A little hope...

This is a petition being signed by all the other people like me that have done everything within the time restraints given to us. It seems to me from this, that it is now up to the United States government to make the decision to allow us to be grandfathered in after September 1st. This is a little glimmer of hope. It will be interesting to see if it works.

AMERICANS UNITED FOR VIETNAMESE ORPHANS – GRANDFATHERING PETITION

June 2008

 

Dear CCAI Co-Chairs Landrieu, Coleman, Oberstar, and Brown-Waite:

 

Thousands of families have been in the process of adopting a child from Vietnam for as long as 2 years. Please help them complete their adoptions and give a child an opportunity to be raised in a family environment. With the recent studies on the effects of institutionalization on children, there should be no question that a family environment is an optimal one, which every child should have the opportunity to experience.

 

We implore you to use your influence to procure a letter from the Dept of State and USCIS, addressed to Dr. Long, Director of the Vietnamese DIA (Dept of International Adoption). On April 25th 2008, he announced that dossiers of American families received by July 1st, 2008, and matched with a child by September 1st, 2008, will be allowed to be processed to completion. All dossiers not matched with a child will be returned to adoption service providers, dashing hopes of raising a child for the 1500-3000 American families who are in the process of adopting a child from Vietnam.

 

Please ask the Dept of State and the USCIS to request that Dr. Long allow all dossiers submitted by July 1,2008 to be “grand fathered” by allowing these families to receive a child referral even after Sept 1. He has indicated that he is agreeable to this request IF the Dept of State and USCIS agencies will state that they will honor this change by continuing to approve qualified I-600 (orphan petition) and I-234 (visa) applications for families matched after September 1st. Vietnamese law requires a current bilateral agreement between sending and receiving countries; the one between Vietnam and the United States will expire on September 1st, 2008. Dr Long has indicated that Vietnam would waive this requirement for the remaining dossiers, if asked to do so by the Dept of State and USCIS.

 

Thousands of prospective parents applied to USCIS to adopt a child from Vietnam, believing in good faith that the US and Vietnam would continue to work together to complete ethical adoptions.

 

Since November 2007, USCIS has implemented DNA testing and the Orphans First program. These steps should help improve confidence in the adoption process, and allow the US and Vietnam to negotiate a new MOU with the goal of becoming a Hague country. Closing the program at this point will leave 1500-3000 families and orphans in limbo for as long as two years, while Vietnam makes necessary steps towards acceptance of the Hague Convention. As the JCICS Children's Rights Campaign of June 2008 has pointed out, if adoptions stop between the US and Vietnam, so will the backbone of humanitarian support that has helped tens of thousands of orphans who will never have the opportunity to be raised in a family environment.

 

We urge you to act upon this request without delay, by ensuring that the Dept of State and USCIS write this letter to Dr Long. This is a very trying time for the many families who wait month after month with little word, and we hope that their dreams of raising an orphaned child does not end in sadness.

 

Sincerely,

 

The Undersigned

Waiting...

Even though it is very early on Sunday morning, I am writing this as if it were still Saturday. I called Carl at the agency this afternoon to make sure my dossier got to him by noon. He confirmed that it had arrived and we discussed the fact that it may be necessary to expedite the translation of the dossier because of the time frame involved. I have realized that nothing is stable in the world of international adoption. New things come to light whether they were overlooked, failed to be mentioned, changed by one or the other governments, or, of course, I just do not remember being informed. I know that I am guilty of not remembering who I talked to about what during the course of a day. Due to the number of people I deal with, sometimes conversations seem to run together. One thing that I totally understood when I heard it today was, " unless the September 1st date is extended, my chances of getting a child are unlikely". I have known this all along, but still had more hope than I do right now. There are so many things I do not understand. I could have stopped this process when I first found out about the deadlines, but felt the urge to continue. It is such a weird feeling to think that all this work may not bring a child into my family as I had hoped. I know I am not alone in the way I feel. I know there are alot of other people going through the same thing. In some ways I feel worse for them because I know how some people feel like they are not complete without a child. I am so blessed to have family and friends that care and are supportive. I have looked into some of the domestic options open to me and I am not convinced that is for me. The next 3 months will be very difficult. Trying to have hope that I will be matched or the date will be extended, and also wondering what life has for me should it not work out. When I was young, my Dad used to tell me," it you want something, wait 2 weeks, and if you still want it, then it is ok to get it". It has been alot longer than 2 weeks...LOL.