The Department of State posted a new update on their website today. The statement included the following information:
DIA has reported that there are more than 1,700 applications pending as of July 1, 2008. According to DIA estimates and prior adoption trends, it is likely that referrals will be completed before September 1 for approximately 50 percent of these applications. The U.S. Embassy in Hanoi, Vietnam, will process to conclusion all adoptions that meet the Government of Vietnam’s criteria and deadlines.
U.S. field investigations continue to reveal incidents of serious adoption irregularities, including forged or altered documentation, cash payment to birth mothers (for other than reasonable payments for necessary activities such as administrative, court, legal, translation, and/or medical services related to the adoption), coercion or deceit to induce the birth parent(s) to release children to an orphanage, and children being offered for intercountry adoption without the knowledge or consent of their birth parents. During the month of June 2008, five children were reunited with their families after investigations by the U.S. Embassy in Vietnam revealed that the birth parents had not consented to their adoption. In July, Vietnamese media reported that police in the northern province of Nam Dinh arrested three people, including two communal health officials, for alleged child buying and creating fraudulent documentation purporting that these children had been deserted. These children had also been illegally offered for intercountry adoption; the investigation is ongoing. Vietnamese officials have informed the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi that similar investigations are occurring in other provinces.
To read the full statement, click here.
18 Responses
I have heard several people mention that SN adoptions do not fall under the current MOU and they could continue after Sept. 1st, my agency agreed, but they also stated the problem would be getting the child a visa as the US has not committed to processing these visas. Any thoughts? Has anyone else heard this. We are one of the 50% not mentioned in the Embassy release that will not be getting a referral by Sept. 1st, but are open to SN and would wait if we knew we could get a referral and a visa after Sept. 1st. Any ideas??
What is a SN adoption?
Hi Jennifer-
‘SN’ refers to Special Needs
E-
That is a very good question and I don’t know the answer, but I’ll try to find out, or have Nicki or Christina reply to you.
If anybody else has info or know where to find info on this, let us know.
Jena
How is it possible with 1,700 applications pending as of July 1, 2008 that 50 percent of these applications will get referrals before September 1 ?
Even if the US gets priority and if others countries don’t get referrals anymore,the number of 850 referrals in 2 months seems huge!
I agree it does seem like a huge number, and it’s not even 2 months, it’s more like 5 weeks!
Wonder if those referrals have already occured as “soft” referrals and they will get the investigations done, issue the I-600, and issue the official formal referral. Does that sound right?
@ S: ‘soft’ referral is not accepted in Vietnam so surely DIA never count towards their estimation and announce on mass media.
I understand the 1700 ‘pending’ application means that dossiers have logged in Vietnam but no G&R ceremony yet till July 1.
So 50% may include:
1) Got referral — No G&R ceremony yet
2) Got referral — No final decision yet
3) Got referral — No travel approval (I-600 pre-approval) yet
3) Got referral — No application for I-600 yet
4) Not assigned yet… hopefully can get referral before Sept. 1
Please correct me if I am wrong!
This was posted today at JCICS…
http://www.jcics.org/Vietnam.htm
I hope this is a sign that the DIU and Vietnam is motivated to do away with the 9/1 deadline. In the meantime, our agency, Adoptions from the Heart was declined its Hague accreditation! The JCICS says that this agency is on their list of the ‘ethical’ agencies but nobody can tell me why they were denied (AFTH say they are asking for clarification). Does anyone have any ideas about this? It seems like the odds are against us….
I’m not aware of JCICS keeping a list of “ethical” agencies. JCICS is a membership organization *for* agencies (not PAPs) and, therefore, not the best resource for determining ethical credibility of the agencies who are also their members. My recommendation would be to join the Adoption Agency Research list (link on the right sidebar) and get your research directly from PAPs and APs who have used any given agency. For Vietnam, in particular, AAR kept an ethical agencies that was very comprehensive.
Our agency explained the amount of referrals projected is ALL families that have already been matched with a child and are waiting for travel approval. This is NOT new referrals. They further also explained that a “referral” is not offical until the letter from the DIA has approved the match, which is what normally takes place toward the end of your adoption. This is the approval you must receive before you file your 1-600. Another consideration is even though an agreement may be reached, you need to make sure that your agency has Hague accredition. If they do not, they will NOT be able to facilitate your adoption after the new agreement is reached. This means you would have to complete your adoption or start over through another agency. So check these things out now, so you can make an informed decision.
