Mexico Adoption Alert

Children in .
Source: flickr.com.

Alert: Mexico adoption visas to be processed in Ciudad Juarez, effective January 2, 2015 (November 5, 2014)

Effective January 2, 2015, all intercountry adoption visa applications will be processed by the U.S. Consulate in Ciudad Juarez. Intercountry adoption visas include all Hague Adoption Convention (Convention) I-800 petitions for IH3 and IH4 visas, as well as any remaining I-600 petitions for IR3 and IR4 visas. The U.S. Embassy in Mexico City will continue to adjudicate all intercountry adoption visa applications through the end of December 2014. Once the change is effective on January 2, 2015, the Immigrant Visa Unit in Ciudad Juarez will be the only immigrant visa processing post in Mexico.

All other aspects of the Convention adoption process in Mexico remain the same, including applying for the Article 23 Hague Certificate from the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs, or the Secretaria de Relaciones Exteriores (SRE) in Mexico City. After completing the adoption and obtaining a new birth certificate and passport for their adopted child(ren), adoptive parents should plan to appear before the SRE in Mexico City in order to apply for the required Article 23 certificate. Once the SRE issues the Article 23, adoptive parents may then travel to Ciudad Juarez to complete the visa application. For information about the process for applying for an immigrant visa in Ciudad Juarez please see information on immigrant visas on U.S. Consulate Ciudad Juarez’s website.

The Office of Children’s Issues will be reaching out to the U.S. adoption service providers authorized to provide services in Mexico to discuss this change in further detail, and will publish additional updated information as we receive it. If you have any further questions please write to us at AdoptionUSCA@state.gov or call us at 1-888-407-4747.

Notice: Updated information on U.S.-based Hague Accredited Adoption Service Providers authorized by Mexican Central Authority (September 17, 2013).

The Mexican Central Authority recently provided the U.S. Central Authority with official notification that, in August 2013, it granted authorization to provide adoption services in Mexico to six additional U.S. based Convention accredited adoption service providers. This action brings the total number of U.S. adoption service providers authorized in Mexico to twelve:

Carolina Adoption Services, Inc
International Child Foundation
Across the World Adoptions
All God’s Children International
Adoption Related Services, Inc.
MLJ Adoptions, Inc.
The Open Door Adoption Agency (August 2013)
The Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago (August 2013)
Hands Across the Water (August 2013)
Children’s House International Adoptions (August 2013)
CASI Foundation for Children (August 2013)

It is essential that U.S. citizens wishing to adopt in Mexico work with an adoption service provider that has current U.S. Hague accreditation or approval and is currently authorized by the Mexican Central Authority. Because Mexico periodically updates its list of authorized providers, we encourage prospective adoptive parents to verify their adoption service provider’s authorization status with the Mexican Central Authority before initiating an adoption. The Mexican Central Authority publishes a list of adoption service providers authorized to provide adoption services in Mexico. In addition, our Mexico adoption information flyer includes contact information for the Mexican Central Authority along with information on the Mexican intercountry adoption process.

We publish updated information related to intercountry adoptions from Mexico as we receive it. If you have any further questions please write to us at adoptionUSCA@state.gov or call us at 1-888-407-4747.

Notice: Updated information from the Mexican Central Authority regarding adoptions completed without first fulfilling all intercountry adoption processing steps. (August 26, 2013)

The Mexican Central Authority (MCA) recently informed the Office of Children's Issues that it is unable to issue the required Convention Article 23 certification for any out-of-order adoptions, and that prospective adoptive parents will need to redo such adoptions in accordance with Mexican law. The "How to Adopt" section of our Mexico adoption flyer, which will be updated soon, summarizes the process for adopting a child from Mexico.

The MCA emphasized that ALL Convention adoption cases from Mexico must meet the following requirements:

1. All prospective adoptive parents must work with a U.S. accredited or approved adoption service provider (ASP) that is also authorized in Mexico. For up to date information on U.S. agencies authorized to provide adoption services in Mexico, prospective adoptive parents may refer to the website of the national Desarollo Integral de la Familia (DIF).

2. Before commencing adoption processing at the state level (and prior to matching), the authorized ASP acting on behalf of the prospective adoptive parents must first file the adoption application (also known as dossier) with the Secretaria de Relaciones Exteriores (SRE). The SRE forwards the adoption application to the national and state offices of the DIF. The application must include an approved I-800A.

3. Prospective adoptive parents and the children who are to be adopted must meet the Mexican intercountry adoption eligibility requirements. These requirements, as provided by the MCA, are summarized on our Mexico adoption flyer under the "Who can be Adopted" and "Who can Adopt."

The MCA advised that that if a family already completed an adoption without following all Convention steps in order, then the family may go to a Mexican federal court and petition the court for an amparo ordering the lower/state court that issued the adoption decree to open, or vacate, the adoption.. Once the family has been granted a federal amparo ordering the lower/state court to vacate the previous adoption, the family would redo the entire adoption in compliance with Mexico's Convention intercountry adoption process.

Mexico's stated policy means that an I-800 petition based on an adoption completed out of order in Mexico must be denied pursuant to 8 CFR 204.309(b)(1). For some out-of-order Convention adoptions, the cited regulation allows for provisional approval of an I-800 if the petitioner can demonstrate that the adoption cannot be voided, vacated or annulled. With this announcement, provisional approval for out of order Mexican intercountry adoptions is unavailable because the MCA indicated that adoptions can be vacated, voided, or annulled in Mexico through a federal amparo process. Furthermore, the MCA has stated that it will not issue the required Convention Article 23 certification for cases that do not follow the Mexico's Convention process. Without the MCA's certification, the U.S. Embassy cannot issue a Convention immigrant visa.

We will publish additional updated information related to intercountry adoption in Mexico as we receive it. If you have any further questions please write to us at adoptionUSCA@state.gov or call us at 1-888-407-4747.

Source: [1]

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