June 2008: Update regarding adoptions in Guatemala issued by the U.S. State Department:
Guatemala Adoption Reform Fact Sheet
Since early 2006, the State Department has repeatedly issued warnings to prospective adoptive parents and the U.S. public about the uncertainties of adopting from Guatemala. The Government of Guatemala (GOG) acceded to the Hague Convention in March 2003, and then reaffirmed its commitment to the Convention in June 2007.
Convention-implementing legislation passed on December 11, 2007 radically changed Guatemalan adoption procedure, as well as the Guatemalan child welfare system. Under the former system, adoptions in Guatemala were done almost entirely by private attorneys with little to no government oversight. Under the new legislation, the adoption process is controlled by a Central Authority, the National Council on Adoption (CNA), which oversees adoption service providers. The GOG has had insufficient time to build the capacity to implement the reform legislation. Presently, Guatemala does not and cannot meet its Convention obligations because it does not have a Convention-compliant adoption process in place.
- USCIS is not processing I-800 petitions as of April 1, 2008 because the State Department is unable to verify, as required by Section 301(a) of the Intercountry Adoption Act (IAA), that the requirements of the Hague Convention have been met.
- Guatemala has agreed to process to completion pending adoptions or “transition cases” (those initiated in Guatemala before the new law went into effect December 31, 2007). However, new requirements have been added that have thus far restricted the flow of cases and has caused some pending cases to be rejected.
- The Department continues to monitor the adoption practices of Guatemala and urge the PGN not to raise unnecessary barriers for these cases.
- We cannot yet predict when we will be able to start processing new adoptions from Guatemala.
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