From Ethica:
Ethica has received numerous inquiries on a rumor that the U.S. Embassy is pressuring Vietnam to only process adoptions from Hague accredited adoption agencies. The U.S. Department of State has clarified that in fact, Vietnamese officials recently initiated and proposed this requirement. They also requested a list of accredited agencies. Consular Officer, Mr. Donald Mattingley submitted a list of accredited agencies to date, noting that additional agencies are still undergoing the accreditation process. Ethica inquired as to when Vietnam intends on implementing this requirement. Unfortunately a date and process has not been announced as of this time.Additionally, there are rumors stating that the MOU between Vietnam and the U.S. has expired. That is not correct. Negotiations between both countries are ongoing and covering issues such as provincial investigations, defining in-process cases should the MOU expire in September, etc. Ethica advises families to await official notices and clarifications before submitting to speculation.
[VVAI ed note: it has been clarified by Ethica that the list of accredited agencies was submitted by letter with later, separate, discussions about the ongoing accreditation process].
As an aside, VVAI has created a list of agencies licensed in Vietnam that are also Hague accredited along with a list of those who are not yet accredited. This list is just a general reference point for your convenience. It does not mean that agencies listed as ‘not accredited’ have been turned down for accredited, are not planning or have not already started to seek accreditation. As new information becomes available on the status of unaccredited agencies, this list will be updated and further subdivided for your convenience.
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From the U.S-Vietnam Bilateral Relations meeting today:
http://www.state.gov/p/eap/rls/rm/2008/03/102143.htm