US - Vietnam Joint Statement On Adoptions

US - Vietnam Joint Statement On Adoptions

October 15, 2008

In accordance with the June 25 Joint Statement by Prime Minister Dung and President Bush, the Governments of the United States and Vietnam made the following determinations regarding the processing of intercountry adoption cases until a new bilateral agreement is signed or the Government of Vietnam accedes to the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoptions:

1. In accordance with the announcement of April 25, the Government of Vietnam and the Government of the United States agreed to process all cases where prospective adoptive parents have been matched with a child and received an official referral prior to September 1, 2008.  On September 23, 2008, the Vietnamese Department of International Adoptions (DIA) provided the U.S. Embassy with a list of 534 U.S. dossiers that received referrals before September 1.  These cases will be processed to conclusion.  Prospective adoptive parents unclear about the status of their case may wish to verify via e-mail with the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi (hanoiadoptions@state.gov) to confirm whether their case is on the DIA list.
   
2. All cases that were not matched with a child by September 1, 2008 will be returned to the U.S. adoption service providers.  On October 10, 2008, DIA issued instructions to all U.S. adoption service providers that they must retrieve these dossiers from DIA by October 28, 2008.   After October 28, unclaimed dossiers will be transmitted to the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi, which will return the dossiers to the prospective adoptive parents or their agencies.
   
3. The Government of Vietnam and the Government of the United States have agreed that U.S. citizens will not be able to adopt Vietnamese children until both countries sign a new agreement or Vietnam joins the Hague Convention.  While Vietnamese Decree 69/2006 contains provisions that could allow for the adoptions in certain limited cases, including children with medical issues and certain relative adoptions, the Government of Vietnam has not developed the implementing regulations for these procedures.  Accordingly, the Ministry of Justice of Vietnam, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and the U.S. Department of State have determined that neither government will process adoption cases, except for those cases that received an official referral prior to September 1, 2008, until both countries sign a new agreement or both are parties to the Hague Convention.  USCIS and the Department of State strongly caution adoption service providers to stop matching prospective adoptive parents with children from Vietnam.  Prospective adoptive parents should not seek or accept post-September 1 referrals from Vietnam at this time.  The Governments of the United States and Vietnam are strongly committed to negotiating a new bilateral agreement that addresses the deficiencies in the current system. Both governments acknowledge the complexity of these issues and the importance of developing a transparent adoption system that protects the fundamental rights of all parties.   

The Government of the United States applauds Vietnam's efforts to improve the safeguards in the adoption system and reaffirms its commitment to provide Vietnam with technical assistance to assist Vietnam with legal reform and accession to the Hague Convention.  The United States also recognizes Vietnam's commitment to speed up preparations for an early accession to the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoptions.