Viet Nam Updates & Info

May 30, 2008

March 2008
Post-placement Reports

Annual post-placement reports are required for all children adopted in Vietnam even if your placing agency has since closed or is unresponsive. The following document will provide the mailing addresses for post-placement reports so they can be sent directly. Please note that reports will also need to be translated prior to be sent. Both U.S. and Vietnamese governments have announced that only adoptions with referrals on or before September 1, 2008 will be completed until a new adoption agreement or Memorandum of Understanding(MOU)  is signed. This includes special needs adoptions which were believed to have been exceptions to an MOU.  Families are advised to read the following documents for further assistance if they were led to believe that any referrals made after September 1, 2008 were legitimate. 

Post-placement report addresses

October 16, 2008
U.S.-Vietnam Joint Statement on Adoptions

U.S. and Government of Vietnam Announcement
USCIS Update: International Adoptions from Vietnam to the USA
USCIS FAQs:  Adoptions from Vietnam Will Not Resume Without A New Bilteral Agreement

May 30, 2008
USCIS Implements Required DNA Testing for Vietnamese Adoptions

Vietnamese law authorizing adoptions between U.S. and Vietnam to expire on September 1

USCIS Update
May 27, 2008

WASHINGTON
– U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today
that its office in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam is implementing a DNA
testing requirement for Vietnamese adoption cases where the birth
parent(s) of the adopted child has been identified.  USCIS is also
reminding prospective adoptive parents that the agreement required by
Vietnamese law to authorize adoptions between the United States and
Vietnam will expire later this summer.

USCIS expects that DNA
testing will not only help confirm a child’s status as an orphan, but
will also significantly streamline the processing of cases in which a
birth parent has been identified, as opposed to the more lengthy
investigative time required to process adoptions when the birth parent
is unknown.  Read More Here

May 28, 2008

The I-600 needs to have the original signature of the AP and the date. ASPs can assist with filling in the form but must state that they did so in the appropriate place on the form.

MOA Ending–and New Requirements by CIS:
As stated by Vietnam, dossiers must be in by July 1st and a match with a child made by Sept 1st.

However, the responsibility will be with APs to show that they have met all VN requirements. Therefore, two new forms will be required and added to the list of required documents:

   1.  DIA letter stating dossier has been approved
   2.  DIA letter stating commitment to adopt/assignment of child

The US has asked VN to provide a list by July 1st of the dossiers completed. They currently do not know the total. The US is hoping to receive more information soon. The ASPs need to let families know where they are in the process very specifically. The ASPs should send their own lists to CIS and copy the Embassy.

ASPs have to notify CIS of new referrals to be sure they are on the list. CIS can cross check with lists they hope to obtain from DIA. Especially in August will this be very important. It is important to file the I-600 ASAP, with the hope that the last ones will be filed before Oct 1st.

On Sept 1st – if case has not received referral, the case will be returned to the ASP. The letter from the Vietnam government also specified that licenses of the ASPs would terminate on Sept 1st but that they would be allowed to process the remaining approved cases.

Side note: The MOA required both countries to commit to renewing it by March 1st. On Feb 1st, the US notified the VN that they would be unable to renew the MOA in its current form and indicated their willingness to re-negotiate a new MOA. The USG also requested clarification on the processing of adoption cases if the MOA expires. Between Feb 1st and mid-April, the DIA discussed options within the Vietnamese government; it was an ongoing discussion and thus a coincidence that they sent a letter to the US indicating the July 1st and Sept 1st dates on the same date that the embassy released the report on irregularities.

MOA negotiations:  In a new agreement, there would need to be a strengthened VN system, to address both regulatory issues on VN side and on the ASP side. It would be a time limited agreement, as a bridge to the Hague Convention. The focus of the US is twofold: to help current cases/families and protect the members of the adoption triad, and to develop a stable adoption and child services system in VN.

Discussions are going on, on multiple levels (with JCICS, Ethica, etc.) and there are a lot of good ideas and input for the revised MOA. Discussions with Vietnam are underway, but use of the term “negotiations” is premature, as the discussions are currently taking place on the lower rungs of the diplomatic ladder. The USG has asked for VN to name a more senior person to conduct negotiations but the Vietnamese have not yet done so. It is unclear at the moment what the timeframe will be.

 

 

Names Involved in Fraud Going to be Released?

May 10, 2008
Support Ethical Vietnamese Adoptions UpdateEthica would like to extend its appreciation to all who have participated in our Vietnam Campaign!
We encourage the adoption community to alert their representatives to the possible closure of Vietnamese adoptions to American citizens, and to the need for additional oversight in order to protect Vietnamese and
American families from exploitation.

We are pleased to share that, to date, the first two requests on our Vietnam campaign have been heard and acted upon:

*The
State Department has confirmed that it will continue efforts to reach a
new MOA with Vietnam that will allow ethical Vietnamese adoptions to
continue.

*The State Department has also informed us that they are

 

 

 

 

May 1, 2008

Support Ethical Vietnamese Adoptions

About this Campaign

1.  
Fax or email the letter, below, to your U.S. Senator.  Call and confirm receipt.

• You can find your Senators phone
  and fax numbers at
  
  www.senate.gov
• Ask to speak with the Legislative
  Director or Chief of Staff

 

 

• You can find your representative at
  
  www.house.gov
• Ask to speak with the Legislative
  Director or Chief of Staff

4. You may also wish to repeat and fax the letter to:

Seantor Biden, chair of the Foreign Relations Committee
201 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510
Phone (202) 224-5042
Fax (202) 224-0139

5. Encourage your family and community to get involved and contact their representatives.
6. Email us at info @ ethicanet.org (spaces removed) with the subject line VN Advocacy-Finished to let us know who you’ve contacted.
Thank you!

Talking Points
- You are calling in support of Ethica’s campaign, Support Ethical Vietnamese Adoptions.
- State your relationship to Vietnamese adoptions (adoptive parent, prospective adoptive parent, adoptee, supporter at large).
- The U.S. Embassy in Hanoi published a summary of adoption irregularities on April 25, 2008.
- Vietnam has indicated that it will not renew the Memorandum of Understanding, a required agreement for Americans to adopt Vietnamese children.
- Without an agreement a moratorium, the second in 6 years, will commence on September 1, 2008.
- You are concerned that adoption fraud and trafficking alleged in the Embassy report will continue.
- You are asking that that actions detailed in the letter be taken to protect Vietnamese and American families from exploitation.
- In the past 12 years over 6,200 children have been adopted from Vietnam.

———————————————————————————————————-
Dear (elected representative’s name here) -Summary of Adoption Irregularities in Vietnam
U.S. Embassy – Hanoi
Adopted Children Immigrant Visa Unit
http://vietnam.usembassy.gov/irreg_adoptions042508.html
On
October 25, 2007 in response to “growing concerns about irregularities
in the methods used to identify children for adoption in Vietnam and
the resulting difficulties in classifying those children as orphans,”
USCIS required that I-600 petitions be filed in Ho Chi Minh City, with
the processing of these petitions to be completed before prospective
adoptive parents travel to Vietnam. These procedures enable USCIS to
determine whether a child qualifies as an orphan, as defined by the
Immigration and Nationality Act. In the six months since this program
was instituted, US officials in Vietnam have investigated over 300
I-600 petitions. This report presents a summary of our findings.

For the second time in 6 years, Vietnamese adoptions are about to close. Hundreds of American families are in limbo, unsure if they will receive referrals of children, or if the children they have already been referred will join their families. With the recent U.S. Embassy
report (http://vietnam.usembassy.gov/adoption_warning0408.html) on systemic corruption, they also worry if their cases are ethical, or if their children are really orphans.

There are good adoption agencies and ethical adoptions, but adoptive parents have nowhere to turn for accurate information on agencies. While the U.S. implementation of the Hague Convention was a positive step, the new rules only apply to adoptions occurring with other Hague countries. Vietnam is not one of those countries.

Please help! I want Vietnamese adoptions to continue, but I also want them to be ethical and legal. To do that, I need your assistance, and hope you will consider taking the following steps.

*Please ask the Department of State to continue negotiating with the Vietnamese government to draft a new Memorandum of Agreement that will preserve adoptions, but that will also protect against abuses.

*Please ask the Department of State to release all information on illegal and unethical activity to state licensing departments and Attorneys General so it can be reviewed and acted upon by those who license agencies.

* The U.S. federal agencies who are tasked with adoption oversight need real tools to be able to help keep adoptions open and to limit unethical activity. Please sponsor legislation that will extend the accreditation and oversight provisions of the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 to adoptions from all countries.

* Please request federal investigations of Americans who are allegedly bribing Vietnamese officials, soliciting children, and engaging in visa fraud.

*Vietnam’s adoption problems mirror those in other countries popular with American adoptive families. Please advocate for a Congressional hearing on the problems affecting intercountry adoption and whether American adoption practices influence whether or not adoptions can continue from these countries.

* Please encourage Vietnamese authorities to actively investigate, and take steps to limit, illegal and unethical adoption activity.

As an adoption community member and supporter, I want you to know that I want to preserve Vietnamese adoption, but I do not support the exploitation of Vietnamese and American families and children. I hope that my representatives will seek to improve the adoption process and address its problems so that international adoption remains an option for children in need of permanent homes.

Thank you.
———————————————————————————————————-

April 25, 2008

———————-
Country Fraud Profile
———————-

Vietnam
is considered to be a high risk country for immigration fraud according
to the Department of State. Fraudulent documents are routinely
submitted by Vietnamese applicants in both non-immigrant and immigrant
visa applications. These include both documents that have been
fabricated outright and official documents issued improperly or based
on incorrect information. Birth certificates, household registry
documents, and marriage certificates can easily be purchased from
corrupt local government officials or brokers. Marriage fraud, in order
to obtain immigration benefits, is common and has resulted in multiple
arrests in the United States.

————————————————–
Adoption Legislation and Administrative Structure
————————————————–

Intercountry
adoption in Vietnam is regulated by two decrees: Decree 68/2002 and
Decree 69/2006. These decrees divide responsibility for adoption
between the Department of International Adoption (DIA) in the Ministry
of Justice, and the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs
(MOLISA) at the national level. Most of the actual administration of
adoptions, however, is handled at the provincial or district level,
with minimal oversight from DIA or MOLISA. For example, the matching of
children and adoptive parents is the responsibility of the
district-level Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs. In
many cases this authority is delegated to the orphanage director. If
DIA feels that a child is not eligible for intercountry adoption, they
can request the office that made the match review the file, but they
cannot block the match or prevent the completion of a full and final
adoption.

The definition of an adoptable orphan is provided in
Decree 68/2002 Article 44, which states that a child cannot be released
for adoption without “the written voluntary agreement of the father
and/or mother of that child.” The decree lists only three exceptions to
this rule. The first is if both parents are deceased; the second is if
the child “has been abandoned or left at a medical establishment;” and
the third is if “the child’s parents have lost their civil act
capacity” [sic]. Decree 69/2006 clarifies that the orphanage or
People’s Committee must prove that a child is covered by one of these
exceptions. Otherwise, a child is still considered to be under his
parents’ custody, whose consent is required prior to any adoption being
authorized. Decree 68/2002 and Decree 69/2006 also establish that in
the case of a child who has been abandoned or left at a medical
facility, a 30 day search must be made for the birth parents, and in
all cases a separate 30 day search must be made for domestic adoptive
parents. These searches are conducted by the orphanage or local
People’s Committee.

———————————-
Financial links between ASPs and Orphanages
———————————-

Vietnamese
law requires that an Adoption Service Provider (ASP) sign a donation
agreement with an orphanage before the ASP can arrange adoptions from
the orphanage. These agreements are generally not released to the
public. Several orphanage directors have told the Embassy that they
actively bargain with multiple ASPs, and choose to work with the ASP
that offers the highest donation per child referred. While these
donations can be a mechanism to assist in the care of the children at
the orphanage, they can also have a distorting effect on the adoption
system.

Orphanage directors in four provinces have reported to
the Embassy that there is a strong financial incentive to maximize the
number of children available for foreign adoption in their centers. The
donation provided per child (available for intercountry adoption) can
be up to 10 times the standard government funding. Hospital and social
workers have reported that orphanage directors offer them financial
incentives for each child sent to their orphanage.

