Friday, June 7, 2013

Finally! From the U.S. State Department

Click the link for this long-awaited announcement:

Implementation of Pre-Adoption Immigration Review (PAIR) Program in Ethiopia

Why this is a good thing:

Before -  American adoptive parents receive a final adoption decree from the Ethiopian government. Then the case goes to the U.S. embassy, which does an orphan status investigation to determine whether the child meets the legal definition of "orphan." If the embassy decides it cannot issue a visa, the child is stuck - legally the child of American parents, but can't come to the U.S. Obviously there is a lot of pressure on the embassy to approve shaky cases, which may lead to children who are not orphans being adopted to the United States.

After - The U.S. embassy does its orphan status investigation before the Ethiopian court issues its final adoption decree. If there is a problem with the case, it is found before the child has been adopted, and the adoption can be halted. One downside is that there is a longer wait between referral and court date, but I think it's very worth it.

4 comments:

  1. WOO-HOO! "Finally" is right. I can't believe it's taken so long to implement something so sensible.

    And, while I agree with your downside, it may actually not lengthen the total time frame. I would guess there would then be a very short turn-around from court to Embassy date, since the leg work has already been done. Is anyone talking about going back to a one-trip situation? Regardless, this is a totally positive step in the right direction that MIGHT make it possible for me to recommend Ethiopia to potential adoptive parents.

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  2. Finally. It seemed like an obvious move and I cannot believe it has taken so long. We were delayed at Embassy for an additional birth family interview. We had already passed court and were our kids' parents according to Eth. law. What in the world would have happened if the embassy didn't approve us? Thank goodness they did this.

    To add to what 2+2 said, I spoke with someone recently who is working on their 2nd Eth. adoption. She said they would be returning to 1 trip.

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  3. Yes, such wonderful news that just makes SO much sense!

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