptive children and parents.  Under PAIR, USCIS reviews a child’s eligibility to immigrate to the United States before a final adoption order or custody order transfers rights to adopting U.S. parents.  Such a review can prevent situations in which U.S. families cannot bring their adopted child to the United States.  Additionally, the PAIR process will minimize the possibility of long separations from the child after the adoption or custody decree is issued while waiting for the U.S. authorities to review the child’s immigration eligibility.  However, per U.S. law, the definitive finding of the child’s immigration eligibility would still be made at the time of the adjudication.

To implement PAIR, Taiwan authorities intend to require all licensed adoption service providers operating in Taiwan to submit evidence to the Taiwan courts in each adoption case that USCIS has conducted a PAIR review.

If Taiwan authorities make this procedural change, USCIS will implement a process to allow prospective adoptive parents to obtain a PAIR determination before submitting adoption cases to the appropriate court in Taiwan.  Specifically, the PAIR process would allow prospective adoptive parents adopting from Taiwan to file their Form I-600, Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative, with all supporting documentation except the final adoption decree, with USCIS before filing their case with the courts in Taiwan.  After reviewing the child’s immigration eligibility, USCIS would issue a preliminary determination to prospective adoptive parents of the child’s immigration eligibility.

USCIS and the State Department will continue to update the public of any new developments on PAIR processing in Taiwan.

http://adoption.state.gov/country_information/country_specific_alerts_notices.php?alert_notice_type=notices&alert_notice_file=taiwan_1


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

DOS Adoption Alert: Honduras

Honduras
October 25, 2012 
Alert: The Honduran Adoption Authority, Instituto Hondureño de la Niñez y la Familia (IHNFA), has Resumed Normal Operations
This alert updates the alert published on October 17, 2012 regarding the temporary closure of the Instituto Hondureño de la Niñez y la Familia (IHNFA), due to a labor strike.  U.S. Embassy Tegucigalpa confirmed that as of Friday, October 19, 2012, the strike ended and IHNFA is operating normally.  Prospective adoptive parents with cases currently pending with IHNFA are encouraged to seek updates on their cases from their adoption service provider.

http://adoption.state.gov/country_information/country_specific_alerts_notices.php?alert_notice_type=alerts&alert_notice_file=honduras_1


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

Updates from Philippine Adoption Authority (ICAB)

The Australian Central Authority under the Hague has published the following information on its intercountry adoption web pages. Please note that despite the fact that the Australian government states this information was made available to all Central Authorities in September 2012, the US DOS has not published any updated information concerning the Philippine program since the winter of 2011.  For US families and agencies considering a Philippine adoption program, PEAR recommends that you contact the US DOS Office of Children's Issues to confirm the information provided in the statement below. Phone: 1-888-407-4747; 202-501-4444    E-mail: AskCI@state.gov


Key points:
The Intercountry Adoption Board of the Philippines (ICAB) has:
  1. introduced a quota system
  2. lifted its moratorium on adoption applications for children below the age of 25 months, and
  3. revised their definition of an 'older child'.
Details:
Introduction of a quota system
ICAB has advised all of its partner organisations of the introduction of a new quota system.

ICAB has advised each organisation, including each of Australia's State and Territory Central Authorities, of the number of:
  • applications they may send to ICAB over the remainder of 2012 and in 2013, and
  • adoption placement proposals they may expect from ICAB in 2012 and 2013.
ICAB plans to re-assess the quota for 2013 in March 2013.

Through this quota system, ICAB aims to reduce waiting times to an average of 1.5 years by ensuring the number of applications received from a partner organisation does not exceed the average number of placement proposals made through that organisation.

NOTE: The quota system does not apply to applications to adopt a child with special needs, an older child or a sibling group. Please also note the information below regarding ICAB's revised definition of 'older child'.

For more information about the quota in your jurisdiction, or about adopting a child with special needs, please contact your State or Territory Central Authority.

Lifting of moratorium
ICAB have also advised that they have lifted the moratorium on adoption applications for children below the age of 25 months.

This means that, subject to the quota system outlined above, ICAB will now accept applications from Australian families approved to care for children aged 0-24 months.

The moratorium was introduced in 2009 in response to the large number of applications ICAB had received to adopt children aged under the age of 25 months, compared to the relatively small number of children in this age group in need of overseas families.

Definition of 'older child'
ICAB have revised their definition of an older child.

Previously, a child was considered to have special needs on the basis of age if they were over 8 years old.

ICAB have advised us that a child who is over the age of 6 will now be considered to have special needs on the basis of age.

