Garden News
Do Lovely Things, Not Dream Them, All Day Long;
And so Make Life, and Death, and That for Ever,
One Grand Sweet Song ...
~ Charles Kingsley
U.S. EMBASSY IN
KIEV TO BEGIN IMMIGRANT VISA PROCESSING FOR ADOPTED UKRAINIAN ORPHANS ON APRIL
19, 2004
Beginning
April 19, 2004, the U.S. Embassy in Kiev will start processing immigrant visas
for orphans adopted by U.S. citizens in Ukraine (immediate relative visas
– IR-3 and IR-4). Previously, upon completion of the Ukrainian adoption,
all American families had to travel to the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw, Poland,
for issuance of the immigrant visa to their child(ren). The opening of adoption
immigrant visa processing in Kiev should represent a significant savings in
terms of time and resources for American families.
This change does not alter the nature of the immigrant visa process for adopted
orphans, which is initiated by an American citizen filing a petition I-600A
(Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition) with the U.S. Citizenship
and Immigration Service.
The
U.S. Embassy in Kiev will be among the first U.S. Embassies worldwide to obtain
the most recent immigrant visa technology – machine-readable immigrant
visas. Although the documentary requirements for the orphan immigrant visa
will remain virtually unchanged, the actual immigrant visa will be put in
the child’s passport. Accompanying documents will be hand-carried in
a separate packet for presentation to immigration inspectors at U.S. ports
of entry. The only change for parents will be that a frontal facial photo
of the child will now be required in addition to the three-quarter photo.
Prospective
adoptive parents who plan to complete an adoption in Ukraine after April 19
should contact the U.S. Embassy in Kiev to confirm that the I-600A approval
notice (a Visas 37 cable) has been transferred from Warsaw to Kiev. Telephone
numbers: (38-044) 490-4422; (38-044) 490-4079; fax: (38-044) 236-4892; email:
adoptionskiev@state.gov.
The
U.S. Embassy in Warsaw, Poland, will continue to process immigrant visas for
children adopted in Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.
Additional
information on U.S. immigrant visa processing for adopted children is
available at http://www.usembassy.kiev.ua/amcit_adoptions_eng.html.
The State of Florida
has revoked the license of International Adoption Resources (IAR). IAR's
license was suspended this month when an Interpol arrest warrant was
issued for one of IAR’s associates. IAR was recently implicated in an
inquiry conducted by Costa Rican authorities involving the smuggling of
Guatemalan babies into Costa Rica for adoption. IAR is not a member of
JCICS. For more information, please refer to the
U.S. State Department's website.
December 9, 2003 -
The U.S. State
Department has issued a second opportunity for potential accreditors
to submit an Request for Statement of Interest (RSI). This will
allow entities who did not have the time/ resources to respond to the
RSI in November, but who remain interested in becoming an accrediting
entity under the Hague regulations, to submit their RSI to the
Department by April 30, 2004. Consult the
State Department's website for more information.
ICARE Act of 2003 - On
November 23, 2003 Senator Don Nickles (R-OK) introduced
S. 1934, the Intercounty Adoption Reform Act of 2003 (ICARE) that
serves to establish an Office of Intercounty Adoptions within the
Department of State, and to reform laws governing intercountry adoptions
in the United States. For more information on the ICARE Act, including a
link to the bill and floor statements by Senators Nickles and Landrieu
visit our Adoption Legislation
page under Government Affairs.
December 4, 2003 -
The U.S. State
Department has issued a notice on Guatemala
adoptions. The U.S. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
office in Guatemala City will no longer respond to telephone inquiries
regarding specific adoption cases. ICE requests that prospective
adoptive parents email their inquiries to
guatemala.adoptions@dhs.gov
and limit their inquiries to one email per case. This change has
been implemented so that the DHS/ICE office can more efficiently process
adoption petitions and respond to inquiries in a timely manner.
For the complete notice,
click here.
November 24, 2003
-
The
U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti
has learned that one of the adoption agencies in Haiti, Precious in His
Sight (PIHS), has ceased operations in Haiti. The U.S. Embassy is
actively seeking clarification from Haitian adoption officials about how
they will process these adoptions. Adoptions by U.S. citizens through
other agencies have not been affected by the closure of PIHS.
November 21, 2003
- U.S. Citizenship
and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a new initiative, the
Child Citizenship Act (CCA)
Program. For more information about this program,
click here. The second
press release addresses USCIS and the Department of State's priority
of international adoption and celebrates National Adoption Month.
October 8, 2003 On September 26, 2003 the Supreme
Court in Tajikistan ruled to
provisionally suspend adoptions which had been previously approved
because adoption procedures were not followed.
Read about "Precious in His Sight" Adoption Facilitator - In the News! View Here.
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