You would only need to be with a Hague acredited agency if Vietnam signs the Hague treaty. It is a completely separate issue from the MOU.
This is not an accurate statement. Vietnam and any other sending country can set up whatever requirements they deem appropriate for receiving countries like the US, including requiring that the agencies they work with are Hague accredited regardless of Vietnam’s current Hague status. There has been much talk that Vietnam will, in fact, require that US agencies working in Vietnam be Hague-accredited so agency Hague status is very relevant right now.
Does anyone know what the status is of meetings for a new agreement between the US and Vietnam? When did such meetings begin? Are the meetings ongoing? How often do they meet and where? or are they suspended until Sept 1? How close are they to reaching an agreement? Are the seriously taking into consideration JCICS’s proposal? which I heard was well-received. I wish there was a daily or at least weekly status summary/report on these meetings, rather than having to wait for the Department of State to issue reports every several weeks. I know these are desparate questions. But waiting to adopt for 2-3 years, and being single and approaching 49, I need all the info I can so I can plan what my next step will be.
My agency ‘remains hopeful’ but it’s impossible to say, and nobody knows the nature of the communications. There certainly won’t be any status reports. My guess is that we won’t hear anything past 9/1 but only when the dossiers start to come back to U.S. or not. Perhaps the fact that they want to process many referrals in the meantime is a good sign. I have learned the hard way that info is hard to come by and subject to interpretation. The Vietnamese Gov’t is hardly a transparent organization to begin with. And agencies and groups like JCICS are loathe to make predictions because it only breaks peoples’ hearts one way or the other. I’m sorry I can’t help…but we are in exactly the same boat as you are…only I have become fatalistic about it.
In reading the letter from the grandfathering petition, I’ve enclosed one paragraph in particuliar:
Please ask the Dept of State and the USCIS to request that Dr. Long allow all dossiers submitted by July 1,2008 to be “grand fathered†by allowing these families to receive a child referral even after Sept 1. He has indicated that he is agreeable to this request IF the Dept of State and USCIS agencies will state that they will honor this change by continuing to approve qualified I-600 (orphan petition) and I-234 (visa) applications for families matched after September 1st. Vietnamese law requires a current bilateral agreement between sending and receiving countries; the one between Vietnam and the United States will expire on September 1st, 2008. Dr Long has indicated that Vietnam would waive this requirement for the remaining dossiers, if asked to do so by the Dept of State and USCIS.
If Dr. Long is agreeable, why can’t our DOS and USCIS get it together?
I’ve e-mailed Ted Kennedy and Barack Obama, to see if they could move it along. Anyone have any other political ideas? I’m losing hope too.
On her radio show, Creating a Family, Dawn Davenport talked to Michele Bond about exactly this question. Rather than paraphrase I’d recommend you listen to the whole program here and consider the procedural and ethical implications of doing such a thing. I believe CIS and DoS are in on-going negotiations with Vietnam but the keyword there is *negotiations*. What Dr. Long says to individuals and what Vietnam is willing or able to negotiate for with CIS may be two different things entirely.
Nicki-
Thanks for making that link to her program. It was really helpful to listen to it!
I am trying not to get too hopeful, but maybe the latest show of police action re: those forged birthcertificates is a good sign– meaning that the VN govt. will start to follow-through on allegations of fraudulant activities in the world of adoption.
Maybe, maybe, maybe….
In the meantime…..
Did anyone every find out the speculation on SN adoptions continuing after 9/1?
And question #2: Has anyone heard anything about “older child” adoption continuing in VN after 9/1 (and if so, how old is “older child” in the eyes of the VN govt.?)?
i wanted to comment on something written earlier by melanie… “They further also explained that a “referral†is not offical until the letter from the DIA has approved the match, which is what normally takes place toward the end of your adoption. This is the approval you must receive before you file your 1-600″…this is a very new procedure instituted by the US. i was not required to have this becuase my i600 application is logged on june 17- before this dia approval was required.
i have been waiting 41 days so far for my i600 approval. my agency says that i have to wait 60 business days before i can even ask what the status is..that conflicts with what the DOS june fact sheet says so of course i am very confused…im really freaking out