Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Urgent Notice Regarding US Citizenship Changes

Today a Policy Alert has been issued by USCIS: The USCIS no longer considers children of U.S. government employees and U.S. armed forces members residing outside the United States as “residing in the United States” for purposes of acquiring citizenship under INA 320. This would also impact families registered as habitually residing abroad (missionaries or those living and working abroad) and expecting to register birth of the child abroad as a US citizen. The same for international surrogacy whereby the genetic material of one parent is a US citizen. It is strongly recommended that ALL intercountry adoptees secure their Certificate Of Citizenship immediately. 

Tuesday, August 13, 2019

U.S. Forces Parents Away From Adopted Children For As Long As Two Years

enior Contributor at The Federalist
Both trails lead back to an anti-adoption ideology currently governing the Office of Children’s Issues in the U.S. State Department.’
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Luke and Brittney Stasi appear to have been victims of an unannounced policy change at the U.S. State Department keeping parents from bringing their adopted children home. Will Congress act?
Luke Stasi hasn’t seen his family since January. As his wife, Brittney, has been managing five children and a small business alone in South Carolina, Luke has spent the past seven months stuck in Africa with their sixth child, Victor.
It was December 12, 2018, when a Nigerian court finalized the family’s adoption of Victor, declaring the child (then age five) to be their son. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service duly approved the family’s I-600 application, recognizing the adoption. Yet as of this writing, eight months later, the U.S. Consulate in Lagos, Nigeria, has failed to issue a visa so Victor can come home.
As Americans continue to grapple with the separation of families at our southern border, a quieter immigration crisis is separating parents from children—not migrant families this time, but U.S. citizens. The Stasis are one of dozens of adoptive families facing a frightening new trend: an eleventh-hour stall in the international adoption process that leaves them stuck overseas with a child who is legally theirs, but is unable to enter the United States.

Monday, August 5, 2019

Hopscotch’s Ukraine Adoption Informational Webinar Tuesday, August 13th

hopscotchHopscotch’s Ukraine Adoption Informational Webinar
Tuesday, August 13, 2019 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM EST
Please join Hopscotch Adoption Ukraine Program Manager, Tonya Boggs, from your computer, tablet or smartphone to learn more about adopting in Ukraine. 
https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/902485285 
You can also dial in using your phone. 
United States: +1 (646) 749-3122
Access Code: 902-485-285
New to GoToMeeting? Get the app now and be ready when your first meeting starts: 
https://global.gotomeeting.com/install/902485285

VFA: Join the 2019 Adoptive Family Portrait Project! Sign up and Share!

Join Us for the 2019 Adoptive Family Portrait Project!

For the 15th consecutive year Voice for Adoption (VFA) will be providing an extraordinary opportunity for foster care adoptive families across the nation. 
The Adoptive Family Portrait Project seeks to inform Members of Congress and their staff about the impact that adoptions have had in many of their constituents’ lives, by pairing adoptive families with their Congress member. With your participation, VFA will compose your family story and provide you with a hard-copy publication containing the stories of all participating families.Additionally, Members of Congress will display their paired family’s story in their Washington D.C office for the entire month of November, in support of National Adoption Month. 
These stories are extremely important to VFA as they help us to further educate and advocate for foster care and adoption. Please consider being involved in this incredible experience. 
For More Information Please Reference Past Adoptive Family Portrait Projects.
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Don’t Forget to Save the Date!
National Adoption Month Briefing and Portrait Project Display Reception
On Wednesday, November 13th, 2-4pm
Location: TBD Capitol Hill
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We invite you to become involved with our 2019 Adoptive Family Portrait Project.
Participate in this Project
If you would like to participate in our 2019 Adoptive Family Portrait Project, take the first step and fill out our survey here. Please respond to the survey by October 1st, 2019
Sponsor this Project
Here you can find sponsorship opportunities available for any budget.  Your support will help us ensure Congress members are aware of the joys of adoption from foster care. If you are unable to participate in this project please consider sponsoring it.
Encourage your Members of Congress to Participate
Please contact your U.S. Senators and Representatives to encourage them to be part of the 2019 Adoptive Family Portrait Project. Hearing from constituents greatly encourages members of Congress to participate in our project. Click here for a sample template for emailing your legislators.

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Please help us make this year’s project a success by forwarding this email to anyone you think would be interested in our project! We look forward to your participation. To access more information about this opportunity click here
If you have any questions please contact me at 202-210-8118 or by email atsbaber@voiceforadoption.org.