As a result
of the autonomy given to orphanage directors by MOLISA, individual
orphanage directors, in conjunction with representatives of their
sponsoring ASP, have broad latitude in determining how donations will
be made, what the amount will be, and whether applications from
prospective domestic adoptive parents will be processed. For example,
one orphanage, which is entirely funded by an American ASP, submits
expense reports and receipts to the ASP on a monthly basis. The ASP
then transfers funds to reimburse the orphanage for its expenses. The
number of infants in this orphanage has remained steady for the past
three years. The orphanage is clean, well stocked with medicine and has
an RN on duty. This orphanage prioritizes reuniting children with their
biological parents, and processes equal numbers of domestic and
intercountry adoptions. By contrast, another orphanage receives a fixed
monthly donation for each child in the orphanage who is available for
international adoption and the payment is made in cash directly to the
orphanage director. This orphanage has seen the number of infants in
its care increase by over 2000% in the past year, but it has not made
significant increases in staff and does not have an RN.

According
to DIA, orphanages are required to refer one child for foreign adoption
for every x dollars donated by the ASP. Thus, if the ASP funds a
$10,000 project and the per-child donation is set at $1000 per child,
then the orphanage would be required to refer 10 children for
intercountry adoption to the ASP. Should the orphanage not have 10
children who are qualified for intercountry adoption, then, according
to DIA, the orphanage director is required to find the additional
children to complete his side of the agreement. Two orphanage directors
have confirmed to consular officers that they are feeling pressure to
find more children for their orphanage to “compensate” ASPs for their
donations.

Another effect of the donation system is that it can
reduce the protections that Vietnamese law grants to birth parents,
such as the required 30 day search for birth parents and/or domestic
adoptive parents as described above. Since, in most cases, the ASP has
a close relationship with the orphanage, the ASP representative may be
informed as soon as a potentially adoptable child enters the orphanage.
This can result in the issuance of a “soft referral,” where adopting
parents are notified that they have been matched with a child before
the completion of the two consecutive 30 day search periods. The DIA
has stated that such pre-referrals are illegal. Nonetheless, in over 40
documented cases, DIA has taken no action to punish or prevent the
issuance of soft referrals, noting that all they can do is to inform
provincial or district officials of the law and request their
compliance.

Local officials throughout Vietnam have reported that
they have never received any calls in response to ads run seeking the
birth parents of a deserted child. In fact, officials at the Ministry
of Justice acknowledge that such advertisements are ineffective as many
families in these provinces have no access to TV or radio and are often
illiterate. Vietnamese social workers also note that if a child is
abandoned, the birth family is most likely to reclaim the child 3-6
months after the abandonment. However, the ads are run only one week
after the abandonment, further decreasing their effectiveness. Further,
provincial officials have stated that the advertisements are made in a
manner that significantly decreases the likelihood that they will be
heard or seen by the birth families. Investigations by the Embassy have
also confirmed that the ads are not effective. In 6 cases where
investigations by the Embassy have located the birth family of
allegedly deserted children, the birth families said that they never
heard or saw any ads seeking the parents of the child.

Orphanage
directors in two provinces have confirmed to the Embassy that while
they receive applications from families interested in domestic
adoption, they do not process these applications. They have said that
the reason these applications are not processed is that their orphanage
will receive a donation from an ASP if the baby is adopted
internationally, but not if the child is adopted domestically. One
orphanage director stated that he would need “permission” from the ASP
funding his orphanage in order to release a child for domestic
adoption, noting that the monthly support payments the ASP made for the
children gave the ASP the “authority” to decide the child’s future.

———————–
Types of Adoption Cases
———————–

Under
US Immigration law, children can be adopted if they are orphans due to
the whereabouts of their birth parents being unknown (desertion) or if
one or both birth parents have permanently relinquished custody of
their child to the orphanage, (termed “abandonment” by US Immigration
law, but commonly referred to as relinquishment). Prior to the
suspension of adoption in 2002, 80% of cases were relinquishments, and
20% were abandonments. Since the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) went
into effect in 2005, those figures have flipped with over 85% of the
cases involving desertions. Orphanages not involved in intercountry
adoption, however, have reported to the Embassy that they have not seen
any increase in the number of deserted children, and the vast majority
of children in these facilities are children in care . Post has
received multiple, credible reports from orphanage officials that
facilitators are deliberately staging fraudulent desertions to conceal
the identity of the birth parents.

—————
Relinquishments
—————

Cases
where one or both birth parents have permanently relinquished their
child to an orphanage account for 15% of cases filed under the Orphan
First program. 75% of birth parents who were interviewed by a consular
officer stated that in addition to payments for food, medical care and
administrative expenses, they received payment from the orphanage in
exchange for placing their child in the orphanage. On average this
payment was six million Vietnamese Dong, which is the equivalent of 11
months salary at minimum wage in Vietnam. Many of these families cited
these payments as the primary reason for placing their child in an
orphanage. The majority of these parents also state that they had not
considered placing their child in an orphanage until a health care
worker or orphanage official suggested to them that they should do so
and informed them that they would receive a payment for doing so. Many
of these parents also report that orphanage officials told them that
the child will visit home frequently, will return home after they reach
a certain age (often 11 or 12), or will send remittance payments from
the United States. In these cases, the majority of birth parents have
said they do not consent to the adoption if any of these conditions are
not kept.

The Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs
(MOLISA) has stated that the payments to birth parents described above
are unauthorized and not funded by government sources. The Ministry of
Justice has likewise confirmed that such payments are illegal under
Vietnamese law. MOLISA has stated, however, that there are absolutely
no regulations on how orphanage directors can spend the money given to
them by ASPs and that orphanage directors can give this money to anyone
they wish, as long as the recipient did not have to take any action,
such as relinquishing a child, in order to receive the donation.
Accordingly, while MOLISA can confirm that the reported payments from
orphanage officials to biological parents must have come from ASP
funds, they do not have the ability to take action or to investigate
reports of child buying.

———-
Desertions
———-

Throughout
Vietnam, officials at orphanages connected with intercountry adoptions
report a sharp increase in the number of deserted children has since
2005, the year that the adoption agreement with the United States was
signed. Orphanages in 7 provinces report a 17 fold or greater increase
in desertions. Officials at orphanages not connected with intercountry
adoption, however, have not seen an increase in desertions. A
statistical review of child desertions reveals a series of facilities
that have an unexplained high rate of child desertions.

