Special Humanitarian Parole Program for Haitian Orphans Draws to a Close at Request of Haitian GovernmentUSCIS Update

WASHINGTON – The Haiti government has requested that the United States provide them with a final list of orphans being considered under the Special Humanitarian Parole Program for Haitian Orphans. As a result, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will stop accepting new requests for consideration under the special program as of April 14, 2010, and will resume regular processing of intercountry adoptions.

USCIS believes the vast majority of adoption requests for orphans who meet the criteria of the special program have already been submitted. Since January 18, USCIS has authorized parole for more than 1,000 orphans under the special program, and as of April 5, approximately 340 cases are still being considered. The unprecedented program included safeguards to ensure that each child granted parole was truly available for adoption and had been matched to a suitable U.S. citizen for adoption.

In response to the emergency situation in Haiti following the January 12 earthquake, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano authorized the use of parole for two specific and limited groups of Haitian children:

Children who either had full and final adoptions completed by their U.S. parents before the earthquake and who were legally confirmed as eligible for intercountry adoption by the government of Haiti.

> 2010 > April Christianity Today, April, 2010 | |

WHERE WE STAND

210 Million Reasons to Adopt

Haiti's devastating quake reminds us that orphans matter to God.

A Christianity Today editorial | posted 4/07/2010 08:57AM

Dad of Madonna's adopted daughter Mercy saving money to fly out to see her

By Emily Miller and Stewart Maclean 7/04/2010

The dad of Madonna's adopted daughter Mercy yesterday insisted he has quit his homeland because he is desperate to earn money to visit her.

James Kambewa, 25, left Malawi amid claims from locals that he faced possible underage sex charges after it was revealed Mercy's mum was only 14 when she became pregnant.

But James, now working as a shopping centre security guard in Durban, South Africa, rubbished those allegations and added: "Now I am in South Africa I can earn far more.

Change in Processing Timeline for Adoption Cases in Ghana

April 7, 2010

The U.S. Embassy in Accra, Ghana wishes to advise adoptive parents of procedural changes that may increase the processing time for some adoption cases. Adoptive parents should be aware that an I-604 (Determination on Child for Adoption, sometimes referred to as “orphan investigation”) must be completed in connection with every I-600 application. Depending on the circumstances of the case, this investigation may take up to several weeks or even months to complete. Therefore, adoptive parents should not plan to travel to Ghana until they have confirmed with the U.S. Embassy that their visa interview appointment has been confirmed.

Prospective adoptive parents and adoption service providers are reminded that a consular officer is required, by law, to complete a Form I-604 (determination of orphan status) before issuing a visa in all IR-3 and IR-4 adoption cases. In some cases this may require only a conversation with the birth parent, but in others it may require a full field investigation possibly lasting several weeks. Since verifying the parent-child relationships in Ghana is difficult, we also expect that in some cases where the child was relinquished by the birth parent, DNA testing will be recommended in order to establish a blood relationship between the adopted child and claimed birth parent(s).

Adoption agencies are encouraged to submit case paperwork to the U.S. Embassy for review before the Embassy schedules the immigrant visa appointment. In some cases the I-604 determination could take several weeks or more from the time a case is submitted to the U.S. Embassy to the scheduling of a visa interview appointment. We understand that in such cases this will result in a longer period before parents are able to bring their adopted children to the U.S. However, this additional scrutiny is required to ensure that the adoption is legal under both U.S. and Ghanaian law. The U.S. Embassy will work with adoptive parents and their adoption agency to ensure that each case is processed in the most expeditious manner possible in accordance with laws and regulations. Families should continue to work through their agency and the Embassy to schedule immigrant visa appointments and answer questions regarding pending cases.

'Miracle' comes full circle with reunion of Haitian baby and parents

By Elizabeth Cohen, CNN Senior Medical Correspondent

April 6, 2010 -- Updated 1914 GMT (0314 HKT)

Nadine Devilme and Junior Alexis are all smiles after being reunited with their daughter, Jenny.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Cambodia Eyes March 2011 ReOpening

CIC not prioritizing adoption

Tova Krause Grindlay, North Shore News

Published: Sunday, April 04, 2010

Dear Editor:

I am upset by a few aspects of your March 28 story Wrapped in Red Tape and Trapped in Africa with respect to Citizen and Immigration Canada's reaction to international adoption cases.

Home > Life & Style > Real Lives

Dare we risk allowing parents time to fail?

Published on 20 Apr 2010

Stephen Naysmith

We give parents a reasonable chance, but if they can’t get it together, we can’t have children paying the consequence of that.

The Irish Times - Monday, April 4, 2011

Minister seeks to reopen Vietnam for Irish adoptions

JAMIE SMYTH

THE GOVERNMENT will begin talks on securing a new administrative agreement with Vietnam shortly to help reopen the southeast Asian state for Irish couples pursuing intercountry adoptions.

An estimated 200 Irish couples seeking adoptions in Vietnam were left in limbo following a decision by the government last year to suspend all adoptions from the country. The suspension, which was announced in January 2010, followed international concerns about the process of adopting children from Vietnam.