Once a family arrives in the country where their child lives, they adopt the child and they apply for their visa. Usually very easy to do.
Prior to Aug 6, 2010 when families went to Nepal to adopt they filed the appropriate paperwork and they were issued a visa to bring their child home....UNLESS there was something that stood out as being highly suspicious. In that case it would call for further investigation and the child may not be issued a visa. So basically all the children were granted a visa and the stay in Nepal was about two weeks, maybe a little more. The US had said that when they suspended there were 80 families in what they are referring to as the 'pipeline' and that they would 'finish their adoptions to completion'. Since the suspension, the US has not approved even one case yet! So now there are families that have traveled to Nepal to adopt their children before their 60 days run out. I'll explain that....Nepal has issued many travel approvals to families including our family and they have given us all 60 days to adopt our children or we run the risk of them not letting us adopt. So families are going to Nepal and adopting their children and now are stuck there because the US will not issue their children's visas!!! Ughhhh!!!! But if we all had traveled to adopt prior to Aug 6, all of our visas would have been issued!! It almost would appear that the US is lying to us (big shock) and is not completing them as promised. But instead, dragging their citizens and these precious children through the mud! Putting US families in really hard positions. Some may adopt their kids and get a denial and be forced to relinquish their parental rights and bring them back to the orphanage, or move to Nepal for two years!!!
"Previously there was one case wherein it was determined that the biological parents came back after a significant period of time and requested the return of the children. That information was not passed onto the Ministry or the adoption agency assisting the family. Other than this case, we have not heard reports specifically identifying fraudulent practices. We do not know if the Embassy is stating that unreliable and inconsistent documentation means fraudulent documentation. One would think that if there was evidence of a system of fraud the Embassy would have identified it." Now the US is assuming that these last 80 cases all have fraudulent paperwork. Each child is going to be required to have an investigation and if they can't find "corroboratory" evidence that the child was truly abandoned then they will either clearly deny the visa and the case will be closed or if they can't clearly deny but not clearly approve then the case is sent to the closest USCIS (United States Citizen and Immigration Services) which is in New Delhi, India. Then they will look over the file and inform the adopting parents of the missing evidence and then it's on us to find it! How crazy is that! If we can't produce the evidence then it will be denied and the case will be closed. So the chances of these last 80 children that actually have the chance to be adopted is not looking good....right now. God can change this!
I will point out the obvious....I'm sure there are some children who were taken from their parents and may not be true orphans. While that is heartbreaking this happens everywhere...not just Nepal. Most if not all these children in the 'pipeline' have been in their orphanages for at least 2 years, some much longer. So there has been time for families to search for them. Their faces have been published in the paper and they have not come forward. The bottom line is if they are not granted a visa they will live the rest of their days in an orphanage until they 'time out' and then they will live a life on the streets. For most if not all girls this means they will either be bought and sold into sex slavery or they will prostitute themselves for means of survival. The boys, a lot of them will be involved with drugs or crime for survival maybe even commit suicide. So it would be better for these that have a chance to be adopted by a family that will love them. Hopefully Nepal will do what is necessary to be in Hague compliance (international adoption regulations/guidelines) and the doors will open again so many more children will have the hope of being adopted into a loving family.
Okay back to our specific case. IF our sons visa is denied then the only way we could bring him home would be to adopt him in Nepal and live there for two years at which point the US would then issue him a visa to come home as our son. What I keep thinking about is orphans come to the US on hosting programs and we have foreign exchange students coming here all the time so I would think there would be some visa that a child could come to the US and live with us and then after two years apply for his citizenship. I don't know. If anyone has any thoughts I'd love to hear them!
We had our church pray for this situation last night and prayer is what moves the hand of God. We know that He is able to anything He wants so we are praying that He will move this last mountain!
Proverbs 21
1 The king’s heart is like a stream of water directed by the Lord;
he guides it wherever he pleases.
We have a connection with a Christian children's home where the kiddos are not available for adoption. They have told us they would do anything they could to help us in any way, so we intend to contact them and ask if our son, if need be, could live there until this visa issue is cleared up. Our plan would be to go to Nepal right way and legally adopt him, stay for as many days as we can afford and then IF his visa is not granted have him live in this home until it cleared up. OR if the Lord shows a way where we could financially do it, we could move to Nepal for the two years. We would spend those two years working in the children's home or the orphanages or both. The worse case scenario would be if we could never bring him home (which I don't think will happen) but say it does then we will have adopted him and taken him out of a godless orphanage and placed him in a Christian children's home where he will be loved, fed, clothed, given an education and will be taught the Word of God and sent out when he's old enough. He would remain our child and we would support him monthly. I really don't think the Lord worked out all these miracles to have us adopt our son and leave him in Nepal. In my heart I really believe somehow this will all work out, we just have no way of knowing the timing or how it will happen.
I hope this made it more clear and not more confusing. We are praying for a miracle! We should be home now with our son! If you have any more questions please don't hesitate to ask. I'll do my best at answering. Please send the link to everyone you know it only takes a few minutes and every name counts! We need 10,000 names to have congress look at it. If anyone feels led they can contact senators, congressman and ask them to help resolve the 80 families in the 'pipeline' adopting from Nepal. All we are asking is the US to process these last cases the same as they did prior to Aug.6.
I will attach a letter written by a lawyer that can be copy and pasted and sent to anyone you can think of.
Worth reading EVERY LINE CAREFULLY....
Essentially, USCIS made a determination to “indefinitely suspend” the processing of abandonment cases due to the reports from the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu that the embassy staff has encountered “inconsistent and unreliable documentation” regarding the reported abandonment of Nepali children for adoption. The suspension is reportedly limited to those cases where orphan status is claimed by way of abandonment.
