U.S. Embassy Requirement...

Things are moving on the slow side at the U.S. Consulate in Haiti in terms of processing orphan investigations and in the issuance of visas as many adoptive parents who have finally made it out of the Haitian process are learning.

One of the requirements of the U.S. Consulate is that each Haitian adoption related document is studied in detail by the consular officer, Ms. McCarthy. Once she has completed studying the documents, she lets the orphanage representative know if she wants different types of documents.

This can happen in terms of relinquishment documents. For example, if your documents do not have the Tribunal book and page number on it, your orphanage has to go and get that done.

Also, in terms of orphan investigations, they are taking longer at the U.S. Consulate. In the past all those investigations were conducted by the USCIS office in Port au Prince because of security concerns in Haiti. Since it is safer now, the Dept. of State (U.S. Consulate) has retaken the function of orphan investigation, as is customary.

I have gotten many emails in regards to how long it is taking at the U.S. Consulate in terms of getting orphan investigations and visa appointments completed. You can contact your U.S. Senator and U.S. Congressman/woman if you have concerns regarding this part of the process. They may be of assistance to you. Also, I encourage all adoptive parents to join EACH at www.eqalityforadoptedchildren.org and put your concerns in the comment section as you join. Joining is free, but donations are always appreciated. McLane, the founder of EACH has a long history of advocating at the U.S. Dept. of State and USCIS for issues regarding the adoption process on the U.S. side of things.

I hope this information is helpful to you. It is frustrating to have "everybody" study the same documents over and over again, as this is what happens in MOI (on the Haitian side of things). All this appears to be in response to the concerns that UNICEF has expressed in terms of its alleged child trafficking in Haitian adoptions.

I am still waiting for the UNICEF representative to provide me with the statistics of trafficked children in Haitian adoptions that he claimed he had we I met with him in December 2007.