New DoS statement

The Department of State has issued their statement regarding the passing September 1st expiration of the bilateral adoption agreement this week.  It says, in part:

The Vietnamese Department of International Adoptions (DIA) has confirmed that the DIA continued to issue referrals to prospective adoptive parents until September 1, 2008, the date the United States ”“ Vietnam bilateral adoption agreement expired. According to the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice, prospective adoptive parents who received a formal referral by September 1 will be allowed to process their adoption to conclusion. Dossiers that were not referred by September 1 will be closed and returned to the adoption service provider.

According to the DIA, a referral occurs when DIA sends a letter to prospective adoptive parents informing them that both DIA and provincial authorities have agreed to the match of a specific child. Any case where this letter has been sent to the prospective adoptive parents before September 1 will be considered as having a referral and will be processed to completion.

The DIA has informed the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi that they will supply the U.S. Embassy with a list of all cases that have received a referral. The Embassy expects to receive this list during the third week of September. The Embassy will confirm when this information is available to all U.S. adoption service providers and issue a public announcement providing a general summary about the number of cases still in process. Prospective adoptive parents who have not received a referral letter may wish to verify the status of their case with their adoption service provider.

According to an informal poll of adoption service providers taken in mid August, approximately 600-700 prospective adoptive parents still had an application pending with the DIA and had not yet received referrals. The U.S. Embassy in Hanoi, Vietnam, will process to conclusion all adoptions that meet the Government of Vietnam’s criteria and deadlines.

The United States is strongly committed to processing legitimate intercountry adoptions from Vietnam. We have indicated to the Vietnamese our interest in negotiating a new agreement. An important goal for the United States is that any new agreement must establish enforceable safeguards and a transparent process which ensures that the children and families involved in the adoption process are protected from exploitation. The Government of Vietnam shares this concern. Both countries acknowledge that more needs to be done to address deficiencies in the current system. It is not possible, at this time, to predict when a new bilateral adoption agreement may be negotiated and signed.

The entire statement can be read here.