Vietnam Program Updates

Re-Filing for the Free I-600A Extension

On May 22^nd, the USCIS office in Washington DC held a conference call with all international adoption agencies previously working in Vietnam. The call was prompted by USCIS concern, as the office continues to see families filing for their initial I-600A petitions for Vietnam while the country is closed to international adoption. ...

As the Vietnam Program is currently not accepting applications due to the temporary closure of the country to international adoptions, please watch your email for updates related to the closure and negotiations between the US and Vietnam governments. Nicky Losse, Children's Hope Vietnam Program Director, will contact you with verified factual information as it happens.

If you are not receiving these updates by email, contact Nicky at Nicky.Losse@ChildrensHope.net.  

Three families returned home from Vietnam this past week with their children. Two of these families adopted from Kien Giang province and one family adopted from Tam Binh 2 orphanage in Ho Chi Minh City. Welcome home!

Three families have just returned from Vietnam this August after completing their adoptions of 4 children from the Tam Binh 2 orphanage and Picasso orphanage. Congratulations to all the new families! We hope to have more families traveling to Vietnam soon after receiving their Giving & Receiving date and their USCIS approval to travel.

The current agreement between Vietnam and the United States for intercountry adoption expires September 1, 2008. The two countries are currently discussing a new agreement. As details unfold, Children’s Hope Vietnam Program Updates will contain the most up-to-date information, directly from our staff in Vietnam. 

In early June, Children’s Hope began spreading the word to our families to support the Joint Council on International Children's Services' (JCICS) A Child’s Right Campaign for Vietnam by calling and emailing their members of Congress and asking them to back this important initiative.

The result? Click here and scroll through this PDF’s pages.

Last week, three families received referrals for adoptions from Vietnam! There was one referral for a healthy boy 3-years-old and two referrals for children with special needs. The family that received the healthy boy waited 19 months for their referral.

Congressional Writing Campaign
The Joint Council (JCICS) "A Child's Right Campaign" received over 2500 Emails asking the US State Department to work in good faith with the Vietnam Government to keep adoptions open in Vietnam past this Fall. We can only hope that just as many calls and emails were also received by US Senators and Representatives. The JCICS is compiling all of the emails to be submitted to Condoleezza Rice's office as well as Congress.

Children's Hope Vietnam is still waiting for the Vietnamese government to issue a formal statement to adoption agencies regarding last week's news media reports on adoptions in Vietnam.

A wire service article that was published on April 28 reported that Vietnam will end its adoption program with the United States. In the article Dr. Vu Duc Long, the Director of Vietnam's Department of International Adoption, sent a letter to the U.S. Embassy stating that Vietnam would no longer accept adoption paperwork (dossiers) from American families after July 1.

In the first week of April, Children's Hope International's Vietnam Program received the good news of referrals! On April 4, two referrals, both for boys, were presented to Children's Hope families. Both boys are from Ho Chi Minh City; the first is 7 months old and is from Tam Binh 1 orphanage, the second is 11 months old and is from the GoVap orphanage. Congratulations to the families!

In the last week of March, seven traveling families returned home to the US with their new sons and daughters. These families had great trips but many were anxious to come home and begin bonding as a family in their home states.

Seven Children’s Hope families are currently traveling to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to meet their children and finalize their Vietnamese adoptions. We hope in early April there will be another large group of families traveling to Vietnam! Three families are now only awaiting their Giving & Receiving ceremony dates so they can also make their travel arrangements to unite with their children. In late February, four families also completed their adoptions in Vietnam and arrived home anew.