USCIS has updated their website with this PDF dated May 29, 2008 that reflects the long-awaited DNA testing.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that its office in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam is implementing a DNA testing requirement for Vietnamese adoption cases where the birth parent(s) of the adopted child has been identified. USCIS is also reminding prospective adoptive parents that the agreement required by Vietnamese law to authorize adoptions between the United States and Vietnam will expire later this summer.
USCIS expects that DNA testing will not only help confirm a child’s status as an orphan, but will also significantly streamline the processing of cases in which a birth parent has been identified, as opposed to the more lengthy investigative time required to process adoptions when the birth parent is unknown.
A prospective adoptive parent(s) filing a petition to Classify an Orphan as an Immediate Relative (Form I-600) may be required to submit a DNA test in order to establish a relationship between the prospective adoptive child and his or her birth parent(s). The USCIS office in Ho Chi Minh City will advise the petitioner filing a Form I-600 of the procedures for the collection of the DNA sample. The petitioner must pay the costs associated with the DNA testing.
USCIS is taking this step in response to concerns regarding the adoption process in Vietnam, and to ensure that all children identified for potential adoption meet the Immigration and Nationality Act’s definition of “orphan prior to a United States citizen adopting or obtaining legal custody of the child. In several cases, children have been returned to birth parents who did not intend for their child to be adopted internationally.
Further information about dossier-filing deadlines, referral deadlines and the cautions that we have previous read about from the Embassy are also mentioned in the release.
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[…] I don’t really have anything to talk about now, although y’all can visit VVAI, and read this post, about how the DNA testing everyone was all hot and bothered about in early April is now a reality. […]