Provincial
records also document an unusual pattern of “desertion pockets.” For
example, in one province in 2007 there were 77 cases of child
desertion. Of these, 76 occurred at one particular orphanage. The
director of this orphanage told the Embassy that before he signed an
agreement with an ASP, the orphanage was home to 10 children, most of
whom had been relinquished. By January 2007, the orphanage was home to
23 children, of whom fifty percent had been deserted. By January 2008,
the orphanage was home to 70 infants, with over 90% of them having been
deserted. The orphanage director attributed the growth in the number of
children and the number of desertions to the fact that the orphanage
was receiving funds from the American ASP. He also stated that the
orphanage had hired contract employees to find children between zero
and six years of age whose families were in a particularly difficult
situation and encourage the families to put their children in the
orphanage. The orphanage guards also confirmed that desertions were
extremely rare before 2006, but now they “find” five infants per month
on average.

In other cases, individuals report finding children
in a field or by the side of the road. Often the individual who
purportedly found the child (child finder) is a police officer, a
village official or a member of their immediate family. These
individuals are often related to the orphanage director or the local
official who approves adoptions. Embassy investigations have shown that
many of these reports are fraudulent. These include cases in which
those individuals, who only months or weeks before had signed
statements claiming to have found a deserted child, told consular
officers that they had never in their lives found a deserted child. In
one case, the child finder could not remember finding a child, even
though the purported event had happened the day before. In another
case, the child finder stated that the police told her if she did not
sign a fraudulent statement claiming that she had found a child in
2007, they would arrest her for kidnapping in connection with a child
finder statement that she signed in 2006.

In over 10 cases,
Embassy investigations have discovered the identity of the birth mother
in cases where a child was purportedly deserted. In all of these cases,
the birth mother was known to orphanage or hospital officials, but
these institutions fraudulently document the case as a desertion. In
some cases, this was to conceal payments to the birth family. In
others, children were declared to be deserted with unknown parents
after the birth parents failed to pay outstanding hospital bills.

In
one of these cases, the official Vietnamese documentation the child was
born at Hospital X and then the birth mother left the hospital and was
untraceable. An Embassy investigation showed that the child was born by
C-section at a different hospital. The child was pre-mature and had
significant respiratory problems and thus was transferred to Hospital
X. Based on information from the hospital director, the Embassy located
and interviewed the birth mother, who stated that she had visited her
son at the hospital several times, but that the hospital director would
not let her hold the child until she paid a 12 million Vietnam Dong
hospital bill. She stated that she applied to have the bill reduced due
to her low income, but the director refused to consider the
application. Additionally, she stated that she had been told that her
child would require lifelong treatment for water on the brain and that,
as a result, her son had been transferred to Orphanage Y for care. She
was shocked to hear that the medical report from the U.S. panel
physician stated that the child was healthy. After considerable
pressure from the U.S. Mission, this adoption was canceled and the
child is now back with his birth parents.

———————-
Unlicensed Facilities
———————-

In
five provinces, the Embassy has discovered unlicensed, unregulated
facilities that provide free room and board to pregnant women in return
for their commitment to relinquish their children upon birth. None of
these facilities openly advertises its services. Women learn of the
facilities existence solely by word of mouth. While the facilities are
open and the women are free to come and go as they please, they incur a
debt for each night that they stay that they have to pay if they do not
relinquish their child. Recent Vietnamese media reports of such
facilities have revealed that women often live in squalor and in many
cases are forced to labor during their stay. In several of these
facilities, there is a policy that the birth mother cannot see her
child after delivery, in order to prevent bonding. Women in these
facilities report receiving up to 6 million Vietnam Dong as payment for
their children. While the source of funding for these facilities is
unclear, they appear to have close connections with nearby orphanages.

When
the Embassy visited these facilities, we saw up to 20 women living in a
single home. These women reported that orphanage officials came to the
house in order to have them sign paperwork relinquishing their
children. The women would then receive the promised payments. Often,
the child is then taken to a nearby hospital or orphanage where a
second set of paperwork is produced stating that the child was
deserted. This is the paperwork that is submitted to the DIA and to the
Embassy to support the claim that the child is an orphan.

——————————————
Vietnamese Documents – Issuance Procedures
——————————————

Documents
relating to adoptions in Vietnam, such as birth certificates,
abandonment reports, relinquishment agreements, and investigative
reports are generally issued by orphanage directors, local People’s
Committees, Provincial Departments and the Department for International
Adoptions (DIA). The facts asserted in these documents are not verified
by the issuing officials. Attempts by U.S. officials to verify the
accuracy of these documents have routinely uncovered evidence of
fraudulent or inaccurate information. Therefore, all documents issued
by the authorities listed above and any other documents containing
information not verified by the issuing authority cannot be considered
adequate evidence of the facts claimed and, at best, may be used in
conjunction with primary and contemporaneous secondary evidence or must
be must be independently verified by U.S. officials in Vietnam before
they can be considered valid for immigration purposes.

In cases
involving the desertion of a child, local officials usually issue birth
certificates and reports of abandonment at the request of orphanage or
hospital officials without speaking to the individuals involved. For
example, the People’s Committee in one southern province told the
Embassy that they issue whatever documents a local midwife requests
without verifying the accuracy of the statements. This is done to “help
her with her business with the orphanage.” In a different province,
village officials issued an official statement that a birth mother was
single, even though their own registry book showed she was married and
had four children. Further, MOLISA has confirmed that for deserted
children a birth certificate can be issued showing the date and time of
desertion as the date and time of birth and listing the birth parents
as unknown, even if the true facts have been previously recorded in
official documents.

The Embassy has received credible reports
that some ASPs pay $10,000 per referred child to local facilitators.
According to one of these facilitators, a significant portion of this
money goes to the orphanage director, who is responsible for finding
children. The facilitator and orphanage director then work together to
create a false advertisement claiming that the child was abandoned,
regardless of the child’s true origins. This ad is then used to obtain
the necessary paperwork from local officials and DIA. The facilitator
noted that as long as the right fee is paid, no one tries to verify the
facts of the case, and the documents are issued with no questions asked.

