I600 Denied! Help!!

you should also post this on the ethiopia forum. i'm not really sure what to do....i've just heard there have been some problems recently in ethiopia where kids really have not been orphans....so maybe there is a problem, or maybe USCIS is just being more careful to make sure kids really are orphans before approving the case. i believe if the child can not immigrate bc they are not an orphan they stay in the orphanage, unless a family member claims them.....but I'm certain that it means that child will not be coming to the US.sorry :(

I know that the US embassy is taking a closer look at some adoptions and some agencies because of unethical practices. I have heard this week that the Ethiopian government has revoked licenses for 9 orphanages because of unethical practices and possibly child trafficking. I do not know the names of those 9 orphanages. I think both the US and Ethiopia are currently concerned about the number of people who are finding out the truth about their referrals after they have their children home. There have been 2 recent news articles about a particular agency (which I am pretty sure I can not mention the name here) doing unethical things in Ethiopian adoptions. Personally, I don't think that any agency should be referring a child before they have been approved with the I600a. I know some do. That alone does not necessarily make them unethical. I do not understand how an agency can push you through the Ethiopian court without having the I600a approved. At the least I find this irresponsible. If you have made it through the courts that child is legally yours according to Ethiopian law. But the US law has not yet determined that you are allowed to bring this child into the country. I don't have any answers for you. But I hope you are able to sort through the issues and bring home your child.Samantha

First off, your agency shouldn't have let you accept a referral and start adoption proceedings until you had your I-600A approval (that is, your 171-H or 797-C) in hand, because most countries want to see it to be sure that the U.S. government approves you as parents. But that is water under the bridge, by now. Second, and more importantly, the U.S. government is very worried, at this timie, about the state of Ethiopian adoptions. The U.S. government alleges that there has been widespread adoption fraud in Ethiopia, where agencies and/or local facilitators have falsified documents to make it seem that a non-orphan child is an orphan, or that a child was properly acquired from the birth family, when that was not the case. There have been several media reports of agencies procuring children from families who had no intention of relinquishing them permanently. The U.S. and Ethiopian governments have launched a full-scale investigation, and apparently, some adoption agencies have already been prohibited from working in the country. My guess is that, unless the U.S. concludes that malfeasance happened only in a few cases involving a few agencies and/or facilitators, the U.S. government and the Ethiopian government will agree to declaring a moratorium on adoptions by Americans, so that stricter safeguards can be put in place. At this point, your best bet is to work with your agency to get hold of the documents that the U.S. government needs, to prove that your child qualified for adoption. There is a good chance that the U.S. government will discover that everything is fine, that your agency committed no wrongdoing, and that the your adoption was legal and ethical. In that case, you can bring your child home as soon as the investigation is finished. Homecoming may be delayed, but it will occur. Unfortunately, it COULD happen that the U.S. will decide that your child's adoption was tainted in some way. If that happens, you will receive a "Notice of Intent to Deny" your child an immigrant visa (often called a NOID). At that point, you will probably want to appeal the NOID, probably on the grounds that the investigation missed some important information or drew inappropriate conclusions about things that happened. To do this effectively, you will want to retain an American immigration/adoption attorney who is skilled at dealing with this sort of event. There are a few top-flight American attorneys who worked actively with families who adopted kids from Cambodia and Vietnam some years back, and were denied visas for them, for the same reasons that you are having problems today; some of the attorneys even worked pro-bono or at reduced rates. These are the kinds of people that you should retain to help you. These attorneys had good luck in getting NOIDS overturned or getting humanitarian parole for many of the kids. (Humanitarian parole means that the children were allowed to come to the U.S. without visas, and without the government making an official announcement that the investigations were faulty.) I know the names of a few of these attorneys, and can give you the contact information. Another place to get information would be the Joint Council on International Children's Services. If you decide that you can't afford to fight a battle that could take a couple of years, or if you feel that, perhaps, your child really was procured inappropriately and should be with his biological family, you can arrange to dissolve the adoption. In this case, you would probably want to work with an Ethiopian attorney or with the Ethiopian government directly. You can get advice in this matter from JCICS or an American attorney. Obviously, this option will cause both you and your child emotional pain, and you will also lose money already spent on your adoption. If your adoption agency is ethical, it may try to refund at least some of your fees, but there are no guarantees. But it will relieve you of the financial and moral responsibility for the child, and also reassure you that you were in no way complicit in any sort of baby-buying, baby-stealing, or adoption fraud. I am so sorry to hear of your plight, and hope that you will find a satisfactory resolution. Sharon

