Bilateral Adoption Agreement Between United States and Russia Will Take Effect Nov. 1, 2012

On Tuesday, October 16, 2012, the Department of State (DOS) announced that the Agreement between the United States of America and the Russian Federation Regarding Cooperation in Adoption of Children will enter into force on Nov. 1, 2012.

 Both U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and DOS work to promote a safe, ethical, and transparent adoption process for prospective adoptive parents, birth families, and children involved in intercountry adoptions. This Agreement will enhance the safeguards and protections for all involved in adoptions between the United States and the Russian Federation.

 The Agreement’s entry into force on Nov. 1, 2012, will begin a period of transition from the procedures in place before the Agreement to the new procedures called for in the Agreement. Not all of the provisions of the Agreement will take effect immediately on Nov. 1. The USCIS and DOS anticipates that the transition period will take six to nine months to complete. Most cases already in progress as of Nov. 1 will be able continue under the old procedures. However, it will be important to monitor and track the effective dates of various provisions in the Agreement to ensure that cases are in compliance with all the requirements throughout the transition period. USCIS and DOS will be conducting regular outreach in the coming months to ensure that new guidance and information is available.

 The full text of the Agreement and an updated Frequently Asked Questions can be found online at http://adoption.state.gov. Additional information and guidance will be posted on the USCIS website in the future. Please visit www.uscis.gov/adoption and www.adoption.state.gov regularly for the most up-to-date information.

Adoption Agreement Moves Forward for Russia and U.S.

On July 10, 2012, the Russian Duma, the lower house of the Russian Parliament, approved the bilateral adoption agreement signed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on July 13, 2011.

This marks a significant milestone in the path toward implementing the agreement, which will provide additional safeguards to better protect the welfare and interests of children and all parties involved in intercountry adoptions.

The agreement has also been approved by the Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian Parliament and will now be sent to President Putin for signature. The U.S. and Russia will then need to establish procedures to implement the agreement, which the United States is committed to doing as quickly as possible.

Once the two sides have put in place the necessary procedures for implementation, the agreement will become effective upon the exchange of diplomatic notes between the U.S. and Russian governments.

Adoptions will continue according to the existing procedures while the U.S. and Russian governments work together to implement the new agreement.

The U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will provide information about the new procedures and clear guidance on their websites related to when U.S. families seeking to adopt in Russia will need to begin following the new procedures well before the agreement’s entry into force.

Please monitor adoption.state.gov and uscis.gov for more information and the latest updates.

USCIS Announces Adoption Policy for Hague Transition Cases Grandfathered Form I-600A Affected

USCIS Announces Adoption Policy for Hague Transition Cases
Grandfathered Form I-600A Affected

WASHINGTON –U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that prospective adoptive parents already in the process of adopting a child from a country that has implemented the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (Hague Adoption Convention) who filed a Form I-600A, Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition, prior to April 1, 2008, and who have received the one time no-charge extension, may file one additional Form I-600A, and continue to proceed with their intercountry adoption through the “orphan” process. The new Form I-600A must be filed before the current approval expires, and only if the prospective adoptive parents have not yet filed the corresponding Form I-600, Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative.



U.S. law and regulations allow individuals who began the intercountry adoption process by filing Form I-600A or Form I-600, before April 1, 2008, to continue using these pre-Hague Adoption Convention forms and procedures even if they are adopting a child from a Hague Adoption Convention country. However, depending on the time that it takes prospective adoptive parents to be matched with a child and file Form I-600, the approval of the I-600A might expire before the prospective adoptive parents are able to file Form I-600. By allowing the filing of one new Form I-600A prior to the expiration of the current approved Form I-600A, USCIS is allowing prospective adoptive parents who have been grandfathered into the pre-Hague Adoption Convention process to continue to proceed under this “orphan” process, provided the child’s home country agrees.



If the Form I-600A is no longer valid, prospective adoptive parents must file a Form I-800A, Application for Determination of Suitability to Adopt a Child from a Convention Country, with a home study which meets all of the requirements for a Hague Adoption Convention home study. Once a Form I-800A is approved, the Form I-800, Petition to Classify Convention Adoptee as an Immediate Relative may be filed on behalf of the prospective adoptive child.