Revision as of 04:08, 10 March 2014

Haiti Adoption Alert

Notice: Haiti deposits its instrument of ratification for the Hague Adoption Convention (January 16, 2014)

The Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (the Convention) will enter into force for Haiti on April 1, 2014. Haiti’s adoption authority, Institut du Bien-Être Social et de Recherches (IBESR), deposited its instrument of ratification with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands on December 16, 2013.

The Department is also currently assessing whether consular officers will be able to verify that the requirements of the Convention and the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 will have been met with respect to individual adoption cases by the date that the Convention enters into force for Haiti. This decision includes determining if Haiti has designated a central authority and key competent authorities to undertake specific responsibilities outlined in the Convention as well as determining if those authorities have the capacity to fulfill their stated functions. The Department must also review Haiti’s adoption laws, procedures, practices, and infrastructure to ensure that key Convention principles will be implemented. Those principles include consideration of subsidiarity, adoptability of the child, effective consent, determination of habitual residence, prevention of improper financial gain, and prohibition against prior contact with a child’s legal guardian(s) until the appropriate time in the adoption process.

The Department of State expects to inform the public by April 1, 2014 whether the United States will be able to certify Convention adoptions from Haiti. The Department of State will provide updated information on adoption.state.gov.

USCIS will continue to accept I-600A applications specifying Haiti until March 31, 2014. However, we encourage adoption service providers and prospective adoptive parents to contact IBESR prior to initiating a new adoption from Haiti. If you have questions about the status of your adoption case, please work closely with your adoption agency or facilitator.

Please refer to our website and to USCIS’ website at uscis.gov for updates on the status of the U.S. adoption program from Haiti as we approach Haiti’s entry into force date. If you have any questions about this notice, please contact the Office of Children’s Issues via email at Haitiadoptions@state.gov.

Alert: Haiti authorizes U.S. adoption service providers (February 8, 2013)

Haiti’s adoption authority, Institut du Bien-Être Social et de Recherches (IBESR), has authorized a limited number of U.S. adoption service providers (ASPs) to provide adoption services in Haiti pursuant to its new administrative adoption procedures, which became effective on November 5, 2012. Although these new procedures are part of the Government of Haiti’s efforts to become a Hague Adoption Convention partner with the United States, at this time Haiti is not party to the Convention. The U.S. government will continue to process adoptions under the non-Hague system until the Convention enters into force for Haiti.

In order to complete an intercountry adoption from Haiti, the adoption must comply with all of Haiti’s laws and regulations. These include the eligibility of the prospective adoptive parents to adopt, the eligibility of the child for intercountry adoption, and the matching of prospective adoptive parents with a specific child. The child must also meet the definition of an orphan under U.S. immigration law. All adoptions filed with the Haitian government on or after November 5, 2012 must comply with the new procedures.

The Department strongly urges all U.S. prospective adoptive parents interested in pursuing an adoption in Haiti to work with an ASP authorized by IBESR. The Department emphasizes that Haiti’s new procedures prohibit adoptions in which arrangements are made directly between the biological parents or custodians and the prospective adoptive parents (i.e. private adoptions). The new procedures also prohibit adoptions in which prospective adoptive parents seek a match with a child without the assistance of IBESR or an ASP authorized by the Haitian government (i.e. independent/individual adoptions). Similarly, Haiti will not approve adoptions where the child’s biological parents or legal representatives expressly decide who will adopt their child, unless the adoption is of a spouse’s child, is an intra-family adoption, is by a child’s foster family, or the child is the sibling of a child who has already been adopted.

The procedures (paras. 37-40) also specifically require ASPs authorized by IBESR to conduct post-adoption reporting on the child every six months for the first two years and annually for three additional years after the child is placed with the adoptive family. These reports must include a medical evaluation of the child, a school report, a psychological evaluation, and a social evaluation. The director of the authorized ASP must author the first four reports and forward them directly and solely to IBESR, whereas an independent expert may author the final three reports and the parents can submit them to IBESR.

According to IBESR, the following 20 U.S. ASPs have been authorized to provide adoption services in Haiti. The Department will publish the names of any additional authorized ASPs upon receipt of official notification. Publication of this list of ASPs does not constitute the Department’s endorsement of them:

• A Love Beyond Borders
• Adoption-LinkAll Blessings International/Kentucky Adoption Services
• All God’s Children International
• America World Adoption
• Bethany Christian Services
• Building Arizona Families
• Carolina Adoption Services, Inc.
• Children of All Nations
• Children’s House International
• Chinese Children Adoption International
• Dillon International, Inc.
• European Adoption Consultants, Inc.
• Holt International Children’s Services, Inc.
• Lifeline Children’s Services
• Love Basket
• MLJ Adoptions, Inc.
• Nightlight Christian Adoptions
• Sunny Ridge Family Center, Inc.
• Wasatch International Adoptions

The U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince will continue to clarify the new procedures as they are updated by IBESR, and the information in this update is subject to change. Please refer to our website adoption.state.gov for updates on adoptions in Haiti.

Hague Convention Information

Children Affected by the earthquake in Haiti (January 22, 2010)

The Department of State is receiving inquiries from American citizens deeply touched by the plight of children in Haiti in the aftermath of the January 12 earthquake.

As Secretary of State Clinton said on January 20, "Children are especially vulnerable in any disaster, especially those without parents or other guardians to look after them. This devastating earthquake has left many in need of assistance, and their welfare is of paramount concern as we move forward with our rescue and relief efforts."