Fraudulent
police reports have also been submitted to the Embassy in connection
with adoption cases. For example, in one adoption case the original
file stated that the birth mother was unknown. However, hospital
records revealed the mother’s name and address. When the Embassy
requested an explanation as to why DIA approved the adoption case
without a police search for the biological mother as required by
Vietnamese law, DIA blamed the omission of the birthmother search
report on the village police and provided a document dated March 21,
2007, stating that a police check had been done and they could not find
the birth mother. However, the police officer who purportedly did the
check stated he had not actually done a physical search, and that the
date on the document was inaccurate. He stated that “about 20 days ago”
the police chief in another village visited his office with a prepared
backdated report about the search and asked him to sign, which he did.

———————————————-
Vietnamese Documents – Verification Procedures
———————————————-

Once
a child has been matched with a prospective adoptive parent, the
provincial level Department of Justice conducts a review of the file to
ensure that it contains the proper documents required by Vietnamese
law. According to provincial Department of Justice officials, the
review consists of physically verifying that the child is in the
orphanage and verifying that each required document is signed, sealed
and in the file. There is no requirement to verify the accuracy of the
information contained in the file. Further, there is no requirement to
verify that a birth parent intended to relinquish their child or to
verify the circumstances of a child’s desertion. According to DIA, even
if this review were to uncover any discrepancies, DIA and provincial
Department of Justice officials are prohibited from conducting an
independent review of the facts or speaking directly with the witnesses
in the case. Instead, they are required by Article 45 of Decree 68/2002
to return the case to the official who prepared the original report. If
this individual recertifies that his original report is correct, then
the case is allowed to proceed.

DIA’s explicit position is that,
as long as the appropriate papers have been signed by the correct
officials, DIA will certify that the adoption complies with Vietnamese
law. DIA has stated that it does not actually have the authority to
declare an adoption illegal, revoke a Giving and Receiving Ceremony, or
cancel a referral. The lack of verification and accountability
regulations in Vietnamese adoption law creates a situation where an
unscrupulous orphanage director or local official who fabricates a
“desertion” or “relinquishment” is also only that official who can
investigate the alleged fraud in the case.

A provincial
Department of Justice official told the Embassy of cases where under
Vietnamese law children had been matched with adopting families and the
cases were referred to her office for verification. In one case,
hospital records stated that the birth mother had registered at the
hospital under an assumed name and then died shortly after the birth.
The child was listed as deserted. However, the DOJ official found a
reference in the hospital file that the woman’s family had come to the
hospital to claim her body. As a result the official contacted the
family, who stated that the hospital had transferred the child to the
orphanage without their consent and that the orphanage had denied them
visitation rights. The family has now been reunited with the child, who
is being raised by his maternal grandparents. However, the official
noted that under Vietnamese law no one had technically done anything
wrong in separating this child from his family. Only her personal
interest in the case and her ability to persuade other local officials
to do the right thing prevented this child from being permanently
separated from his family.

—————————————-
Reports of Corruption in Adoption System
—————————————-

The
Embassy has received credible reports from current and former employees
of ASPs working in Vietnam regarding corruption in the adoption system,
beginning with the licensing procedures. Several ASPs have reported
that they were told they had to fund tours to the United States for DIA
and other government officials in order to receive their licenses.
According to ASP employees, these tours included shopping sprees, where
ASP employees were expected to pay for all of the purchases of the
Vietnamese delegation. Others have reported being asked to pay bribes
in order to obtain provincial licenses.

In addition, statements
from adopting parents and ASP employees show that many ASPs ask
adopting parents to pay cash donations to orphanage directors and
staff. These payments are illegal according to the Vietnamese Ministry
of Justice, but the Ministry acknowledges that they are widespread and
that they are a key factor in the irregularities seen in the adoption
system in Vietnam. Further, ASPs have reported that cash and in-kind
donations have been diverted by orphanage officials and used to finance
personal property, private cars, jewelry and, in one case, a commercial
real estate development.

———————————————–
Official Response to Reports of Irregularities
———————————————–

DIA
has acknowledged that when it receives reports from the Embassy
regarding fraud in adoption cases, they meet with the ASP or local
facilitators to develop a strategy to refute the Embassy’s evidence.
Frequently this consists of a second investigation where child-finders
are notified in advance that they will be re-interviewed in front of
the People’s Committee. When they arrive they are reminded that they
can be punished for having previously made false statements to the
People’ Committee. In other cases, birth mothers from rural provinces
who had told the Embassy they did not agree to relinquish their
children were summoned to Hanoi at their own expense and ordered to
appear before DIA to sign new relinquishment papers. Under this
pressure, child-finders and birth mothers have recanted the statements
they had made to consular officials.

The Embassy has informed
the DIA of cases of potential fraud and illegal activity. However, the
DIA has acknowledged that it has not taken any action, criminal or
administrative, against any individual or organization for any
violation of Vietnamese law or regulation concerning adoption. They
have also stated that they have taken no action to address concerns or
allegations of wrongdoing submitted to them by individuals, ASPs or the
U.S. Embassy. Instead, DIA has stated that it is in the “humanitarian”
interest of the Government of Vietnam to ensure that every proposed
adoption is completed as quickly as possible. They note that the ASPs
have made a donation for the child, and thus, even if they had the
authority to revoke a referral or an adoption, they would not do so
because they could not break their contract with the ASP.

April 25, 2008
Warning Concerning Adoptions in Vietnam
http://vietnam.usembassy.gov/adoption_warning0408.html
The
Department of State continues to urge prospective adoptive parents and
adoption service providers not to initiate new adoptions from Vietnam
at this time. The 2005 Memorandum of Agreement, required by Vietnamese
law to authorize adoptions between the United States and Vietnam,
expires on September 1, 2008. In addition, recent field investigations
have revealed incidents of serious adoption irregularities, including
forged or altered documentation, mothers paid, coerced or tricked into
releasing their children, and children offered for adoption without the
knowledge or consent of their birth parents.

The United States
is strongly committed to processing legitimate intercountry adoptions
from Vietnam if possible. Our primary concern is to ensure that the
children and families involved in the adoption process are protected
from exploitation. The Government of Vietnam shares this concern. Both
countries acknowledge that more needs to be done to address
deficiencies in the current system.

On April 25, the Government
of Vietnam announced that it will allow adoption to be completed in
cases where prospective adoptive parents have been matched with a child
and received an official referral prior to September 1, 2008. It
further stated that in accordance with Vietnamese law, the DIA will
suspend the acceptance of new dossiers on July 1, 2008. On September 1,
2008 any dossier that has not received a referral will be closed and
returned to the Adoption Service Provider. In view of the processing
time required in Vietnam from placement to the Giving and Receiving
Ceremony, an adoption process begun now cannot be completed before the
current Agreement expires.

