US DOS: South Africa Temporary Moratorium on Intercountry Adoptions UPDATED

From here:

“The Department of State, Office of Children’s Issues wishes to advise U.S. prospective adoptive parents (PAPs) and adoption service providers (ASPs) that, as of May 11, 2020, the South African Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has instituted a temporary moratorium on all intercountry adoptions “during the state of national disaster.” We are currently seeking more clarification on how this will impact cases in progress. We understand SACA will not issue any new Article 17 letters at this time. However, once the moratorium has been lifted, priority will be given to all applications received prior to the moratorium. At this time, the Department of State has not received specific information about a timeframe for when Intercountry Adoptions in South Africa will resume, but we understand DHA plans to lift the moratorium once the travel restrictions are relaxed within the country.

Please continue to monitor adoption.state.gov for information. We will update this site as new information becomes available. For questions about this notice, please email the Office of Children’s Issues at adoption@state.gov .”

REFORM Puzzle Piece

Update: From here:
“South Africa Lifts Moratorium on Intercountry Adoptions
Last Updated: December 7, 2020

This notice supersedes our June 2, 2020 notice regarding the implementation of the moratorium.

The U.S. Department of State, Office of Children’s Issues wishes to advise U.S. prospective adoptive parents (PAPs) and adoption service providers (ASPs) that, as of October 7, 2020, the South African Central Authority (SACA) lifted the moratorium on intercountry adoptions originally enacted on May 11, 2020. This information is located in the South African Government Gazette, publication No. 43777.

As reported in our October notice, the South African Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has instituted new procedures for issuing new, updated identity and travel documents for adopted children, which PAPs must obtain in order to exit South Africa with their adopted children. The Department is still seeking information from the South African government about timeframes about these new procedures.

Please continue to monitor adoption.state.gov for information. We will update this site as new information becomes available. For questions about this notice, please email the Office of Children’s Issues at adoption@state.gov.”