MEDIA: Senator Seeks Clinton Intervention in US Ban on Adoption

US BAN ON ADOPTION: Senator seeks Clinton intervention

EKANTIPUR REPORT

Posted on: 2010-09-28 09:15

KATHMANDU, SEP 28 -

As the US ban on inter-country adoption from Nepal continues, a group of U.S. Senators and members of the House last week sent a letter to the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, calling on the department to expedite the approval of cases that are close to being decided.

"These families are enduring extreme emotional and financial burdens while their children's cases are investigated further," American newspaper Chicago Tribune quoted the lawmakers' letter as saying.

The United States had banned inter-country adoptions from Nepal in August citing malpractices in the process. The U.S. has the highest number of adoptive parents vying to adopt Nepali kids.

At least 82 American adoptive parents have already been affected following the U.S. ban. Despite getting approval from the ministry, some 12 adoptive parents are stranded in Kathmandu after the U.S. Embassy here refused to move the adoption petition files.

Spokesperson of the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare (MoWCSW), Tilak Ram Sharma, said the ministry is doing homework to mak the inter-country adoption process more reliable with the formation of a high-level committee under the secretary of the ministry.

"The government will act in accordance with the recommendation of the committee to make the adoption process more transparent," Sharma said.

Officials admitted that overhauling the whole adoption process was a Herculean task. "But the ministry will do its best to comply with the Hague Convention on adoption," Sharma added.

Asked what the Nepali government can do to lessen the pain of adoptive parents, Sharma said the government has done its part, and that the final decision is not in Nepal's hands.

"Decision on whether to allow their citizens to adopt Nepali children must be taken by the respective countries," Sharma said.

According to ministry officials, at least 106 new applications from American parents have already been rejected following the ban.

Not only Americans, many other prospective parents from other countries have also been affected as the U.S. ban follows similar restrictions declared by Canada, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Britain.

http://www.ekantipur.com/2010/09/28/top-story/us-ban-on-adoption-senator-seeks-clinton-intervention/322899/

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

Recent Communications from DOS concerning in process adoptions

The US DOS has released a series of emails directed to prospective parents, adoption service providers and interested stakeholder NGOs. PEAR has decided to post the communications on our blog for the benefit of prospective parents who did not register with DOS, families in independent process, and organizations and individuals following adoptions from Nepal and/or assisting families adopting from Nepal. The communications are printed here in the order of most recent to oldest:
__________________________________________________________________
Friday, September 17, 2010 7:15 AM
From:"Lincoln, Ruth A"
To:"Lincoln, Ruth A"
RE: Update Concerning 60 Day Extension Requests

Dear Prospective Adoptive Parents,

We would like to share some information with you regarding the 60-day travel authorization and the extension requests that have been made on behalf of many families.

The Government of Nepal is currently in “caretaker” status, and is working with no constitution and no elected leader. They continue to work to resolve a host of issues that are critical to maintaining peace and stability. The Prime Minister has resigned and he and all of the ministers that head the various government offices, including the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare, remain in office only until a new government can be installed. It is difficult for officials to make decisions or new policies under these conditions.

Several weeks ago, Government of Nepal officials issued a verbal promise that they would consider all extension requests filed by the U.S. Embassy on behalf of prospective parents. They were never willing to commit to these extensions in writing. It is impossible at this point to provide more definitive information on the extension requests. Our hope is that families can use this information to make the choices that work best for each family.

We will continue to provide any and all updates that we have as soon as we learn of them.

Sincerely,

Ruth Lincoln
Adoption Division, Office of Children's Issues
Overseas Citizens Services
Bureau of Consular Affairs
U.S. Department of State
Washington, D.C.