Please contact your State or Territory Central Authority if you have any questions about the changes to the Philippines program.

http://www.ag.gov.au/Intercountryadoption/Whatsnew/Pages/default.aspx#PhilippinesSept12

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

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

DOS Adoption Notice: Colombia's revised procedures for determining children's eligibility for intercountry adoption

Colombia
October 22, 2012 
Notice: Colombia's revised procedures for determining children's eligibility for intercountry adoption
 
Colombia's Institute for Family Welfare (ICBF) recently announced revised procedures for determining a child’s eligibility for intercountry adoption, which may affect some adoptions involving U.S. families. This process is known in Colombia as the “re-establishment of rights.” ICBF implemented these new procedures as a result of a November 2011 Constitutional Court ruling that ICBF was not fully considering the rights of, and opportunities for placement with, biological and extended families before placing a child for domestic or intercountry adoption.

To comply with the Constitutional Court decision, ICBF has been reviewing approximately 1,300 declarations of adoptability to ensure they meet the revised procedures. ICBF has identified a number of cases in which the adoption eligibility determination for a child does not meet the new standards. ICBF has placed an administrative hold on these cases until it is satisfied that the adoptability determination is evaluated as to whether there might be an extended family member who could care for the child.  ICBF will notify prospective adoptive families that have been matched with children whose cases require evaluation. For privacy reasons, ICBF cannot inform the prospective adoptive families of the specific reasons for the review, and ICBF cannot offer any guarantee of the final outcome of the review.

As of September 2012, the U.S. Embassy in Bogota is aware of six instances involving U.S. families whose adoption proceedings required review; one adoption has since been finalized. These reviews represent a small percentage of the total number of intercountry adoptions between Colombia and the United States, and the Embassy continues to work with ICBF to encourage timely resolution. Families who learn that their adoption has been placed on hold should inform the U.S. Embassy in Bogota by contacting IVBogota@state.gov.

In addition to these formal reviews, both ICBF and the Colombian family court system appear to be scrutinizing proposed adoptions more carefully. Prospective adoptive families may experience delays while ICBF evaluates a family’s suitability before finalizing the match with an available child. The issuance of the adoption decree by a family court judge may also take longer than in the past. Families should anticipate spending six to eight weeks in Colombia to obtain the final adoption decree. Given these delays, the Embassy strongly advises all families with less than three months’ validity left on USCIS fingerprint results to make arrangements with USCIS (NBC.Hague@dhs.gov) to update these before traveling to Colombia to complete the adoption.

The Department of State will provide 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. E-mail inquiries may be directed to AdoptionUSCA@state.gov.

http://adoption.state.gov/country_information/country_specific_alerts_notices.php?alert_notice_type=notices&alert_notice_file=colombia_1

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

Thursday, October 18, 2012

DOS Adoption Alert: Haiti Update


October 17, 2012 
 
Alert: Update On Haiti's New Adoption Procedures
 
This alert updates the Department of State’s September 14, 2012 notice pertaining to Haiti’s new administrative adoption procedures.

Haiti’s adoption authority, Institut du Bien-Être Social et de Recherches (IBESR), has postponed the effective date of the new administrative adoption procedures from October 1 to November 5, 2012.  Although these new procedures are part of the Government of Haiti’s efforts to become a Hague Adoption Convention partner, Haiti is not yet a party to the Convention.  The U.S. government will continue to process visas for adopted children under the non-Hague system until the Convention enters into force for Haiti.

IBESR has indicated that it plans to process adoption applications for which a completed file is submitted to IBESR prior to October 31* under current adoption procedures and cases filed on and after November 5* under the new procedures.  Since November 1-4 is a long holiday weekend in Haiti, IBESR’s offices will be closed those days.

Under the new procedures, IBESR plans to counsel the child’s biological parents and to obtain their pre-consent to adoption of their child.  This pre-consent will be a prerequisite of IBESR’s adoption authorization.  Prospective adoptive parents will likely be required to work with a U.S. Hague accredited adoption service provider that has been authorized by the Government of Haiti to participate in adoptions involving Haitian children.

Note that with the new procedures, IBESR plans to oversee matching of the child with the prospective adoptive parents.  These procedures may prohibit prospective adoptive parents – except in cases of intra-family adoptions – from establishing contact with the child they are seeking to adopt before they are officially matched to that child.  For further clarification on IBESR’s requirements, please work closely with your adoption agency or facilitator.*

The U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince continues to seek clarification on the new procedures and the information in this update is subject to change.  Please refer to our website adoption.state.gov for updates on adoptions in Haiti.

http://adoption.state.gov/country_information/country_specific_alerts_notices.php?alert_notice_type=alerts&alert_notice_file=haiti_4

*Emphasis added by PEAR

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

DOS Adoption Alert : Honduras - The Honduran Adoption Authority, Instituto Hondureño de la Niñez y la Familia (IHNFA), is Currently Closed due to a Strike


October 17, 2012 
 
Alert: The Honduran Adoption Authority, Instituto Hondureño de la Niñez y la Familia (IHNFA), is Currently Closed due to a Strike
 
As of October 2, 2012, employees of the Instituto Hondureño de la Niñez y la Familia (IHNFA) are on strike and IHNFA is closed.  The IHNFA is Honduras’ Child Welfare Authority and as such, it oversees adoptions.  IHNFA provides referrals to prospective adoptive parents and approves adoption applications.  At this time, due to the strike, the IHNFA is not performing these functions.  It is unclear how long the strike might last.  Please note that the Honduran Family Court is operating normally at this time.

The U.S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa is monitoring the strike.  Department of State and USCIS officials in Tegucigalpa will continue to accept and adjudicate complete Form I-600 adoption petitions and immigrant visa applications.

Please monitor adoption.state.gov.  We will provide more information as it becomes available.  Prospective adoptive parents are also encouraged to seek clarification on their individual cases from their adoption service provider.

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

Monday, October 15, 2012

DOS FAQs: Bilateral Adoption Agreement with Russia October 15, 2012

FAQs: Bilateral Adoption Agreement with Russia October 15, 2012





Q: Why is there a Bilateral Adoption Agreement with Russia?
Each year, thousands of children find loving, nurturing homes through intercountry adoptions, and the lives of thousands of American families have been enriched by welcoming Russian orphans into their homes. Although the vast majority of U.S. adoptions of Russian children have resulted in positive experiences for everyone involved, there have been several tragic cases. As a result, in April 2010, the U.S. and Russian governments began negotiating the Agreement between the United States of America and the Russian Federation Regarding Cooperation in Adoption of Children (the Agreement) to strengthen procedural safeguards in the adoption process between the United States and Russia.

Q: When was the Agreement signed?
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov signed the Agreement on July 13, 2011, in Washington, D.C.
Russia required ratification. The Russian Duma approved the Agreement on July 10, 2012 and the Russian Federation Council approved the Agreement on July 18, 2012. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the Agreement into law on July 28, 2012.

Q: When will the Agreement enter into force?
The Agreement will enter into force on November 1, 2012 following the exchange of diplomatic notes between the U.S. and Russian governments. A copy of the joint statement on the Agreement’s entry into force date is available on the website of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.

Q. Does entry into force mean that all provisions of the Agreement will apply as of November 1, 2012?
Certain provisions in the Agreement only apply if required by either the United States or the Russian Federation. The provisions regarding new authorization procedures for adoption service providers in Article 5 and pre-processing requirements in Article 10 will not take effect as of November 1, 2012 as these new requirements may only be established following entry into force of the Agreement under Russian law. Please refer to the below Q&A’s for more information on the anticipated timeline for effectiveness of these provisions.

Q: What if my case started before entry into force?
Prospective adoptive parent(s) whose documents are registered at a Regional Authority in Russia at the time of entry into force are not affected by the terms of the Agreement and may complete the process under the current (pre-Agreement) procedures. The Russian government will compile a list of all prospective adoptive parent(s) whose documents have been registered at the time of entry into force on November 1, 2012.
Prospective adoptive parent(s) working with a non-Hague accredited U.S. adoption service provider whose documents were not registered at a Regional Authority in Russia at the time of entry into force will be required to identify and use the services of a Hague accredited adoption service provider that is authorized to provide services in Russia if they wish to continue with their adoption. That new U.S. Hague accredited adoption service provider will be required to submit
documentation confirming that they have taken responsibility for working with the family to carry out their obligations in completing the adoption.

Q: Does this mean that the United States does not want Russia to join The Hague Intercountry Adoption Convention?
No. The United States continues to believe that the Hague Adoption Convention includes the best available procedures for processing intercountry adoptions. The United States continues to encourage Russia to join the Convention. The United States and Russia negotiated the Agreement in order to promote stronger safeguards for adoptive children and parent(s) in the intercountry adoption process between our two countries. The Agreement incorporates several fundamental principles of the Hague Adoption Convention.