Ethiopia has had many incidences where the officials rubber stamp relinquishment papers, adoption proceedings. Bribes are high and many bio families have been given referral "fees" for relinquishment rights. CWA (Christian World Adoptions) is one agency that has a lawsuit filed currently for the wrongful adoption of 3 sisters. Ethiopia has much poverty and 95% of the children in orphanages are social orphans, meaning they have family who loves them but cannot afford them. Adoption is NOT the answer to poverty. Poverty breeds illegal adoption practices and baby mills. Many Americans are getting infants as young as 3 months old from Ethiopia many are pre-sold while they are still in the womb, while the older true orphans rot. Ask Guatemala about these practices and how prior to being shut down to international adoptions - the money from adoptions was the countries highest GDP. Bottom line Adoption is a business transaction to the majority of adoption agencies. If you look at their 990 IRS tax returns the gross revenues is staggering. CWA grossed over $5 million in 2008. Not bad for buying and selling of children. Ethiopia courts may declare the child "yours" but you must pass the American Embassy Visa before the child is considered yours in America. Currently Canada and Austrailia have closed their adoptions to Ethiopia becuase of this type of human trafficking. Kazakstan and Ethiopia are high on the watch of USCIS. They questioned the paperwork for a reason a very valid reason.

Hi Ocracoke thank God I found you in this group,I have planning to adopt My orphan Nephew from Ethiopia, I'm already a single MOM ,for Last year I make $21944.00 and I was marreid and we both Make $52,000.00 but this year I'm divorced and single moM Do you think My income will make me the uscis income Guidline or do i have to find another parttime Job . please if you have any Idea what is USCIS income requirment for international adoption for 3 houshold for this year.

Congress voted to keep the 2009 poverty level guidelines in effect at least through the end of May 2010, so any new ones aren't available yet and won't be published at least until some time in June. When they are published, it is unlikely that they will be a lot different from the 2009 ones. I'm attaching the 2009 guidelines to the end of this post. You have to earn at least 125% of those guidelines to qualify for USCIS purposes. Just multiply the appropriate number by 1.25 to arrive at the minimum income you will need to have. Do be aware, of course, that the USCIS looks at your homestudy report for other financial indicators of your ability to support a child. If you have had to accept public assistance, or if you have a lot of debt, there could be a problem. If you hold multiple jobs, there may be a question about whether you will have the time and energy to parent! Also, be aware that many homestudy agencies, placement agencies, and foreign countries will have higher income requirements, so even if you make enough money from the U.S. government's standpoint, you may still have a problem satisfying your homestudy agency or Ethiopia. In addition, some homestudy agencies and foreign countries will not allow you to adopt until you have been divorced for at least a year. They want to be sure that you have adjusted to your new status and can handle the challenges of being a single parent. Be very clear, before you start your adoption, whether your nephew meets the U.S. definition of an orphan. If he does not meet the definition, you could wind up completing an adoption and being financially and morally responsible for your child, but NOT being able to bring him to the U.S. Sharon The 2009 Poverty Guidelines for the 48 Contiguous States and the District of Columbia Persons in family Poverty guideline 1 $10,830 2 14,570 3 18,310 4 22,050 5 25,790 6 29,530 7 33,270 8 37,010 For families with more than 8 persons, add $3,740 for each additional person. 2009 Poverty Guidelines for Alaska Persons in family Poverty guideline 1 $13,530 2 18,210 3 22,890 4 27,570 5 32,250 6 36,930 7 41,610 8 46,290 For families with more than 8 persons, add $4,680 for each additional person. 2009 Poverty Guidelines for Hawaii Persons in family Poverty guideline 1 $12,460 2 16,760 3 21,060 4 25,360 5 29,660 6 33,960 7 38,260 8 42,560 For families with more than 8 persons, add $4,300 for each additional person. SOURCE: Federal Register, Vol. 74, No. 14, January 23, 2009, pp. 4199–4201