__________________________________________________________________
Thursday, September 16, 2010 7:29 AM
From:"Lincoln, Ruth A"
To:"Lincoln, Ruth A"
RE: Clarification Regarding Embassy Kathmandu's Scheduling of I-604 Investigations

Dear Prospective Adoptive Parents and Adoption Service Providers,

The U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu will first investigate cases of prospective adoptive parents who have received travel authorization from the Government of Nepal. Please send a scanned copy of your travel authorization letter to the Embassy by email to AdoptionsNepal@state.gov as soon as it is received. Prospective adoptive parents may still file their Form I-600 petition with the Embassy through their local agency representative, although cases with travel authorization letters are considered complete and ready for investigation and will be investigated first. if there are issues that can be resolved in one investigative visit that relate to cases that are received but do not include travel authorization letters (for example if the investigators are visiting a n orphanage or police station that is part of the investigation for multiple cases), the investigators will resolve these issues for as many received cases as possible, regardless of whether the cases include the travel authorization letter.

I hope this information is of assistance.



Sincerely,

Ruth Lincoln
Adoption Division, Office of Children's Issues
Overseas Citizens Services
Bureau of Consular Affairs
U.S. Department of State
Washington, D.C.
__________________________________________________________________

From: Lincoln, Ruth A

Sent: Tuesday, September 07, 2010 11:01 AM

To: Lincoln, Ruth A
Cc: Nepal Pipeline PAPs
Subject: Note to Pipeline PAPs Regarding Prioritizing I-604
Investigations
Importance: High

Dear Prospective Adoptive Parents,

Please be aware that prospective adoptive parents in the pipeline who have received travel authorization from the Government of Nepal will generally have their I-604 investigations processed first. While the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu is requesting extensions for the travel authorization from the Government of Nepal, the Embassy only has verbal agreement that the Government of Nepal will extend the 60 days in which prospective adoptive parents are required to travel to Nepal. Therefore, the Embassy will give priority to cases for families who have already received their travel authorization. When you receive your travel authorization letter, please forward a scanned copy by email to the U.S. Embassy (addressed to AdoptionsNepal@state.gov) and your case will be prioritized over those waiting for travel authorization. In the meantime, you may still have your local agency representative deliver your Form I-600 petition and supporting documents (except for the adoption order) to the Embassy’s American Citizen Services (ACS) Unit, Monday through Friday, between the hours of 1:30 and 4:00 p.m.

I hope this information is of assistance. Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any further questions or concerns.



Sincerely,

Ruth Lincoln
Adoption Division, Office of Children's Issues
Overseas Citizens Services
Bureau of Consular Affairs
U.S. Department of State
Washington, D.C.
__________________________________________________________________

Tuesday, September 7, 2010 11:13 AM
From:"Lincoln, Ruth A"
To:"Lincoln, Ruth A"
RE:List of Official Holidays Observed by U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu

Dear prospective adoptive parents and adoption service providers with Nepal programs,

Some of you have asked about the upcoming Nepali holidays. Attached, for your information, is the link to the list of official American and Nepali holidays observed by the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu.

http://nepal.usembassy.gov/holidays.html

Sincerely,

Ruth Lincoln
Adoption Division, Office of Children's Issues
Overseas Citizens Services
Bureau of Consular Affairs
U.S. Department of State
Washington, D.C.

__________________________________________________________________
Thursday, September 2, 2010 7:52 AM
From:"Lincoln, Ruth A"
To:"Lincoln, Ruth A"

The following is provided for your information. This notice was sent yesterday to adoption service providers with Nepal programs.

Dear Adoption Service Providers With Nepal Programs,

The U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu understands that local agency representatives may have questions about the new orphan processing procedures. If your local agency representative wishes to meet with a member of the Embassy’s Adoption Unit, they may request an appointment by sending an email to AdoptionsNepal@state.gov with the following information:
-Name
-Agency representing
-Prospective adoptive parents name(s)
-Purpose of visit

The Adoption Unit will advise your local agency representative of the date/time of the appointment by return email.

The Adoption Unit staff will not/not have the opportunity to answer general processing questions when local agency representatives drop off prospective adoptive parents’ Form I-600 petitions and supporting documents to the American Citizens Services (ACS) Unit Monday through Friday between the hours of 1:30 and 4:00 p.m.

We hope this appointment system helpful and will enable your local agency representative to get any processing questions they might have answered in a timely manner.

