Home Study Fingerprint Requirement changes

The Federal government passed the Adam Walsh Act that requires more stringent criminal processing for applicants. The State of California has interpreted this change to mean that applicants must have an FBI clearance in addition to their California Department of Justice and their Child Abuse Clearance. In the past we have relied upon the FBI clearance done as part of your USCIS I-600A application. The State's interpretation along with the Hague requirements that all criminal clearances must be done prior to home study submission does not allow us to avoid this. Sadly this means you will have to get two FBI clearances to get your approval.

Russia children availability for adoption

We have heard the rumor that Russia has stopped their adoption program or they are having horrible times, or that there are no children available. As with many rumors they are not true or have some partial truth that gets distorted. This is good time to adopt from Russia as long as you are flexible. The wait for infant girls can be long but for infant boys there is only a small waiting period. This past month our agency has had to decline several opportunities for boys because we did not have enough families. Even for an infant girl we have one region that it is likely that we can either get girls over 18 months almost immediately or younger girls within a few months. This particular region while having children readily available is a complex region that requires families to be flexible. If anyone wants to discuss availability please feel free to call us.

Russia supports international adoptions to US

The following is an excert from Moscownews.com:
Russia refuses to prohibit adoptions into the US19 Mar 2009, 12:11 PM Russian Parliament has refused to ban adoptions of its orphans by American nationals. The measure was suggested by a Communist MP, bitter about the December acquittal of a US father responsible for the death of his adopted son from Russia . Adoption into the US should be banned, even if temporarily, Nina Ostanina was quoted by Newsru.com website as telling the meeting of State Duma, the lower chamber of Russian Parliament. Between 1996 and 2008, 15 Russian children adopted by Americans died. In 14 cases through the fault of their new parents. At the same time, the US remains the largest adopter of Russian children; for instance, in 2007, 4,536 Russian children were adopted abroad, 3,468 of them into the United States . The projected bill was rejected by most MPs. Instead, a decision was made to develop a standard agreement between Russia and the adopting state, allowing to establish better control over the child’s life after the adoption. The issue of foreign adoptions stands sharp in Russia , where the number of orphans was estimated at 800,000 in October 2008. Of these children, 80 percent were so-called social orphans, rejected by their biological parents or taken from them by legal decision. But foreign help in this matter is regarded as controversial, especially in view of the recent case of American Miles Harrison, who was in December found not guilty of involuntary manslaughter of his 21-month-old adopted Russian son. Harrison left the child in his car unattended in hot weather, causing the child’s death from overheating. The acquittal was officially condemned by Russia ’s Foreign Ministry.

Change in processing I-600 in Russia

We received notice from the US Embassy in Moscow that they will be changing their processing procedures for the I-600 approval. The task of approval has been the responsibility of the USCIS but had been passed on to the State Department employees stationed at the embassies. The USCIS will be reassuming this responsibility as of April 1, 2009 in Moscow. What this means to families presenting their adopted children for final approval and requesting visas to bring their children home is that they will have an additional step than those prior. We hope this will not mean delays but it could possibly lengthen your final trip. What families need to be aware of is that there will be more scrutiny of the medical issues, ages, gender, and number of chilldren matching their home study approval. If they do not match a home study update will be required and a new I-171H given by their local USCIS. We are currently working on procedures to streamline this process.

Kyrgyzstan update

March 20th was the published date for presenting the recommendations for international adoptions to the Parliament from the adoption panel. The recommendations were not presented and have been placed on hold due to a new political crisis in Kyrgyzstan. One of the members of Parliament has assassinated recently while secretly traveling from Kazakhstan back to Kyrgyzstan. This assassination has many underlying political implications and has resulted in an investigation of key government officials. This crisis has taken precedence over the adoption issue, which has been postponed without comment on when it will be considered again. I know this is not the news you all hoped for. I hope that this will not be a long delay and that we get resolution soon. We will continue to monitor the situation. As one of our families so clearly stated, "Is anyone considering the children?'

Trips in April

Three of our families will be traveling next month. Congratulations to those families who have their first trips to Russia scheduled in April. We wish you a safe and joyous trip!

March update

Adoption Options wishes the best of luck to our family who will have their court hearing in Orenburg, Russia during the first week of April!

March update

Congratulations to our 3 families who brought their beautiful children home from Russia in March! The children are from the Kirov, Yekaterinburg and Kazan regions.