U.S. CIS Issues New Warnings on Guatemala. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services has issued new warnings concerning Intercountry Adoption from Guatemala. CIS points out that the Guatemalan government, not the U.S. government, is in charge of adoption cases which were in process but not completed before December 31, 2007; in CIS's words: "It is the responsibility of the proper Guatemalan authority, and not USCIS, to determine how Article 56 and other provisions of the new Guatemalan law will be applied to a specific adoption case." (boldface in original). The CIS release also reiterates that in process families that wish to have their CIS documents processed under the I-600/I600A system must have filed with CIS prior to April 1, 2008 and must continue to keep their CIS documents up to date. inally CIS reminds potential adoptive parents that the situation in Guatemala will remain in flux after April 1, 2008, when the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption becomes effective in the U.S., and that the U.S. government might not be able to approve adoptions from Guatemala thereafter. More Information.

1-29-08

Center for Adoption Policy Alert: The following is a CAP Alert on a matter of importance to the adoption community.

Department of State Issues New Warnings on Vietnam. The State Department has issued warnings to Prospective Adoptive Parents about beginning adoption processes in Vietnam. American adoption from Vietnam is governed by a Memorandum of Agreement negotiated between the American and Vietnamese governments in 2005; it is due to expire in September 2008. There is no certainty that the agreement will be renegotiated and if it lapses, adoptions from Vietnam will stop. As the State Department explains, "We do not know whether the Government of Vietnam will continue to process pending cases if the current Agreement expires before a new Agreement takes effect. Moreover, given concerns about the existing level of protection for children in Vietnam, it is unlikely that the Agreement can be renewed in its current form." The reference in the last sentence relates both to the State Department's concerns about corruption and Vietnam's failure to publish a fee schedule, as agreed to in the 2005 MOA. More Information.

January 28, 2008

For More Information contact: the Center for Adoption Policy www.adoptionpolicy.org. Contact person: Diane Kunz, Executive Director, Center for Adoption Policy.

Vital Information

CIS Filings: The provisions of the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption will begin to guide U.S. adoptions to and from Hague nations in April 2008. At that time putative parents will begin using the new I-800 and I-800A fillings which will supersede the I-600 and I-600A forms for Hague adoptions. Families who have previously filed with Citizenship and Immigration Services and paid the requisite fee will be grandfathered under the I-600 system. Such grandfathering is advantageous because it will take some time for the new system to be fully operational. During the start-up period we can expect delays in the time frame of Intercountry adoption.

For that reason it is strongly urged that 1) any U.S. citizen contemplating an adoption to or from a Hague country file an I-600A immediately with his or her local CIS office, including the appropriate fee; and 2) any potential parent who has already received an I-171-H ensure that the approval and fingerprints are kept current because any lapse will result in the petitioner losing his or her grandfathered status.

January 14, 2008