Thank you,
Ruth Lincoln
Adoption Division, Office of Children's Issues
Overseas Citizens Services
Bureau of Consular Affairs
U.S. Department of State
Washington, D.C.

__________________________________________________________________

From: Lincoln, Ruth A 

Sent: Thursday, August 12, 2010 12:19 PM

To: Lincoln, Ruth A

Subject: Question Re Travel to Nepal

Q: I understand that we are strongly advised not to travel to Nepal and to wait for the new program to be implemented, but what are we to do about our travel approval expiring? Is an extension being negotiated with the Ministry in Nepal? I want to comply with the USCIS and Department of State recommendations but the Government of Nepal has clearly stated that we must travel within 60 days of receiving approval.

A: The U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu is working with the Government of Nepal to determine whether the 60 day period in which prospective adoptive parents are required to travel to Nepal to finalize their adoptions can be extended. We will provide more information once a decision has been reached.

Sincerely,
Ruth Lincoln
Adoption Division, Office of Children's Issues
Overseas Citizens Services
Bureau of Consular Affairs
U.S. Department of State
Washington, D.C
__________________________________________________________________
From: Lincoln, Ruth A 

Sent: Wednesday, August 11, 2010 4:07 PM

To: Lincoln, Ruth A

Subject: Status of Pre-I-604 Program for Nepal

Dear Prospective Adoptive Parents and Adoption Service Providers,

We are sending this message to answer your questions about the status of the program that the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the Department of State are currently setting up that will enable the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu to complete the required I-604 Determination of Child for Adoption (sometimes referred to as the “orphan investigation”) in your case before you travel to Nepal to finalize your adoption.

As of this date, the program is not yet finalized. Every effort is being made to finalize and implement the program in the immediate future. The Office of Children’s Issues will inform you when the program is implemented and will post a notice on adoption.state.gov with information and instructions. Please continue to monitor adoption.state.gov for updated information.

At this time we do not recommend that prospective adoptive parents travel to Nepal to finalize their adoptions. We are concerned that problems identified in our public announcement will affect the processing of all adoption cases in Nepal. Prospective adoptive parents who do elect to travel to Nepal to finalize their adoptions should be prepared for an extended stay. If the I-600 petition is determined to be not clearly approvable, it will be forwarded to USCIS/New Delhi for further processing, per standard procedure.

We wish to caution prospective adoptive parents that even with a pre-approval program in place, it may take the U.S. government several months to process adoption cases to completion. Questions concerning adoptions in Nepal may be sent to either AskCI@state.gov or AdoptionsNepal@state.gov.

Sincerely,

Ruth Lincoln
Adoption Division
Office of Children's Issues
U.S. Department of State
Washington D.C.

__________________________________________________________________


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

MEDIA: Adoption Suspension Leaves Children in Limbo

Adoption Suspension Leaves Children in Limbo
By Bhuwan Sharma

Excerpt:

"KATHMANDU, Sep 10, 2010 (IPS) - A big question marks looms over the future of many Nepali children in various child homes in the country in the wake of the suspension by 11 countries of their child adoption programmes for this Himalayan nation.

"Children will now have to remain in grim orphanages or may risk a worse fate by staying with families that don’t want them," says Philip Holmes, the adoptive father of two Nepali children and country director of Esther Benjamins Trust-Nepal, a U.K.-registered charity engaged in childcare and child protection and fighting child trafficking in Nepal.

Some 400 Nepali children are adopted by foster parents each year from 44 institutional homes accredited by the country’s Ministry for Women, Children and Social Welfare. There is no data available on the number of Nepali children given up for adoption yearly.

Besides orphans, Nepali law permits inter-country adoption for voluntarily committed children, who have been surrendered to a child welfare home, orphanage or Bal Mandir, a national children’s organisation, by either their guardians or parents.

Problems ranging from fake documents, lack of transparency in handling funds and corruption in the adoption process, which have been reported over the years, have led to the latest round of adoption suspensions."

more here: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=52781

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