DOS Alert on Democratic Republic of the Congo UPDATED
See here:
“Alert: The Department of State Strongly Recommends Against Adopting from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
This Alert Supercedes the Alert Issued on June 2, 2015
The exit permit suspension for Congolese children adopted by foreigners is still in effect. While the Congolese government has recently made significant progress to address the large number of adopted children who have not been able to leave the DRC because of the exit permit suspension, the suspension remains firmly in place. While the DRC government recently issued exit permits for many children approved by the Congolese Interministerial Commission, those cases have been pending for upwards of 30 months. The Department of State continues to ask all adoption service providers not to refer new Congolese adoption cases for U.S. prospective adoptive parents. The Department of State strongly recommends against initiating an adoption in the DRC at this time.
The Department of State continues to advocate for any families whose adopted children have not received exit permits. We will continue to engage with the Congolese government on long-term adoption reform. Please address any questions or concerns toExitPermitSuspensionDRC@state.gov. ”
The first time ever they recommend NOT Adopting!
Also, they published a notice on April 21 about “Fee Waiver Provision of the Adoptive Family Relief Act in the DRC
On October 16, 2015, President Obama signed the Adoptive Family Relief Act (Public Law 114-70) which amends section 221(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to allow immigrant visa fees to be waived or refunded for legally adopted children or children coming to the U.S. to be adopted by a U.S. citizen under certain circumstances.
In accordance with this law, children adopted by U.S. citizens and issued a U.S. immigrant visa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on or after March 27, 2013, based on a legal adoption or custody for purposes of adoption in the United States, will not be required to pay visa renewal or replacement fees if:
- the child was unable to use the original immigrant visa during the period of its validity as a direct result of extraordinary circumstances, including the denial of an exit permit; and
- such inability was attributable to factors beyond the control of the adopting parent or parents.
The Department will publish full implementing regulations for the Adoptive Family Relief Act’s fee waiver and fee refund provisions.
Procedure for waiving the visa fee for renewal: If you are currently in the process of renewing your child’s visa and these criteria apply to you, you will not be required to pay the visa renewal fee. U.S. Embassy Kinshasa has been notified of these changes to the Immigration and Nationality Act and will process visa renewal applications accordingly. All other visa renewal requirements still apply.
Refund Requests: The Department of State is establishing the necessary steps to process refunds in accordance with established law and procedures. If you already paid a fee to renew a visa issued on or after March 27, 2013, and these criteria apply to you, and you desire to request a refund, you will have the opportunity to do so when the new refund procedure is put in place. A separate Adoption Notice will be published about obtaining fee refunds under the Adoptive Family Relief Act. ”
REFORM Puzzle Piece
Update:An adoption notice was published at DOS on September 13, 2016.
“Adoption Notice: Implementation of Refund Provision of the Adoptive Family Relief Act in the DRC
On October 16, 2015, President Obama signed the Adoptive Family Relief Act (Public Law 114-70) which amends section 221(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to allow immigrant visa fees to be waived or refunded under certain circumstances for children legally adopted by a U.S. citizen or children coming to the United States to be adopted by a U.S. citizen who has legal custody of the child for purposes of emigration and adoption in the United States.
In accordance with this law, children adopted by or in the custody of U.S. citizens and issued a U.S. immigrant visa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on or after March 27, 2013, based on a full and final adoption or grant of custody for purposes of adoption in the United States, may have the child’s visa renewal or replacement fees waived, and if such fees already have been paid, may receive a refund of such fees upon request if:
- the child was unable to use the original immigrant visa during the period of its validity as a direct result of extraordinary circumstances, including the denial of an exit permit; and
- such inability was attributable to factors beyond the control of the adopting parent or parents.
Procedure for requesting a refund: If you already paid a fee to renew a visa issued on or after March 27, 2013, and these criteria apply to you, you may request a refund as follows:
1) Complete the Adoptive Family Relief Act Refund Application (DS-7781) which can be found here.
2) Send your completed refund application form toKinshasaAdoptions@state.gov. Please write “Visa Refund Request” in the subject line of your email to help us track and process these requests.
If the Department approves your refund request, you will receive a refund check by mail directly from the U.S. Department of the Treasury after the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of the Comptroller and Global Financial Services processes the refund request. If you have any questions about this process, please do not hesitate to ask us atExitPermitSuspensionDRC@state.gov.”
***
An Adoption Alert was publshed at DOS on September 16, 2016.
“Alert: The Department of State Strongly Recommends Against Adopting from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
This Alert Supercedes the Alert Issued on April 25, 2016
The exit permit suspension for Congolese children adopted through the intercountry adoption process is still in effect. The Congolese government has issued, in exceptional circumstances, exit permits for many children whose completed adoption dossiers had been pending for upwards of 30 months and were specifically approved by the Congolese Interministerial Commission. However, the Direction Generale de Migration (DGM), the DRC governmental agency responsible for issuing exit permits, has confirmed that the exit permit suspension remains fully in place at this time. There are no exceptions to the exit permit suspension for adoptions by relatives, prospective adoptive parents of Congolese descent, or any prospective adoptive parents who intend to take their child out of the DRC for the purpose of immigration, even where one parent maintains Congolese citizenship. The DGM and the Interministerial Commission have stated the suspension will remain in effect until new adoption laws are passed and go into effect. The Congolese government has not provided a timeline for when such laws might be passed. The Department of State continues to ask all U.S. accredited or approved adoption service providers not to refer new Congolese adoption cases for U.S. prospective adoptive parents. At this time, the Department of State strongly recommends against initiating an adoption in the DRC with the intent of immigrating the child to the United States.
The Department of State continues to advocate for any families whose already adopted children have not received exit permits. We will continue to engage with the Congolese government on long-term adoption reform. Please address any questions or concerns toExitPermitSuspensionDRC@state.gov, or call 1 (888) 407-4747 from inside the United States or (202) 501-4444 from outside the United States. ”
Update 2:DOS issued another alert on Congo.See it here:
“Alert: Processing emergency adoption cases in Kinshasa during civil unrest
As a result of the deteriorating security situation in Kinshasa, family members of U.S. government personnel have been ordered to leave the country beginning September 29. Most official U.S. government travel to the DRC has been halted. The U.S. Embassy is able to provide limited emergency services to U.S. citizens in the DRC. However, the Embassy will continue to process adoption-related immigrant visa cases already in progress, on a case by case basis. Consular staff will continue that important work to the extent that security conditions and the provision of emergency services to U.S. citizens may permit. We encourage prospective adoptive parents to work with their adoption service provider and representatives in country to develop plans for the protection of their children.
The exit permit suspension for Congolese children adopted by foreigners is still in effect. While the Department of State continues to advocate for any families whose already adopted children have not received exit permits, the DRC government has not lifted its suspension on issuing exit permits in adoption cases. We will continue to engage with the Congolese government on long-term adoption reform. Please address any questions or concerns toExitPermitSuspensionDRC@state.gov. ”
Man, you mean that PAPs are *still* initiating new DRC adoptions during the exit permit suspension? And adoption agencies have been facilitating this?
You would think that it’s simple common sense MOT to start an adoption in a country where the international adoption program is at a standstill. But I suppose people who believe that God calls on them to turn off their critical thinking abilities in order to adopt will do crazy things like this. And of course, adoption agencies don’t care as long as they can collect their fees.