Adoption
Increasing numbers of Americans are adopting internationally. Those who have been involved in international adoption know that the process is complicated and ever changing. Thus, most who adopt internationally do so through adoption agencies well versed in these intricacies. Some people however adopt on their own or want to adopt children from countries where the process relies on lawyers and others in the foreign country. Of particular concern are children who may fall through the adoption/orphan gap: final orders of adoption are issued by a country’s high court but a child is not deemed to be an orphan, and thus ineligible for an immediate relative visa.
Those interested in international adoption need to be up-to-date on the procedures and policies involved both at the home country as well as within the two government agencies involved in the United States, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Department of State.
Update on Guatemala
The Government of Guatemala has advised that it will not process adoption cases from non–Hague Convention member countries, including the United States, beginning on January 1, 2008. It is unlikely that new cases filed will be completed before January 1, 2008.