Prospective adoptive parents should
be aware that documents relating to adoptions in Vietnam, such as birth
certificates, abandonment reports, relinquishment agreements, and
investigative reports are generally issued by orphanage directors,
local People’s Committees, Provincial Departments and the Department
for International Adoptions (DIA). The facts asserted in these
documents are not verified by the issuing officials. Attempts by U.S.
officials to verify the accuracy of these documents have routinely
uncovered evidence of fraudulent or inaccurate information. Therefore,
documents issued by the authorities listed above, and any other
documents containing information not verified by the issuing authority,
cannot be considered adequate evidence of the facts claimed. They may
be used in conjunction with primary and contemporaneous secondary
evidence, or must be independently verified by U.S. officials in
Vietnam, before they can be considered valid for immigration purposes. (http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/reciprocity/reciprocity_3705.html)

Consular
officers have routinely completed field verifications of orphan status
in over 35 provinces in Vietnam. However, in some cases, Vietnamese
officials have prevented the U.S. Government from conducting
independent field inquiries into the status of children identified in
I-600 petitions. Embassy outreach, as well as support from adoption
agency officials, have thus far allowed independent investigations to
resume in some areas that were previously impeded. We continue robust
efforts to resolve this issue. Unfortunately, it is impossible to
predict when we can complete the field inquiries in areas which are
still closed to our staff.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Service and the Department of State have instituted procedures to
verify that children identified for placement meet the requirements of
Vietnamese and U.S. law, before the child has been adopted under
Vietnamese law. Information about these procedures is available from
USCIS or through their website http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis.
The Embassy strongly advises prospective adoptive parents not to travel
to Vietnam until they have received notification from the Embassy that
their case is ready for final processing and travel is appropriate.
Parents should contact the Embassy immediately if anyone, including
their adoption service provider, encourages them to travel to Vietnam
prior to receiving this notification. The Embassy can work together
with adoption service providers, Vietnam’s Department of International
Adoptions, and local authorities to resolve issues such as the
scheduling of a Giving and Receiving Ceremony.

February 21, 2008
Ethica recently met with the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in regards to the current situation with Vietnamese adoptions.  Our notes can be downloaded here.

February 20, 2008
Burden of BirthAccording to a investigation conducted by Thanh Nien
reporters, Nguyen Thi Thuyen, who lives in Ung Hoa District’s Vien An
Village of Ha Tay Province, has been manipulating and luring countless
youngsters for nearly 14 years to not commit abortions and instead give
birth to prized “human goods” to be purchased and traded widely.  Read More Here


February 13, 2008
Vietnamese Adoption Facilitator, Mai Ly Latrace, Court Documents
Two
court documents are publicly available regarding a lawsuit by
Vietnamese adoption facilitator Mai Ly Latrace, against adoptive
families.
Order Granting Motion for Summary Judgment
Order Denying Plaintiff’s (Latrace) Motion for Reconsideration

February 4, 2008Ethica recently submitted comments to JCICS on the proposed standards of practice for Vietnam. In doing so, we reviewed input from the adoptive parent community. February 1, 2008Notes for adoptive families from the quarterly meeting on adoptions held at the Embassy on Jan. 24th can be accessed here.

1. Hague Rumor.We understand that
a rumor is spreading that the State Department will require Vietnam to
become a party to the Hague Convention before a new Memorandum of
Understanding can be signed. We have confirmed with the Department of
State that this rumor is false.

Ethica’s Comments on proposed JCICS standards of practice.

January 31, 2008

Update 

As the U.S. is poised to enter
the Convention, it is, of course, recommending that all countries
become parties. Under the Convention, bilateral agreements like the one
the Vietnamese government requires are not necessary. However, the U.S.
is fully aware that the process of becoming a party to the Hague is
serious and time intensive, and there is no expectation that Vietnam
will become a party to the Hague before the current agreement expires
in September. The U.S. will thus be conducting negotiations with
Vietnam on renewing the MOU.

2. Cases in process on September 1.

Families
are understandably concerned about the recent State Department warning
and are anxious for information about whether cases “in process” on
September 1 will be completed by Vietnam, and further which cases are
considered “in process” (for example, cases in which a dossier is
logged in or cases in which a referral has been made).

Ethica
has spoken with the Department of State about these questions and we
have requested that DOS seek a definitive answer from the DIA.

We
must continue to caution families that, at this time, no one can
guarantee what will happen on September 1. Some families are reporting
that their agencies have assured them that all families with dossiers
in Vietnam on September 1 will be assigned a referral and completed.
Some report that their agencies have received assurances or one sort or
another directly from DIA.

Ethica believes that such
guarantees, even when made in good faith, are ill-advised in the
current situation, and reminds parents that there have been endless
conflicting reports about what DIA has said about several issues,
including the practice of “umbrella’ing” and donations to orphanages.
Therefore, families are cautioned against putting their faith in
anything that is not an official announcement from the U.S. government
that transmits what the DIA has decided about in-process cases. While
such official pronouncements can also be changed at a later date if
Vietnam were to choose to do so, an official announcement is a stronger
indication of what will likely occur.

We will continue to transmit updated information as it becomes available.

January 28, 2008
USDOS Announces Advisory and FAQ on Vietnamese Adoptions
The U.S. Department of
State(DOS) has issued the following statement about adoptions from
Vietnam.

http://travel.state.gov/family/adoption/intercountry/intercountry_3939.html

At meetings with
adoption service providers attended by Ethica personnel, DOS
has noted that approximately 2000 people have indicated to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that
they intend to adopt from Vietnam. Many agencies have stopped adding
people to their waiting lists, but the lists are long—with many
agencies reporting waits of 12-15 months to 2 years for a referral.
In light of the long wait times, and the significant number of people
in process, the Department felt it was wise to inform people who have
not already begun an adoption from Vietnam that it was possible that
a new Memorandum of Understanding(MOU) will not be concluded by the Sept. 1 deadline and that when
a new MOU is concluded, it might be different from the one currently
in place.

Ethica commends
the Department for its openness about the process and the possibility
of delays. We urge families who have not yet begun the process to
seriously consider options in other countries.  Parents who have
been awaiting referrals will each have to weigh the risks of accepting
a referral in the months to come. No one can really make that
decision for you—all anyone can do is provide the currently
available information. The U.S. does not require an MOU; the
Vietnamese government does. Thus, while the U.S. will certainly
continue its processing past Sept. 1, 2008, it is impossible to
predict what the Vietnamese government will do with cases in process
when the MOU expires. Because it is impossible to predict, it is the
responsible thing to do for the Department to make families aware of
the possibility that cases not completed by September 1, 2008 could
face significant delays. Families should be aware that no agency can
promise you that you will receive a referral after September 1 (as
some families have reported), or that a case in process is guaranteed
to be completed.

Ethica urges
agencies to support the DOS efforts toward improving and continuing
adoptions from Vietnam during their interactions with Vietnamese
officials. Presenting a united front on issues of ethics and
transparency will assist the Department in reaching an agreement with
Vietnam more quickly.

Additional information on this situation can be found here:

http://travel.state.gov/family/adoption/intercountry/intercountry_3940.html

We will continue to
keep everyone informed as things develop in the coming months.

January 25, 2008
Ethica participated in a conference call with American adoption agencies, the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services, and JCICS in regards to an upcoming advisory on Vietnamese adoptions.  We urge the community to wait until the official announcement is released from the Department and to not succumb to speculation on the future of Vietnamese adoptions.

January 17, 2008
Ethica has been active in advocating for clarification on the current situation in Vietnam and on new guidelines introduced to curb troubling activities.  We have confirmed the following:

- The Vietnamese Department of International Adoptions has stated that agreements allowing unlicensed agencies to place children through partnership with licensed agencies are illegal according to Vietnamese
law.  The U.S. Embassy continues to warn that applications of parents using these agencies may be denied.

- The U.S. Embassy in Hanoi reminds prospective adoptive parents that lying to a Consular Officer under oath in order to hide this umbrella’iing relationship could have serious consequences.

- Prospective adoptive parents should be aware that the Vietnamese Department for International Adoptions has informed the Embassy that direct cash payments from adopting parents to orphanages and orphanage staff in Vietnam are a violation of Vietnamese law and regulations.

- There are currently 26 NOIDS issued that remain unresolved.

- Renegotiations for the Memorandum of Understanding being in March with renewal in September.  A major stumbling block is Vietnam‘s refusal to release a fee schedule as promised in the MOU.

In addition the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi has launched a new site.  Ethica will be giving input and feedback on the featured information:
http://hanoi.usembassy.gov/orphan_visas.html

April 26, 2007
In June 2005, the U.S. and Vietnam signed a Memorandum of Understanding to allow adoptions to resume with American families.  According the the agreement, Vietnam now requires that all American adoption agencies be licensed by the Vietnamese Department of International Adoptions (DIA).  Though there are currently 39 licensed adoption service  providers, other un-licensed agencies have been advertising that they can place Vietnamese children through partnership or networking agreements.  This relationship excludes those where agencies only perform homestudies for a licensed agency.

Upon consulting with government officials, Ethica has learned that there is pressure for the Vietnamese government to address this practice of sharing licenses, also known as “umbrella’ing.”  Families working with un-licensed agencies are vulnerable to being caught in delays should the Vietnamese government assert that only licensed agencies may place children.  Officials may make this statement at any time and it would be effective immediately, without a formal decree.

Families should take this risk into consideration and refer to the Hanoi U.S. Embassy’s list of licensed agencies when choosing an adoption agency.  Additionally, families should note that a similar practice was used in Russian adoptions.  Families that had worked with un-licensed agencies suffered serious financial and emotional repercussions where representatives could not complete their adoptions.

June 21, 2005
U.S. Vietnam Bilateral Agreement on Intercountry Adoption:

On June 21, 2005, the United States and Vietnam signed a bilateral agreement that laid the groundwork for intercountry adoptions between the two countries to recommence after a two-and-a-half-year hiatus. The agreement entered into force on September 1, 2005, and on January 25, 2006, the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi issued the first orphan immigrant visa to a Vietnamese child adopted by an American family under the agreement framework. As part of its implementation of the new agreement, the Government of Vietnam is requiring all U.S. adoption service providers (ASPs) desiring to operate in Vietnam to be licensed by the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice’s Department of International Adoptions (DIA). The DIA has indicated that, with extremely rare exceptions, it will accept adoption applications (‘dossiers’) ONLY through ASPs that have received such licenses. Prospective adoptive parents considering adopting from Vietnam should consult the adoption page of the web site of the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi, http://vietnam.usembassy.gov/orphan_visa.html, where the Embassy is posting the names of American ASPs that have received DIA licenses.

Click here to read the text of the U.S./Viet Nam agreement

February 18, 2005

The Department of State and the Government of Vietnam have recently been exploring the possibility of a special needs program as part of a multi-track approach on adoptions that includes negotiations for a general bilateral agreement and Vietnam’s eventual accession to the Hague Adoption Convention. No program has yet been agreed upon or implemented, and the criteria and procedures that might be used for special needs cases have not yet been determined.

07/23/04

Ethica has been informed by the Department of State that Vietnam has verbally indicated that they will not be responding to the last U.S. draft M.O.U. sent several months ago.

Asst. Sec. of State Maura Harty is meeting today with a group of adoptive parents and is expected to share this development with them.

During discussions with both Vietnamese and U.S. officials over the last few months, we have been able to learn that much of the impasse involves questions on the licensing and regulation of agencies.

DOS is currently discussing whether and how negotiations could be restarted. We will continue to post updates as information becomes available.

03/26/04

The U.S. Department of State has issued an Important Update on the Vietnam Intercountry Adoption Negotiations. Discussions between the U.S. and Vietnamese officials concluded on March 12th. No final agreement on the text of a bilateral agreement was reached at that time.

02/25/04

The U.S. Department of State has informed us that the Bureau of Consular Affairs is preparing a trip to Viet Nam for a working group meeting between U.S. and Vietnamese officials at the Ministry of Justice.

The Department reiterates that no agreement has yet been reached, but they are cautiously optimistic that the meeting may lead to an agreement in the near future. The group is reportedly preparing to travel within the next few weeks.

02/09/04

Recently, Ethica received the following additional information from the Department of State about the ongoing negotiations with Viet Nam. DOS stresses that it is cautiously optimistic that the negotiations are moving forward.

“Deputy Assistant Secretary for Overseas Citizens Services Dianne Andruch presented a revised draft of a Protocol governing adoptions between the U.S. and Vietnam to Vietnamese Justice Ministry officials on November 25, 2003. The initial GVN reaction was positive. The GVN is aware of our great interest and expressed a desire to conclude a Protocol in the near future.

“We received the official GVN reaction on January 15. This reaction was also positive, although there are a number of points on which the GVN would like clarification. We are now determining how best to proceed. Both the USG and GVN have expressed their desire to conclude a Protocol swiftly. We look forward to working with the GVN toward this goal.”

In addition, we have added a copy of a letter from the U.S. Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City to our site which outlines in detail the steps taken to conclude a protocol with the Vietnamese regarding adoption.

01/21/04

The Department of State has confirmed that it has received a response from Vietnam regarding the Protocol between the two countries. Although there are some outstanding concerns, we are told they appear to be more specific in nature and thus easier to respond to than general areas of concern. The State Department is reviewing the response and preparing a reply, which we are told they hope to have back to the Vietnamese within one month’s time. The Department feels that progress is being made, but has no time estimate for an agreement at this time.

12/18/03

The Department of State has informed us that it has responded to the Vietnamese government’s request for additional changes in the Memorandum of Understanding, now called the Protocol, and that the new draft Protocol was sent to the Vietnamese during the week of Thanksgiving.

The Vietnamese government is now reviewing the draft Protocol. If it were to be accepting as written, the process would move to the signing stage, as it has already been vetted and approved by the US.

However, because the Department of State does not know whether any changes will be requested or when the Vietnamese plan to respond, no time estimates for the signing of the protocol are currently available.

09/10/03

We have received many inquiries about the current status of the MOU negotiation with Viet Nam. At this time, it is our understanding that the Vietnamese government has still not responded to the US correspondence sent in early July.

07/28/03

Ethica obtained the following translation of the Vietnamese law dated July 10, 2002 from a Department of State office. The translation bears no official markings, however, and Ethica cannot verify the accuracy of the translation. We are providing this for information purposes only.

Viet Nam Law translation

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07/10/03

Update

Ethica has been informed by officials of both the US and Vietnamese governments that no official response has yet been made to the last US correspondence about the MOU. As we have previously reported, we have been told that no issues of content remain to be addressed, but that procedural issues are still being ironed out. As soon as we hear official confirmation of progress, we will post it to our website.

Update 06/24/03

The US Department of State has informed us that they have formally responded to the latest diplomatic request of the Vietnamese in relation to the ongoing bi-lateral discussions about an adoption agreement between the US and Vietnam. Both sides remain hopeful that an agreement will be reached soon.

Update 06/04/03

There are many rumors circulating that there has been a major setback in the negotiation of the MOU. It is our understanding that this is not the case. While the Vietnamese have indicated that they want a bilateral agreement, this is not a new development. The Vietnamese have always asked for a bilateral agreement, while the US has indicated that their preference would be a Memorandum of Understanding. This dichotomy has always existed and both sides have always been aware of the need to find a satisfactory middle ground.

In the United States, a true Bi-lateral Agreement is actually a treaty which requires Congressional approval. Such an agreement could take years to accomplish, which is not anyone’s wish. Therefore, both parties have been attempting to reach an agreement which is a melding of an MOU and a Bi-lateral Agreement. These talks are still continuing, and while no time estimates can be given we understand that both parties are still hopeful that an agreement will be reached soon.

Update 05/21/03

It is our understanding that the Vietnamese government has responded to the latest draft MOU. In addition, it is reported that meetings have been held and discussions continue on some procedural issues that still must be addressed. The parties continue to be optimistic that progress is being made.

Update 04/14/03 At a conference held by the last week in Washington, DC, a Vietnam consular official gave a brief update on the discussions regarding the MOU between the United States and Vietnam. In short, he confirmed that the negotiations are ongoing, that face to face meetings have been held, and that Vietnam is now considering the second draft presented to them by the Department of State.

Update 03/26/03

Today, DOS officials confirmed that a meeting has been requested with the Vietnamese to discuss the latest version of the draft MOU. While the Vietnamese are aware of the existence of the draft and some of its contents, the written draft has not yet been delivered to the Vietnamese.

DOS also clarified that while non-essential personnel and their families have been authorized to leave Viet Nam, at DOS expense, because of the current health concerns; consular staff deemed “essential personnel”, which includes the negotiators of the MOU, are not leaving Viet Nam.

UPDATE 03/21/03 Today, officials at DOS informed Ethica that a new draft Memorandum of Understanding has been sent to DOS personnel in Viet Nam for delivery to the Vietnamese. This draft apparently contains some of the items that Viet Nam previously requested and DOS feels that it will be well accepted by the Vietnamese.

Update: 03/17/03

On Friday, March 14, Congressional staff met with representatives of the White House domestic policy office, BCIS (formerly INS) and the Department of State (DOS). During the meeting, the negotiations for the necessary memorandum of understanding between Viet Nam and the United States were discussed. While DOS continues to state that this process is being viewed as a priority, no agreement has been reached, and no time estimates on when such an agreement could be reached can be definitively made.

In discussions with DOS, Ethica was told that verbal discussions continue and that a new draft proposal was being readied for delivery to Viet Nam.

March 6, 2003

In July 2002 the Socialist Republic of Vietnam passed a new law regarding international adoptions. One provision of this law called for agreements between Vietnam and countries receiving adopted children. Agreements regarding adoption must be negotiated by the US Department of State (DOS).

The new law went into effect on January 3, 2003 and to date DOS and the Vietnamese have not signed an agreement. A draft proposal was submitted to the Vietnamese in December, and in January the Vietnamese responded with some suggested changes. DOS reports that face to face talks are being held, and that no serious issues have arisen during the negotiations. However, no agreement has yet been reached.

In addition, DOS continues to remind parents that even when an agreement has been reached, it is unclear when Vietnam’s new central processing system will be enacted. Regardless, Ethica encourages DOS to make this agreement a priority so that adoptions can resume as soon as possible.

Update from DOS: http://travel.state.gov/vietnamupdate.html

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