May 10, 2012

In response to several requests for written summaries of the adoption service provider meetings held by the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa, the Office of Children’s Issues posts this notice to provide interested parties with information discussed at the most recent meeting on April 18, 2012. These meetings take place several times a year and are announced to in-country representatives in advance. This notice recaps the issues
discussed; however, the Office of Children’s Issues has inserted, in italicized text, links to further information on worldwide policies pertaining to issues discussed during the meeting.

Fee change from $404 to $230
U.S. non-immigrant and immigrant visa application fees have changed as of April 13, 2012. The fee for Immediate Relative and family preference applications (processed on the basis of an approved I-130, I-600 or I-800 petition) decreased from $404 to $230. All visa applicants must pay the fees in effect on the day of the payment, not on the day of the visa interview. Therefore, anyone who has already paid the combined $404 fee will not receive a refund even if the fee decreased by the time of their visa interview.

For further information, please refer to the press release issued by the Department of State, Office of the Spokesperson, on March 29, 2012, regarding visa processing fees. The change reduced the immigrant visa application fee from $330 to $230 and eliminated the $74 immigrant visa application surcharge.

Escort cases
If at least one of the adoptive parents met the child in Ethiopia before the court hearing, the family may choose to have someone else escort the child to the United States. The escort will still be required to present a Power of Attorney allowing him/her to act on behalf of the adoptive parent(s), represent them at the visa interview, and escort the child through U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the U.S. Port of Entry.

Ethiopian entry visas
We have heard that the Government of Ethiopia is considering discontinuing “visas on arrival” at Bole International Airport, but no policy change has been announced. We recommend all U.S. citizens obtain an entry visa from an Ethiopian embassy or consulate in advance of travel.

The U.S. Department of State will post public notices on adoption.state.gov and travel.state.gov upon receiving official notification of any change in entry requirements for U.S. citizens. For current travel information, please review the Ethiopia Country Specific Information on the Department of State website.

Screening backlog
We are pleased to announce that we have cleared our screening backlog and the current time for screening new cases is two business days. We have also increased the number of available birth relative interview slots, and the current wait time for a birth relative interview is one week.

Expedited processing
We will consider on a case-by-case basis expeditious processing for children with serious medical conditions that require urgent treatment that is unavailable in Ethiopia. Cases involving children who have serious but stable medical conditions or who are already undergoing treatment in Ethiopia generally do not qualify for expeditious processing. Medical conditions like asthma or HIV/AIDS, which are common reasons for
requesting expedited processing, would not typically qualify for expeditious processing.

Expedited cases are not exempt from the required review of orphan status through the Form I-604, Determination on Child for Adoption. We encourage all agencies to inform us as early as possible about cases involving children with serious medical conditions requiring urgent treatment that is unavailable in Ethiopia, even at the time of referral.

Processing of the Not Clearly Approvable (NCA) cases
U.S. Embassy Addis Ababa has a limited, delegated authority from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to adjudicate Form I-600 petitions filed in Ethiopia, which includes a determination that the child meets the definition of an orphan under U.S. law. If the Consular Officer determines a case is not clearly approvable, Department of State is required by regulation to forward the case to USCIS. In recent months we have noticed that the processing time of the cases sent to Nairobi averages three weeks or less.

Please note this is an average processing time. Processing times are dependent on the specifics of a case and therefore highly variable.

Please note that the adoptive parent’s Form I-600A must be valid at the time the petition is filed. Additionally, the fingerprint clearances for the adoptive parents and all adult household members must be valid at the time the petition is approved, not at the time of the visa interview. For petitions approved by USCIS Nairobi or within the United States, we can still process the child’s visa application even if the fingerprint clearances and/ or Form I-600A have expired.

Police and birth relative interviews as part of the Form I-604 investigation our office conducts birth relative interviews for most relinquishment cases, and conducts interviews with local officials and police for most abandonment cases. The purpose of these interviews is to confirm the child’s orphan status and, in relinquishment cases, to ensure that the relinquishing parent or family member fully understands the relinquishment process. During these interviews, we continue to encounter birth relatives who have been told that a child will return to Ethiopia at the age of 18. When informed that intercountry adoption is a permanent severing of a familial relationship and that there should be no expectation of the child’s return, birth relatives often become very emotional. We conduct birth relative interviews in our privacy booth for the relative’s privacy and comfort. In order to prevent significant delays in processing, we encourage all Adoption Service Providers to notify us in advance if a birth relative will be late or unable to appear on the appointment date.

