Any news from the JCICS big meeting today?

I spoke with my agency this morning and they said they felt very positive about it. I didn't ask any questions and they did not elaborate. Diane Single mom to 3 boys PAP for 1 more

My agency also had very positive things to say about the meeting. They wrote us a big letter about it, but I didn't get much from it other than "it was good" VN adoptions will continue".

Below is one report on the meeting from one of the agencies that was present. 30 November 2007 Dear Vietnam Families, Time again for another update on the Vietnam program! First, we want to let you know that our last five families have been processed under the old CIS procedure successfully. They have all obtained visas for their children and have arrived home. Despite some difficulties stemming from being in country during the transition period at CIS, they were only delayed in country for one additional week! Our two families who received the NOIDS on their cases are currently still in Vietnam, and are still in the process of appealing their NOIDS. We are aware that many of you have expressed concern about the upcoming deadlines for extending the bilateral agreement concerning intercountry adoption between the US and Vietnam. The current bilateral agreement that is in place will expire in September of 2008. A diplomatic note from each country expressing their willingness to continue with a new bilateral agreement must be received by the end of March 2008. The key issue from the US side is that Vietnam has not complied with one aspect of the current bilateral agreement. It was a stipulation of the current bilateral agreement that Vietnam was to supply a transparent list of fees to the US government. They have not yet done this. They will need to do this before the bilateral agreement will be renewed. This leads into the next topic of discussion: the mini-summit sponsored by JCICS that Susan attended earlier this week. The summit was attended by approximately 40 JCICS member agencies (like CAS) as well as some non- member interested parties. Representatives from US CIS and the Department of State were also present. The primary focus of the summit was to come up with a list of standardized best practices that all agencies would agree to, and a list of fee ranges that would hopefully satisfy the US government's need for the list of fees. The list of best practices concerning adoptions in Vietnam was created and is being finalized. It will be sent to all agencies for final comments and signing. The goal is to submit the list and the agencies who have signed it to the Department of State by the end of December 2007. The list of fee ranges is also currently being worked on. Both the Department of State and CIS are very accepting and supportive of this initiative and have indicated that it will be helpful in the ongoing discussion about the continuation of the bilateral agreement. Currently, there are many parties involved in working toward renewing the bilateral agreement and keeping adoptions from Vietnam to the US open. We will know more over the coming months, and will continue to update families as new developments occur. In the meantime, we are continuing to receive referrals and process cases as normal. The first batch of I 600s to be processed under CIS's new regulations have been filed, and we are waiting for those to be approved. There have been several "ripple effects" stemming from this change in procedure that we have been working to adapt to. One that we would like to address in this update is a slight change in the way referrals are given and accepted. Beginning immediately, when we first contact you with information about a child, it is not your official referral. It is an opportunity to evaluate a specific child medically. You will receive pictures, medical information, and a copy of the child's birth certificate. We will also provide you with a list of international adoption physicians for you to find a doctor that you would like to evaluate the information that you have. You will then decide if you would like to seek permission from the orphanage and the DIA (Department of International Adoption in Hanoi) to pursue the adoption of that child. There will be some initial paperwork for you to fill out at that point to formally express your interest in that child. We will pass that paperwork along to our staff in Vietnam, who will file it with the appropriate offices. After a wait of around two to three weeks, we will receive letters from both the orphanage and the DIA that will be written to you, officially offering you the referral. We will give this paperwork to you, along with all of the legal documents on the child, including the announcements that were in the media regarding the child and minutes from the orphanage officials' meeting when the child was accepted into the orphanage. THIS is your official referral. At that time, there will be more paperwork for you to complete that indicates your acceptance of the official referral. We will also give you instructions on filing the I600 at that time. We will then send all of the paperwork to Vietnam. Our best guess at a timeframe from that point is around 3 to 4 months until travel after the acceptance of the official referral. We will have a better idea of specific time frames once CIS as well as CAS have process several cases under this new procedure. Please keep in mind that while there is come uncertainty in the process and what the future holds for adoptions in Vietnam, we remain optimistic and continue to process cases as normal. We will continue to update you as new information is received. If you have any additional questions, please contact your Program Coordinator. Thank you, The Vietnam Team Susan, Robyn, Trudy, Nancy, Allie, Christie

Thank you so much for your replies. It gives me some hope. Today I will send in the 1600A with our home study and the first large payment, cross my fingers and my toes and pray things continue forward in a positive light.

You can go to their website and the info is on there.