Q: Whom does the Agreement cover?
The Agreement will cover adoptions to and from the United States and Russia. It applies to children up to the age of 18 who are citizens of and habitually resident in one country, and who are adopted in their country of origin by spouses habitually resident in the other country (at least one of whom is a citizen of that country), or by an unmarried individual who habitually resides in and is a citizen of the other country.
Prospective adoptive parent(s) should also be aware that the Agreement only covers adoptions where both spouses, or the individual (if unmarried), have seen and observed the child in person prior to adoption and personally participated in the decision-making procedures by the court issuing the adoption decree.

Q: Will the Agreement change U.S. visa processing for adopted children?
The Agreement will not significantly affect visa processing for children adopted from Russia. The processing of an adopted child’s U.S. visa occurs after the adoption in Russia and the approval of the orphan petition (Form I-600, Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative) by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Information on how to adopt from Russia is available on www.adoption.state.gov.

Q: What will change in how USCIS processes petitions as a result of this Agreement?
USCIS must ensure that the laws of the country of origin are followed in adjudicating a Form I-600 Petition. At the time of entry into force, the Agreement will have the effect of establishing new legal requirements in Russia, and USCIS will review each petition to ensure that the requirements have been met and the various provisions become effective. The following provides an overview of the most significant changes:
New Independent Adoptions Prohibited
Effective immediately upon entry into force, the Russian government will no longer permit prospective adoptive parent(s) to begin new independent adoptions (i.e., adoptions where the prospective adoptive parent(s) elect to act on their own behalf without facilitation by an adoption service provider), unless a child is being adopted by a relative. (Relatives, for the purposes of the Agreement, are defined in accordance with Russian law.) After entry into force, USCIS will only be able to approve Form I-600 petitions for independent adoptions grandfathered under Article 17 of the Agreement or for adoptions in which the child is adopted by a relative. Please refer to the Q&A on adoptions initiated prior to entry into force for more information.
A New Pre-approval Process, Effective on or about March 1, 2013
The Russian government intends to establish and require a new pre-approval process as described in Article 10 of the Agreement. This process will not be required immediately upon entry into force and will not apply to cases grandfathered under Article 17 of the Agreement.
Under Russian law, the new pre-approval requirement may be established only following entry into force of the Agreement. The Russian government plans to establish this requirement and expects it to become effective on or about March 1, 2013. Following Russia’s establishment of a pre-approval requirement, cases involving Russian children being adopted by U.S. prospective adoptive parent(s) whose adoption documents were not registered with the Regional Authority in Russia at the time of entry into force, will be required to undergo a pre-approval process with USCIS after the match but before the Russian adoption is completed. Prospective adoptive parent(s) in these cases will be required to present the Russian courts with a document from USCIS confirming pre-approval to be able to complete the adoption in Russia.
To implement pre-approval, USCIS will require prospective adoptive parent(s) to file their Form I-600, Petition to Classify an Orphan as an Immediate Relative, before completing the adoption procedures in Russia. USCIS will provide further information on the new filing procedures and how the new process will work as soon as possible, and in advance of March 1, 2013.

Q: How will the Agreement affect U.S. adoption service providers’ ability to work in Russia?
This Agreement will add no additional accreditation or authorization requirements under U.S. law for adoption agencies seeking to provide adoption services in Russia.
Under Russian law, new authorization requirements may be established only following entry into force of the Agreement. The Russian government has assured us that it plans to establish new authorization requirements for adoption service providers and expects them to become effective on or about March 1, 2013. On the date of entry into force, as an interim measure, the Russian government will consider all U.S. adoption service providers which are currently authorized to provide adoption services in Russia and which are U.S. Hague accredited to be authorized (pending implementation of the new authorization requirements). These agencies may continue processing both existing and new cases. The Department of State has agreed to provide the Russian Ministry of Education and Science with the list of U.S. adoption service providers accredited or approved in the United States to provide services under The Hague Adoption Convention, as a means of confirming their Hague accreditation/approval.
Non-Hague accredited U.S. adoption service providers operating in Russia prior to entry into force of the Agreement will not be able to initiate any new cases following November 1, 2012. However, these agencies may continue processing those cases that were registered at a Regional Authority in Russia at the time of entry into force.
Following the Russian government’s establishment of new authorization requirements, authorized adoption service providers will have 60 days to submit additional information required under the new regulations to continue providing adoption services in Russia. The Ministry will make a decision about an adoption service provider’s authorization within 30 days of receiving the required information. Adoption service providers that do not submit the required documentation for re-authorization within 60-days of Russia’s establishment of
new authorization regulations will lose their authorization to provide adoption services in Russia. These adoption service providers will be allowed to apply for re-authorization after one year.
After entry into force, adoption service providers seeking authorization to begin providing adoption services in Russia will need to meet the requirements under the new authorization procedures. Adoption service providers may apply for authorization to provide adoption services in Russia at any time, but the Ministry of Education and Science encourages new adoption service providers to wait until after the implementation of the new authorization procedures to do so. Under the Agreement, the Ministry of Education and Science must make a decision about a new adoption service provider’s authorization within 60 days of receiving the application.