This is troubling in so many different ways:
1. The reported reasons for suspending abandonment cases are inconsistent and unreliable documentation. We are not sure what this means as there have not been reports of falsified documentation or evidence of fraud on the part of governmental officials or orphanage staff.
Previously there was one case wherein it was determined that the biological parents came back after a significant period of time and requested the return of the children. That information was not passed onto the Ministry or the adoption agency assisting the family. Other than this case, we have not heard reports specifically identifying fraudulent practices. We do not know if the Embassy is stating that unreliable and inconsistent documentation means fraudulent documentation. One would think that if there was evidence of a system of fraud the Embassy would have identified it.
The obvious point here is that even if there was one or more cases wherein the I-604 investigation revealed fraudulent documentation, that is not a reason to “close the window” on the filing of other abandonment cases. It is fairly common that there is a presumption with Embassy staff that anyone applying for a visa to the USA is being fraudulent. That is common in employment visa application and tourist visa applications. For this reason you see that it is very difficult for a person to receive a tourist visa to come to the USA for a visit. The officers at the Embassy believe that the person will not return to their home country and will over stay their visit into the USA.
Regardless of this pre-judgment that visa applications are fraudulent U.S. Embassies around the world continue to accept the filing of visa applications. Furthermore, regardless of actual findings of fraud on visa applications the Embassies continue to receive and process visa applications. USCIS/DOS has not “closed the window” to those applications as they have now done in Nepal for visa applications for abandoned children.
The bottom line here is that the U.S. Embassy has pre-judged all abandonment cases as being fraudulent. This is fundamentally wrong. The system is in place for all visa applications, including I-600 petitions for abandonment cases, that if the documentation does not appear to be valid on its face that an I-604 investigation can take place. Based on the investigation the officer can either approve or deny the visa. Here the U.S. Embassy has pre-judged each I-600 petition wherein orphan status is claimed due to abandonment by refusing to process new abandonment cases. These new cases are not even provided the opportunity to be investigated. Again, prejudgment is fundamentally and legally wrong.
2. USCIS/DOS has a statutory duty to process I-600 petitions. By categorically suspending the filing of I-600 petitions for abandonment cases they are affectively violating their statutory duty to process the petition.
The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), Section 201 (b) sets forth the categories by which orphan classification is obtained. According to the INA, a child must meet the following two conditions in order to be considered an orphan:
A. The child must have no parents; or
B. The child has a sole or surviving parent who is unable to care for the child and has, in writing, irrevocably released the child for emigration and adoption.
In general, a child would be considered to have no parents if both parents are determined to have died, disappeared, deserted, abandoned or have been lost or separated from the child. Abandonment requires that the birth parents give up all parental rights, obligations and claims to the child, as well as all control over and possession of the child.
By electing to suspend the filing of I-600 petitions for “abandonment” cases the Embassy has effectively changed the statute by removing it from the beneficiary class.
An obvious question is can the Nepali children fall within one of the other statutory beneficiary classes of orphan status? Desertion by parents means that the parents have willfully forsaken their child and have refused to carry out their parental rights and obligations, and that; as a result, the child has become a ward of a competent authority in accordance with the laws of Nepal. Separation is virtually identical to desertion. Here there is the involuntary severance of the child from his or her parents by action of a competent authority for good cause. Disappearance is when both parents have unaccountably and inexplicably passed out of the child’s life, their whereabouts are unknown; there is no reasonable hope of their reappearance; and there has been a reasonable effort to locate them as determined by competent authority in Nepal.
What will the Embassy do when presented with an I-600 filing for a child whose orphan status is derived from one of the other statutory listed classes such as disappearance, separation, death, or desertion? We are trying to find this out.
3. Is the real reason USCIS/DOS is suspending the processing of abandonment cases due to the fact that our Embassy has insufficient resources to investigate each case? If so, then make a request for additional staffing. Do not categorically deny abandonment cases.
The various agencies working in Nepal are in consultation with each other in an effort to find a solution to the problem. We have requested that all efforts be made in Nepal to locate the birth parent or parents of the children in order to obtain lawful, irrevocable releases in writing. Of course this will be difficult. Discussions have included the possibility of legal action and congressional help in requiring USCIS/DOS to perform their statutory duties.
It is difficult to estimate how long it will take to find a solution to the current crisis in Nepal or whether a crisis will be found.
There are so many children in Nepal that are in need of permanent families and it is sad to see that USCIS/DOS has taken a position to deny these children, without the processing of the I-600 petitions, the chance of a family.
One more thing to share ;0) those who know me well should NOT be surprised at all.
We have given our little guy a different name which we feel is more fitting....we love it! So if you hate it please keep your comments to yourself :0)
His name will be...
Trek Hallel P. Davis
We can't share his legal name yet.
Trek is because....we love it! And no it's not one of Sarah Palins kids names (although I like them). Her son's names are Track and Trig.
The meaning of Hallel is "to praise, to make a show or rave about, to glory in or boast upon, to be clamorously foolish about your adoration of God!"
This ENTIRE adoption had been all the Lords doing! He has moved so many mountains and provided every penny we've needed. We fully intend to tell anyone and everyone all that the Lord has done! This whole adoption testimony is a testimony of HIM and what He is able to do!
We are praying once again that He see's fit to move this last HUGE mountain and do what no one else is able!
To HIM be all praise and glory!!!
Whatever the outcome we love Him just the same!
He is still AMAZING!
No comments:
Post a Comment