Pre-Adoption Immigration Review
The U.S. Embassy continues to work with the Government of Ethiopia to implement a “pre-screening process” wherein consular officers and USCIS will review adoption petitions prior to the Ethiopian court hearing. We hope to have more information for agencies in the near future.

General Discussion – Trends in the Ethiopian adoption.
1. A rise in the number of abandonments vs. relinquishments.
2. Groups of children being relinquished from the same community at the same time.
3. Adoption contracts being signed before the child is relinquished.

We have seen great improvements in the U.S. Embassy’s process, and many quick approvals. A vast difference this quarter compared to the end of 2010. Many cases are still being forwarded to USCIS as “not clearly approvable”, but so far all have been approved by USCIS quickly and without the issuance of an RFE.

The U.S. Embassy and USCIS have improved on their communication with Adoptive Families, and seem more confident in their purpose to serve the orphans of Ethiopia. Abandonment cases have been the most common case forwarded to USCIS, mostly due to not enough details of the birth parent search listed by the police officer, or a lack of search in extending areas. Relinquishments always consist of a birth parent or relative interview by the Embassy, and approvals have been issued shortly after. Currently birth parent interviews are being scheduled approximately 2 weeks out, as well as adoptive parent interviews. This process should be considered the new normal. As long as cases are being approved quickly, and parents are informed of the process, it has not been a big problem. In most cases it has only added about 2-3 weeks to the process.
The Ethiopian Court has enforced the U.S. Embassy’s new requirements prior to Federal Court Approval. Resulting in Orphanages needing to re-do many children’s paperwork before they can be referred to their forever family. This and the issue with the Ethiopian government closing down most of the orphanages in the Southern Region of Ethiopia, has caused delay in referrals. West Sands is working in other regions of Ethiopia, and have recently connected with new orphanages in the north. Although we are still getting referrals, families waiting for infants are experiencing a slightly longer wait than originally anticipated. We encourage families to remain faithful in the process, and the purpose of this journey. God’s timing is always perfect!

We want you to know that all of West Sands Adoptions U.S. & Ethiopian staff is working hard to serve our Adoptive Families and the orphan children of Ethiopia. West Sands Transitional Home and Guest House has been a great success! We are so honored to be able to care for your children during their transition from the Orphanage to their home with you. If there is anything you need, or questions you may have, please let us know.

I realize that I haven’t updated this blog since the end of November. Most people have had updates from the phone or FB. Obviously we are home with our sweet boy, Kellen. I’ve been wanting to do a post since we’ve been home and sum up what has happened in our lives over the last 3 months.

To put it bluntly we are still processing everything. We are OVERJOYED that Kellen is with us. We are beyond blessed that we get to be his parents, that he gets to be our son. We cannot imagine our life or family without him. I had so many people tell me “when he is home, you’ll forget about all the paperwork, all the worry, all the stress and tears.” Nope. It is all still very real for us. I still cry…I still worry, there is still paperwork. Sure we aren’t doing the waiting game anymore, no more tickets to buy, no more nursery to get ready…There is still paperwork for post placement reports ,taxes,readoption, doctors appointments, the list goes on. But it’s our new normal. That has been our mantra that we live by now...This is our new normal and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I’d like to share a bit of what happened with our case and explain a little of what our story is. Every family who has or is adopting has a story. If some of this seems vague, it’s because a lot of it is so complicated that it just makes our brain hurt to try and explain in too much detail…

After our case was sent to USCIS Nairobi, we heard from them that they were indeed requesting more evidence on our sons case to prove that he meets the U.S. definition of an orphan. We were provided a report that explains how the U.S. defines an orphan and what they were looking for from us. USCIS also told us that it was up to us, not our adoption agency (more on them in a sec) to prove this. USCIS told us that they would NOT communicate with our agency about this and that the “Burden of Proof” was on us as the Adoptive Parents…and we had 87 days to prove this, or he wouldn’t get a visa to come home. I want to make sure that people understand that before our case was sent to USCIS and we were asked for additional proof, we had already been legally declared Kellen’s parents. All of his official documents had been issued, our last name had been given to him. He was ours. And this new development of needing more evidence was daunting at first, but it DID NOT derail us. We were not going to give up on our son being in our family.

