Voices for Vietnam Adoption Integrity

Monday June 30th, CNN presented this report titled US Vietnam Adoptions End, featuring some very strong statements from U.S. Ambassador Michael Michalak.

On July 1st PBS’s News Hour did a segment on International Adoption issues, highlighting Vietnam. The report featured a discussion with Susan Soon-Keum Cox, Vice President of Public Policy and External Affairs at Holt [...]

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There was another quarterly ASP (Adoption Service Provider) meeting at the US Embassy in HaNoi this week. Ethica has posted their notes on the meeting on their website. The Embassy provided updates and information on the current I600 wait and ‘blocked’ provinces, the new fingerprinting process, the current situation with the expiration of [...]

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USCIS has updated their website with this PDF dated May 29, 2008 that reflects the long-awaited DNA testing.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that its office in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam is implementing a DNA testing requirement for Vietnamese adoption cases where the birth parent(s) of the adopted child has been identified. [...]

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Today the US Embassy, Hanoi released a summary of irregularities in adoptions in Vietnam that is the longest and most thorough, to date. Likewise they have also released a Warning Concerning Adoptions in Vietnam which states, in part (emphasis mine):
On April 25, the Government of Vietnam announced that it will allow adoption to [...]

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From Ethica:
Ethica has received numerous inquiries on a rumor that the U.S. Embassy is pressuring Vietnam to only process adoptions from Hague accredited adoption agencies. The U.S. Department of State has clarified that in fact, Vietnamese officials recently initiated and proposed this requirement. They also requested a list of accredited agencies. Consular Officer, Mr. Donald [...]

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Adopted daughter stuck in Vietnam
Awaiting Eden’s return
By KEVIN HOWE
Herald Staff Writer
Navy wife Jewell McRoberts of Seaside is leaving for Washington, D.C., today with her three children to do battle with the State Department and bring the family’s fourth child home. …
Jewell McRoberts said she has an appointment to meet with Democratic Sens. Barbara Boxer and [...]

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Word is trickling out about the meeting at the Hanoi Embassy this past Thursday. Some agencies are sharing a summary of the meeting with their clients and Tad at Adoption Buzz has a good comprehensive summary posted. If you have any information from your agency, please feel free to share in our comments section. (Also [...]

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Many of us have questions about the new I600 process - what it involves and the way applications are being processed. Some of these questions are actually answered on the US Pre-approval of Adoption page on the recently renovated Embassy website. While we are all capable of going to the site and reading the information, sometimes [...]

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The US Embassy in Hanoi’s quarterly meeting on adoption issues in Vietnam is this Thursday, January 24th. For a number of reasons, this is a very important meeting. As we mentioned in the previous announcement, according to the invitation, there will be “a wide-ranging discussion of current issues in Vietnamese adoptions as well as visa [...]

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Recently we learned that some families/agencies seem to be experiencing problems with a few of the provinces insisting that families complete their Giving/Receiving ceremonies immediately upon final provincial approval (like within 7 days of notification). Apparently when the agencies inform the provinces that families need to wait on I600 approval from the Embassy, these provinces respond [...]

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