Together with the Department of Homeland Security, the State Department is processing and evacuating as quickly as possible those orphans who were identified for adoption by American citizens before the earthquake.

We understand that other Americans, moved by images of children in need, want to open their homes and adopt other Haitian children who had not been identified for adoption before the earthquake. The State Department advises against this course of action at this time. Intercountry adoption involves strict safeguards and legal requirements that must be met to protect children from illegal adoptions, abduction, sale and child-trafficking as well as to ensure that any adoption is in the best interests of the child.

Before a child can be legally taken to the United States for adoption, the Governments of both the United States and the child’s country of origin must first determine that the child is indeed an orphan. It can be extremely difficult during the aftermath of a natural disaster to ascertain whether children who appear to be orphans truly are eligible for adoption. Children may be temporarily separated from their parents or other family members, and their parents or family members may be looking for them. Moreover, it is not uncommon in an emergency or unsettled situation for parents to send their children out of the area, or for families to become separated during an evacuation. Efforts to reunite such children with relatives or extended family should be given priority.

In addition, some children who had been residing in orphanages before the earthquake were placed there temporarily by parents who could not care for them. In most of these cases the parents did not intend to permanently give up their parental rights. Even when it can be demonstrated that children have indeed lost their parents or have been abandoned, reunification with other relatives in the extended family should be the first option.

During times of crisis, it can also be exceptionally difficult to fulfill the legal requirements for adoption of both the United States and the child's country of origin. This is especially true when civil authority breaks down or temporarily ceases to function. It can also be difficult to gather documents necessary to fulfill the legal requirements of U.S. immigration law.

The United States is cooperating directly with UNICEF and other relief organizations in Haiti to deliver needed supplies to Haiti’s orphanages and to provide assistance to other unaccompanied children. UNICEF is starting the process of registering unaccompanied children and will seek to unite children with relatives.

There are many ways in which U.S. citizens can help the children of Haiti now. For example, individuals who wish to assist can make a financial contribution to a reputable relief or humanitarian organization working in that country.

Parents with Pending Haitian Adoption Cases (January 25, 2010)

Our hearts go out to the people of Haiti who have suffered such devastating losses as a result of the January 12 earthquake. Our thoughts are also with the many families across the country who have been waiting patiently for information about their adoptive children. The U.S. Government is working day and night to unify eligible orphans with their adoptive families here.

As Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton stated on January 21, 2010, "There are several hundred Americans in the United States who were already in the process of adopting Haitian children before the earthquake. As a mother, I share the anxiety that they must be feeling as they wait for word about their children's safety, and we are doing everything possible to locate these children and then expedite their arrival in our country."

Haiti is not party to the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (Hague Adoption Convention). Therefore, when the Hague Adoption Convention entered into force for the United States on April 1, 2008, intercountry adoption processing for Haiti did not change.

Haitian law does not allow for a Haitian child to travel to the United States to be adopted. Therefore, prospective adoptive parents must obtain a full and final adoption under Haitian law before the child can immigrate to the United States. Prospective adoptive parents can expect a lengthy process to adopt a child in Haiti.

Haitian courts, in some jurisdictions such as Port-au-Prince, require American prospective adoptive parents to travel to Haiti to appear before a justice of the peace in consent proceedings before the adoption is finalized. The U.S. Government does not require adoptive parents to travel to Haiti at any time during the adoption and immigrant visa process. While It is our understanding that this should only take one trip to Haiti to complete the process, the number of trips will depend heavily on the local agents in scheduling and planning on behalf of their clients, the availability of the consenting parties, and of course on the availability of the magistrates.

Who Can Adopt

To bring an adopted child to United States from Haiti, you must be found eligible to adopt by the U.S. Government. The U.S. Government agency responsible for making this determination is the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Learn more.

In addition to these U.S. requirements for prospective adoptive parents, Haiti also has the following eligibility requirements for prospective adoptive parents:

Residency

Haitian law does not require prospective adoptive parents to reside in Haiti, although Haitian courts and/or the Institut du Bien Etre Social et de Recherches (IBESR, the Haitian adoption authority) may require American prospective adoptive parents to travel to Haiti before the adoption is finalized. The U.S. Government does not require adoptive parents to travel to Haiti at any time during the adoption and immigrant visa process.

Age of Adopting Parents

Under Haitian law, the prospective adoptive parent must be 35 or older. For married couples, one prospective adoptive parent may be under age 35, provided the couple has been married for ten years and has no biological children. The adoptive parent must be at least 19 years older than the child they intend to adopt. These restrictions can be waived with permission from the President of Haiti.(please see note below on "Waiver of Ineligibility.")

Marriage

Adoptions by married couples require the consent of both spouses. This restriction can be waived with permission from the President of Haiti. (please see note below on "Waiver of Ineligibility.") NOTE: U.S. immigration procedures still require the signature of both spouses on the USCIS Form I-600 (Petition to Classify Orphan as Immediate Relative).

Income

Haitian law permits adoptions by single parents, provided they meet the age requirements. Adoptive parents who already have children will need to obtain a waiver from the President of Haiti. This requirement is commonly waived.

Other

Waiver of Ineligibility: While Presidential waivers of ineligibility are sometimes issued, they are difficult to obtain and require a lengthy period of time to process. Prospective adoptive parents who do not fit the guidelines should consider not adopting in Haiti.

Who Can Be Adopted

How to Adopt

Adoption Authority

The Process

Traveling Abroad

After Adoption

SOURCE

Intercountry Adoption, Bureau of Consular Affairs. U.S. Department of State Country Information