Q: Does the Agreement impose any new or more stringent responsibilities on U.S. adoption agencies?
Yes, the Agreement allows the Russian government to establish several new or expanded requirements for adoption service providers to receive and maintain authorization to provide adoption services in Russia which are expected to become effective on or about March 1, 2013. Adoption service providers authorized to provide adoption services in Russia will need to meet the requirements established by the Russian Ministry of Education and Science or by Russian law in order to obtain and retain authorization to provide services in relation to intercountry adoptions in Russia. Adoption service providers will be required to submit documentation assuring that they will comply with certain requirements, including the following:
Post-adoption requirements
•    To inform prospective adoptive parent(s) of Russia’s adoption procedures and post-adoption reporting requirements (including in the case of a dissolution and/or subsequent placement of a child with another family);
•    To monitor the living conditions and upbringing of adopted children as required by the Russian government. The monitoring will have to be carried out at the family’s home by the authorized organization’s social worker, or by another licensed social worker or organization;
•    To provide periodic reports following an intercountry adoption to the Russian authorities. The reports will have to contain information about the child’s psychological and physical development and adaptation to his/her new life;
•    To confirm an adopted child’s lawful entry into the United States and the child’s acquisition of U.S. citizenship.
Adoption disruption and dissolution requirements
•    To notify Russian authorities and the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Children’s Issues as soon as reasonably possible if a case in which it provided services (even cases facilitated before the Agreement entered into force) is pending dissolution or has dissolved. The notification may need to include information on any proposed placement or new adoptive family, the expected (or completed) timeframe for the U.S. court’s decision (or any decisions reached by the U.S. court). At the same time, for cases still pending a court decision, the authorized organization may be required to request the consent or non-consent of the Russian authorities to the proposed re-adoption, and if a statement is provided by the Russian authorities before the re-adoption decision is made by the court, present the Russian consent or non-consent information to the court for its consideration.
Authorized organization requirements
•    To notify the Russian authorities and transfer any pending cases or post- adoption reporting responsibilities to another authorized organization in the event that an authorized organization chooses to cease operating in Russia or loses its authorization to do so.

Q: Is any part of the Agreement effective retroactively?
Under the Agreement, Russia may impose requirements on adoption service providers regarding the disruption or dissolution of adoptions which they facilitated and which took place prior to entry into force of the Agreement. For example, an authorized organization may be required to report a disruption or dissolution as soon as reasonably possible after it discovers that an adoption may be dissolved or has dissolved, regardless of when the intercountry adoption was completed.

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

DOS Adoption ALert: Russia Bilateral Agreement/Department of State and Russian Authorities issue joint statement on Adoption Agreement's entry into force

Alert: Department of State and Russian Authorities issue joint statement on Adoption Agreement's entry into force

A joint Department of State and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services team traveled to Moscow September 26 – 28 to meet with Russian officials to discuss implementing procedures for the Agreement between the United States of America and the Russian Federation Regarding Cooperation in Adoption of Children (the Agreement).  We expect to bring the Agreement into force on November 1, 2012.
A copy of the teams’ joint statement regarding these discussions and the Agreement’s entry into force date is available on the U.S. Embassy’s website.
 http://adoption.state.gov/country_information/country_specific_alerts_notices.php?alert_notice_type=alerts&alert_notice_file=russia_2

Copy of Joint Statement:
September 28, 2012
Officials of the United States and the Russian Federation met in Moscow September 26-27, 2012 to discuss the implementation of the bilateral Agreement Regarding Cooperation in Adoption of Children. The Agreement was signed in 2011 by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and in July 2012 it was approved by the Russian Federal Assembly.

The United States and the Russian Federation confirm their mutual preparedness to continue cooperation on an intercountry adoption process that provides better safeguards for adoptive children taking into account the interests and obligations of the adoptive parents.  Our goal is to bring the Agreement into force in a responsible way that gives parents, adoption service providers, and all other key stakeholders the necessary information in advance.


U.S. and Russian technical experts discussed a number of issues relating to implementing the Agreement and expect to bring the Agreement into force on November 1, 2012.  Additional information will be publicly available shortly from the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation and the U.S. Department of State, which are the executive bodies for this agreement.

http://moscow.usembassy.gov/pr_092812_adoptions.html

The DOS FAQs will be published in a separate blog entry shortly.


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