Lesotho and the Hague Convention

The official flag.
Source: cia.gov.

Lesotho is party to the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption(Convention). Intercountry adoption processing in Hague countries is done in accordance with the requirements of the Convention; the U.S. implementing legislation, the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 (IAA); and the IAA’s implementing regulations, as well as the implementing legislation and regulations of Lesotho.

The Convention entered into force for Lesotho on December 1, 2012. Lesotho has not yet implemented procedures for the processing of Convention adoptions. For this reason, the Government of Lesotho announced in November 2012 that it is temporarily suspending all new intercountry adoptions while it focuses on implementing the Convention.

Transition cases may be completed under the previous “orphan” process. Transition cases are defined as those in which: Prior to December 1, 2012, a prospective adoptive parent filed a Form I-600A with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services identifying Lesotho as the country of origin, filed a Form I-600, or completed the adoption; and The child was “officially matched” with prospective adoptive parents prior to December 1, 2012. The Ministry of Social Development defines an official match as one in which the match was made during a matching meeting chaired by a Ministry official, and involving representatives of Lesotho childcare facilities and adoption service providers.

The Government of Lesotho expects that implementation of the Convention will take several months. We caution adoption service providers and prospective adoptive parents that intercountry adoptions between the United States and Lesotho will not resume until it is determined that intercountry adoptions from Lesotho comply with the Convention. Adoption service providers should not advertise adoption programs in Lesotho until the Department of State notifies them that the Government of Lesotho has lifted its temporary suspension of intercountry adoptions and that Lesotho’s procedures meet the requirements of the Convention.

The Department of State will provide updated information on adoption.state.gov as it becomes available. Please visit the Department’s Country Specific Information for more information on travelling to Lesotho and the U.S. Embassy in Maseru’s website for information on consular services.

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