It seems recently that families awaiting to be cleared from the US Embassy (to which issues our children's VISA's to enter the country once adopted) has seen one delay after another. This past week, a precious friend got word that the case for her 2 children had been sent to the Embassy in Naorobi for further investigation? You can imagine the heartache and wonder of what this means? She has been waiting since early August for her clearance to bring them home and this was a step that we had not yet heard of before. We wept with her ... funny how quickly you feel the ache of your friends walking this journey. It's as though the Lord knits our hearts together along the road.
Friday afternoon we then received the information at the end of this post in an e-mail from our agency. A statement made by the U.S. Embassy.
Since then, my heart has ached and I have learned of more families and more cases walking this unknown journey. To make clear, no body wants a child to be adopted that isn't truly orphaned. It's the highest standard of our agency and unapologetically they will welcome delays if it means assuring that all things are done to the highest standards to ensure that.
But in the meantime, you can imagine the ache in the heart of a Mommy and Daddy who have gone to court, met their child and have finally heard the words they have longed to hear "He/She/they are YOURS". Now, made an official family by the courts, the final step is to simply bring them home.
So, in the past days I have been praying and what keeps coming to my mind is a vision of a mountain. Over and over, I see a mountain. It's not a small one either ... it's Everest. Folks, we have a HUGE mountain to climb (yes, that means praying without ceasing!)
I shared with my sweet kids that we indeed had many hurdles and "mountains" to climb before our "Z" came home. My 11 year old son reminded me as he looked boldly and confidently in my eyes "But we know the mountain MOVER".
Today, as I read the word, I was taken to Isaiah 49 in my reading. As I looked at verse 11, I read his words "I will turn all my MOUNTAINS into roads, and my highways will be raised up. Ironically, on March 3 2011, when we were seeing glitches with the process for MOWCYA, a girl in my church wrote down this same passage and slipped it to me during church. On that day, I hung this passage in my office as a reminder of his promise. Today, he took me back there in my own reading. Seriously! I love this - he was already laying his foundation of truth in me. But as I looked at the small notes, I noticed that for the word "highways" it re-directed me and told me to "See Isaiah 11:16". Jumping over to 11:16, I read; There will be a highway for the remnant of his people that is left from Assyria. Hmmm? O.K. Looking further I then see under my notes that the word "highway" in this verse actually means "the removal of obstacles and the building of a highway leading to Jerusalem.
Our God won't just move the mountains. He will literally turn them into roads and highways, building for us way to reach our destiny. Roads, highways ... the places we know that take us where we hope to be! And when he does, we can trust that our God will literally remove the obstacles in our paths that stand in our way so we can achieve the destination he has appointed for us.
AMEN!
As I read the words he wrote, I realize that we can walk boldly and confidently forward. Will you pray with me for the things you have read and the truth that we know. The Lord has appointed each child to his/her/their place into a family. Will you pray with me that he will build the highway that leads them HOME!
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Information regarding processing of Form I-600, Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative, Filed at the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa
In January, April and September, 2011, the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa, the Office of Children’s Issues of the Department of State, and the Department of Homeland Security U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) conducted public meetings for adoption service providers (ASPs), adoptive parents, and other stakeholders to address concerns about the quality and completeness of inter-country adoption cases presented in Ethiopia. To ensure prompt adjudication and avoid concerns about possible malfeasance, it is important that I-600 petitions (Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative) and accompanying evidence be fully and carefully prepared before presentation to the Embassy.
Approximately 80% of I-600 petitions submitted to the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa in recent months were incomplete, contained inconsistencies or errors, or did not contain sufficient evidence to document the child as an orphan under U.S. law. In addition, the Embassy continues to see cases which involve abandoned children but do not include sufficient evidence to document the abandonment and/or evidence of appropriate efforts to locate a child’s birth family. The Embassy also has received evidence of unethical recruitment of children from birth relatives and cases involving known birth parents from whom parental rights have not been severed by the Ethiopian courts. In these cases, consular officers in Addis will need to take additional measures to confirm that a child meets the legal definition of orphan, which could delay processing by several months.
The Department of State and USCIS remind all families interested in adopting from Ethiopia that consular officers are required to forward any I-600 petition that is not “clearly approvable” to the USCIS Field Office in Nairobi for adjudication.
For families that already have an I-600 petition on file at the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa, consular staff will advise them when a determination is made to approve the petition and the case may be scheduled for an immigrant visa interview in Addis Ababa, or when the petition is not “clearly approvable” and forwarded to USCIS Nairobi for adjudication. Upon receipt of a petition,” USCIS in Nairobi will notify the parents that the case has been received and issue any requests for additional evidence if necessary. Families can find more information about processing I-600 petitions referred to USCIS Nairobi at www.USCIS.gov under “Adoption/Country Information.”
It should be noted that, although this update specifically addresses I-600 petitions filed with the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa, USCIS sees similar problems with I-600 petitions filed with the USCIS National Benefits Center (NBC). Families can contact NBC at NBC.Adoptions@dhs.gov .
If families have concerns about their adoption, we ask that they share this information with the Embassy, particularly if it involves possible fraud or misconduct specific to their cases. The Embassy takes all allegations of fraud or misconduct seriously.
The best way to contact the Embassy on issues related to adoption is by email at ConsAdoptionAddis@state.gov. Please include your name, your child's name, your adoption agency, the date of the adoption (month and year), and, if possible, the immigrant visa case number for your child's case (this number begins with the letters ADD followed by several numbers and can be found on any document sent to you by the National Visa Center). Please let us know if we have your permission to share concerns about your specific case with Ethiopian government officials and any other person or entity.
We strongly encourage you to register any complaint that you may have about an adoption agency in the following ways:
- You may file a complaint with the state licensing authority where your adoption agency is licensed and conducts business. The Child Welfare Information Gateway, which is maintained by the Department of Health and Human Services, provides such a list at the link below: http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/reslist/rl_dsp.cfm?rs_id=15&rate_chno=AZ-0008E
- You may also file a report with the state's Better Business Bureau. Following is the link to the Better Business Bureau's website where you may file a complaint on-line:https://odr.bbb.org/odrweb/public/getstarted.aspx
- If your agency is a Hague-accredited adoption service provider, you may file a complaint on the Hague Complaint Registry located at the link below. While Ethiopia is not a Convention country, the ASP’ practice in a non-Convention country may impact its substantial compliance. http://adoption.state.gov/hague_convention/agency_accreditation/complaints.php
The U.S. Embassy continues to work with the Government of Ethiopia to ensure that appropriate safeguards exist to protect prospective adoptive children, their birth parents, and prospective adoptive parents.
We encourage prospective and adoptive parents to remain in contact with their adoption service provider to stay up-to-date on any information pertinent to their individual case. The Department will post relevant information on www.adoption.state.gov as we receive it.
To help clarify the notice the US Embassy issued, additional information can be viewed at the USCIS website here which further explains the current process of cases being forwarded to Nairobi when deemed “not clearly approvable.”
We will continue to notify your family of any new information provided.
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