Alright, U.S. Government. Bring it. It’s on!

What happened is this:

1-Adam and I loaded up the minivan with luggage and the girls and drove to Dallas. (Most of my family is in Texas)
2-Adam got on a plane with a one way ticket to Ethiopia. No return date set. Me and the girls stayed in Texas for 3 weeks to spend Christmas with my family. We were in fighting mode…We had a peace that surpasses all understanding. We prayed about this and it was so obvious to us and to so many others that this is WHAT HAD TO HAPPEN in order for Kellen to be allowed to be in our family.
3-Adam and our adoption agency in Ethiopia worked like mad men to conduct interviews and an investigation into our son’s case. (Another investigation) Let me pause here for a moment and talk about our adoption agency:
What happened to us is not uncommon. Unfortunately it has happened to hundreds of families adopting from Ethiopia in the last few months with all different adoption agencies. We and 1 other family were the first with our agency to have this happen….So we were all walking new territory together. Our adoption agency was SO SUPPORTIVE of Adam going to Ethiopia and figuring this out. They helped us every step of the way. Even though the U.S. government wouldn’t allow any official stuff to be turned in on our case from our agency at this point, it had to be turned in by us, our adoption agency paved the way for us getting done what needed to get done. We could not have done it without them. (this was not the case with other families using other adoption agencies…so I HAVE to brag about ours for a bit)
4-Over the course of a couple weeks, Adam interviewed 5 different people who all played an important part in our son’s story.
5-We hired an immigration attorney who helped walked Adam and I through all of this.
6- With the help of our attorney and her expertise, we sent off our final report to USCIS…Adam gathered evidence and turned it in to our attorney..She helped write our report to USCIS. It was 112 pages long. Not kidding. 4 pages of orphan definition and details requesting more evidence from our government, turned into 112 pages of PROOF that he was an orphan…Yep, if they were going to make us prove it, we were going to over prove it. Your welcome U.S. Government.
7-We were approved 1 month later. And allowed to bring Kellen home. Adam stayed in Ethiopia the entire time.
Adam and I never once doubted anything with our son’s story or orphan status. The stuff we had to “deal” with was annoying, yes. It was hard watching other families go through the same stuff we were…It was so hard feeling completely alone in this. Did we ever doubt God? No. Did we cry tears of anger and frustration and hurt? Yes. A lot. Did we still praise our loving God? Yes. We knew the battle was already won for our son….
What we went through was the biggest challenge we’ve experienced. In the middle of it all, we had people tell us “oh it must be so hard to have Adam gone for Christmas.” “It must be so stressful not knowing if he’ll get a visa.” “Why is this happening? I don’t understand.”
Kellen has been home almost 2 months now. In that time, we are still seeing God’s hand in the most random things in our adoption. Kellen being in our family is God breathed.

When you know you are right in the middle of God’s plan, all the crazy seems less crazy and all you can do is laugh. (Ok I wasn’t laughing when the stress turned into shingles for me…but meh…I survived.).Here are the blessings that happened in the middle of all the crazy.

1) Adam got to be with Kellen on his 1st birthday in Ethiopia. Kellen had his daddy with him to sing Happy Birthday. That’s pretty awesome.
2)Adam got to be with Kellen for Christmas. 2 Christmases to be exact…Ours and Ethiopian Christmas on Jan 7th. Score!
3) Me and the girls got to have precious family time in Texas for 3 weeks. We were surrounded with so much love and support while Adam was gone from both of our families.
4)Adam was in Ethiopia for 5 weeks. In those 5 weeks, he got to experience even more of our sons history, culture, and past. He fell in love with Ethiopia even more. If we didn’t go through what we did, that wouldn’t have happened. Adam lived it for more than a month. He met 25 other adoptive families coming through the doors of the guest house who were coming for court. He got to see 25 families meet their precious kids for the first time. That never gets old. He got to celebrate with 25 families passing court.
5) There was another family in Ethiopia with Adam going through the EXACT same thing as us with their child’s case. This couple we met in July. They are now LIFE LONG FRIENDS. What they all experienced together is pretty cool and amazing. There are few people in life you get to cry with, pray with and go through life together…I’m thankful for this couple in my husbands life while he was there. They are amazing…and we miss them now that we are home!
6) For 5 weeks, Adam got to begin bonding with Kellen. He had Kellen with him every day. That is something the 2 of them will always have. Be still my heart.
7) Adam is my hero for jumping on a plane without looking back to go and fight for our son. God used him in so many ways….This has changed us. We are still in awe.
8)When we cleared, our attorney called my cellphone at 6am to tell me. I jumped out of bed, ran downstairs, hopped on SKYPE to call Adam and let him know. One of the best days of my life.

When my dad woke up and heard, he started crying. He held me and said that he could see the weight of everything lift off of me. Our family was a world apart…but stronger than ever.

Now that we are home, we don’t want to forget what God did in our lives. In Adam’s life. In my life…For our family. We have our ups and downs. We are still adjusting to being a family of 5. We have hard days. Kellen has hard days. Not gonna lie.

But we are so thankful for all the wonderful support from our family and friends. For checking in..for praying. For letting me cry at the office…For sending encouraging emails and letters. For giving my girls extra snuggles when I went to Ethiopia to meet up with my husband and son. It means the world to us. We hope we can return the favor to some of you, one day.

Kellen is an orphan NO MORE. One less.
The adoption process maybe *mostly* over, but really it’s just the beginning for him and for us. We aren’t done.
There is more to do.
Use us Lord.
Adoption is a beautiful thing. You look past the ashes and scars and see restoration. It’s our prayer for others to experience it in their life as well.

Initially three of West Sands referred children’s cases were forwarded to USCIS as not clearly approvable. One was approved immediately when the USCIS team was in Addis. The other two were sent to Nairobi, and RFE’s were issued. The two sent to Nairobi were both abandoned children from the same region. The primary reason the U.S. Embassy determined that these cases were “not clearly approvable’, was because the police report lacked the details of the search efforts made to locate the birth parents. Both of these families chose to go to Ethiopia, to be with their children during the process, and to do what they could in country to gather evidence. They also both retained an Immigration attorney to review their cases, and provide a detailed investigation plan. Retaining an Immigration Attorney is not required, however, it did seem to ease the process as she provided the area of focus with a specific “game plan”. With both of these families in country, they were able to complete the investigation with the assistance of our Ethiopia Director and staff. The final response to USCIS was sent after about 20 days. Approvals were issued from USCIS for these children about 10 days later.

During that time, six other West Sands’ referred children were approved by the U.S. Embassy, and two additional children’s cases were forwarded to USCIS Nairobi as “not clearly approvable”. Of the two children’s cases sent to USCIS, one was abandoned, and the other was denied by his father (father whereabouts are also unknown). The abandoned child’s case was from the same area as the 2 previously referred cases.

Since there are many families in the process whose child was abandoned, here is some additional information to help you understand the process. The detailed search efforts are a new request by the U.S., that is why many of the cases submitted recently are not meeting the new requirements. The Police station for each region/area assigns one officer to handle all children and family affairs. Therefore when a child is found abandoned, that officer is “dispatched” or in charge of the investigation. All abandoned children from an area are investigated by the same officer. The police reports for the children filed now, were completed close to a year ago. The U.S. is the only country requiring these details from Ethiopia. When the police officer writes the report he/she can’t project which country the child will be placed with a year down the road, or if that child will even be approved for inter-county adoption. Rather, the officer follows their country’s requirements for completing a report/investigation. This leads to the “missing” information in the reports, as USCIS and the U.S. Embassy sees it.

As your Agency, we will submit all required documents to the U.S. Embassy when filing your I-600. We can only submit official documents prepared by Ethiopian Government agencies. We can request information from these agencies and police departments, but we can’t control the content of the reports. Many times we have to wait for the U.S. to make their requests, so that we can then present such request to the Ethiopian Court, police, etc. The U.S. initially indicated that they would accept video interviews of witnesses as evidence, and encouraged families to have them made. Now they have recently indicated that these videos would not take the place of their investigation. We are currently checking to see if the Embassy is still considering these videos as “evidence”.

This process is complicated for sure, but ultimately West Sands is confident that the children we refer are true Orphans under Ethiopian and U.S. Immigration law. To date, no cases that have been submitted to the U.S. Embassy or USCIS have been denied, and there are no reports of fraud. However, the U.S. Embassy and USCIS are still claiming that they see concerning patterns of fraud, but have not been able to prove any of it.

We will continue to keep you updated as new information becomes available. Adoption is such a leap of faith, and we honor you for strength and patience. Please continue to pray for the families and children affected by this additional delay.

Thank you!

]]> http://www.westsandsadoption.org/ws/uscis-teleconference-summary-ethiopia/feed/ 0 http://www.westsandsadoption.org/ws/national-adoption-day-celebrated-november-19th/ http://www.westsandsadoption.org/ws/national-adoption-day-celebrated-november-19th/#comments Tue, 13 Dec 2011 23:52:25 +0000 Sheila http://www.westsandsadoption.org/ws/?p=1471 We celebrated National Adoption Day on November 19th, 2011 by going to the park and meeting with other families that have been touched by adoption. We were featured in our local newspaper. How did you celebrate National Adoption Day?

“This is wonderful time to celebrate families and children who have been blessed by adoption,” said Kent Parke, executive director of West Sands Adoption International. “There were over 140 people who came to celebrate with us.”

West Sands places orphaned children from China, Ethiopia and the Congo with loving families in the area. Call 435-986-1617 for more information.
SOURCE

USCIS Stakeholder Meeting on Ethiopian Adoptions – Friday, December 9, 2011, 10:00 am Eastern Time

As a follow up to the October 28, 2011, Ethiopian Stakeholder call, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the U.S. Department of State would like to invite you to attend a stakeholder call on Friday, December 9, 2011, 10:00 am Eastern Time to discuss USCIS’ November trip to the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa to adjudicate “not clearly approvable” adoption petitions.

After the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, identified a number of adoption petitions (Form I-600, Petition to Classify Orphan as Immediate Relative) that it determined were not clearly approvable (NCA), and thus, must be referred to USCIS for adjudication, USCIS dispatched a team of officers to go Addis to adjudicate the petitions. USCIS and the Department of State would like to discuss the results of the NCA Team’s trip, lessons learned, and the way forward for Ethiopian adoptions.

To Participate in the Session

Any interested parties may participate in this event by telephone. All participants must respond to this invitation. Please contact the USCIS Office of Public Engagement at public.engagement@dhs.gov by Thursday, December 8, 2011 referencing “Ethiopian Adoptions” in the subject line of your email.

Please also include your full name and the organization you represent in the body of the email.

To Join the Call

On the day of the engagement please use the information below to join the session by phone. We recommend calling in 10 minutes prior to the start of the teleconference.

Call-in Number: 1-800-779-1424

Overseas Toll Number: 1-630-395-0144

Passcode: Adoption

The Families who touched our lives:

Noah (Yameral) – The Scott Family

Yared – The Raley Family

Greer (Nathaneal) – The Sweeney family

Helen & Yared – The Stotts’ Family

Yonas & Yabsira – The Borders’ Family

Chernet, Mulunesh and Woubet – The Rowe Family

Yonas & Yoseph – The Monk Family

Woudneh learned to play the Wii.

McKay (Sude) & Addison (Lidet) – The Wells Family

  Our Kentucky Adventure began at Churchill Downs:

Utah Adventure ended at Zion National Park:

November 16, 2011

Notice: Procedure for Processing Adoption Cases

This notice provides supplemental information to the adoption notice of October 7, 2011, adding additional details on the process applicable to orphan petitions filed with a U.S. Embassy Consular Section overseas.  While the description has been tailored to answer inquiries specific to Ethiopia, the steps described in this explanation apply to all non-Hague countries.  This notice only describes the process for Forms I-600 filed with U.S. Embassy Addis Ababa.  For processing information on cases filed domestically with USCIS through the National Benefits Center (NBC), please refer to the USCIS website at www.uscis.gov.

Once adoptive parents are in possession of the final adoption decree from the Federal First Instance Court, approval letters from the Ministry of Women, Children and Youth Affairs, the child’s birth certificate and Ethiopian passport, and all other required Form I-600 supporting documentation, they (or their authorized agent) may file Form I-600,Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative, with the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa if they have met the physical presence requirements for filing a Form I-600 petition overseas.

Upon receipt of the Form I-600 and accompanying documentation, the U.S. Embassy begins the Form I-604, Determination on Child for Adoption, orphan status investigation – the process to determine if the child meets the definition of an orphan under U.S. immigration law.  The time frame for completion of the Form I-604 determination depends on the circumstances of each case, but can take up to several weeks or months.  During this time, additional information or documentation may be requested by the U.S. Embassy for cases with insufficient or deficient supporting evidence to determine orphan status.

In certain cases it may be necessary to interview the child’s Ethiopian birth parent(s) or guardian, or the individual who found an abandoned child, to resolve errors or discrepancies discovered in the case file.  The U.S. Embassy conducts such interviews for cases in which the consular officer deems interview(s) necessary to make a determination on the child’s orphan status.  Birth relative and other interviews are often an integral part of the Form I-604 determination.

The U.S. Embassy must then determine whether the case is clearly approvable.  If a case is clearly approvable, the U.S. Embassy approves the Form I-600 petition and issues an immigrant visa.  If there are questions regarding the child’s orphan status or the information is insufficient to make a determination, federal regulation requires that the U.S. Embassy forwards the case as “not clearly approvable” to the USCIS Field Office in Nairobi, Kenya, for further processing.  When this occurs, the U.S. Embassy sends out a transfer notice to the petitioners when the case is physically forwarded to USCIS Nairobi, and provides contact information for further questions.

Upon receipt of a petition identified as “not clearly approvable,” the USCIS Nairobi Field Office notifies the parent(s) that the case has been received and issues requests for additional evidence and other notices, if necessary.  Upon review of all available evidence including any response to a Request for Evidence or Notice of Intent to Deny, USCIS issues a decision and notify the petitioners.  For details of the USCIS process, please visit USCIS’ Ethiopia Q&A page.  If the case is approved, USCIS Nairobi returns the case to the U.S. Embassy for visa processing.

Approvals Issued: 36
Requests for Evidence Issued: 9
Notices of Intent to Deny Issued: 1
Under USCIS Team Review 9
Pending Birth Relative Interview 8
Pending Physical Transfer 1

During the team’s first days in Addis, they began reviewing the cases, and established procedures necessary for completing adjudication and issuing notices. Embassy Addis is providing the resources necessary for USCIS to be able to adjudicate the not clearly approvable cases. Although the team has encountered some technological challenges, the team has been issuing decisions and notices as soon as they are able.

All cases that the team is able to approve before they depart from Addis Ababa will stay with the Consular Section in Embassy Addis Ababa, for immediate scheduling of immigrant visa processing. Families that receive an approval notice will be contacted directly by the U.S. Embassy within three business days. We strongly recommend that families wait to be contacted regarding an immigrant visa interview before making travel arrangements. Cases that require a Request for Evidence or a Notice of Intent to Deny will be sent to the USCIS Rome District Office for further processing.

Each family that received a Request for Evidence or a Notice of Intent to Deny should carefully read the instructions regarding where to send additional evidence to avoid delays in processing that could be caused by sending the evidence to the incorrect USCIS Office. USCIS has decided to utilize additional resources at the Rome District Office in the ongoing processing of some of the affected cases in an effort to ensure that they are processed to completion as quickly as possible.

In the coming weeks, USCIS and DOS will schedule another stakeholder call to provide a briefing on the team’s work in Addis Ababa, and an update on how processing will proceed going forward for any new cases identified by Embassy Addis Ababa as not clearly approvable.

Kind Regards,

Office of Public Engagement
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services