November 09, 2005
A new letter to the adoption community
The U.S. Embassy in Ukraine sent this letter last week to the adoption community. We hope that families who have adopted from Ukraine will take this seriously and comply with the registration rules so that other families who are waiting with high hopes can continue their adoption process and give loving homes to the beautiful orphans in Ukraine.
Dear Members of the American Adoption Community Interested in Ukraine:
As we reported earlier and most of you know, on September 19, 2005 the National Adoption Center (NAC) of Ukraine suspended the acceptance of new adoption dossiers from U.S. citizens and citizens of several other countries. The NAC explained that this decision was based in large part on past non-compliance of some families with post-adoption reporting requirements, which are mandated by Ukrainian law.
The U.S. Government has made numerous representations at many levels to the Government of Ukraine on this subject. On November 1, 2005 Embassy representatives met again with the NAC Director. The meeting was also attended by the Deputy Minister for Family, Youth and Sports and diplomats from other Embassies in Ukraine that have been affected by this suspension. At this meeting the NAC provided updated information on the numbers of missing post-adoption reports. According to NAC statistics, to date there are 598 missing reports on Ukrainian children adopted by Americans through intercountry adoption between 1997 and 2003. In addition, the NAC has not yet received reports/registration for 495 children adopted by American citizens in 2004.
We are repeating below an appeal from the Embassy of Ukraine, which we emailed to this list earlier. The Department of State strongly encourages parents to comply with post-adoption reporting requirements (
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any additional questions.
Sincerely,
Adoption Unit/Immigrant Visa Section
Consular Section
American Embassy
Kyiv, Ukraine
Tel: 38-044-4904422
Fax: 38-044-490-4570
adoptionskiev@state.gov
www.usembassy.kiev.ua/amcit_adoptions_eng.html
In accordance with E.O. 12958 this message is not classified.
OPEN LETTER OF THE EMBASSY OF UKRAINE TO THE USA
Acceptance of new adoption dossiers from US citizens is suspended
The Embassy of Ukraine to the USA
Washington, D.C., Tuesday, October 11, 2005
WASHINGTON - Starting September 19, 2005, the Children Adoption
Center of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine suspended
the acceptance of new adoption dossiers from US citizens.
According to the Children Adoption Center, the decision to stop accepting
certain dossiers was based mainly on the past non-compliance of some
families with post-adoption reports, which are required by the Ukrainian
law.
According to the Children Adoption Center, the new procedures do not affect
dossiers that have already been accepted, unless the prospective adopting
parents have failed to register and provide reports about the previously
adopted Ukrainian children.
As the United States is the country whose citizens adopt the largest number
of the Ukrainian children, the Government of Ukraine is deeply concerned
with the fate of hundreds of the adopted children we have no information
about.
Taking into consideration the above-mentioned the Embassy of Ukraine to
the USA kindly requests your cooperation in two matters.
FIRST, we need cooperation in promoting the registration of Ukrainian
children adopted by US citizens and SECOND, in providing the Consulates
of Ukraine with post-placement reports from American adoptive parents
whom you may have contact with regards to this issue.
The Embassy of Ukraine is obliged to act in accordance with the Ukrainian
law which states that the Embassy shall supervise the registration of the
adopted children and maintain the database of the post-placement reports
about them.
Registering your child allows the adopted child to be added onto the list of
Ukrainian citizens residing in the United States.
Please be advised that in accordance with the Ukrainian law, the adoptive
parents signed an agreement with the Government of Ukraine to:
[1] maintain the Ukrainian citizenship of the adopted child until the
age of eighteen,
[2] to register the child with the appropriate diplomatic mission of
Ukraine, as well as
[3] to submit to the diplomatic mission periodical reports about the
child's well-being and
[4] to allow the representatives of the diplomatic mission to contact
the child directly.
It is especially important for the Ukrainian Government to know where the
adopted Ukrainian children have been placed and how they are progressing
in the United States. Through regular reports, the Ukrainian Government is
informed of the children's development with their adoptive parents.
The Embassy of Ukraine thanks all American families that provide us with
information about the progress of their Ukrainian children. We really
appreciate it.
The Embassy of Ukraine kindly asks those who forgot or refused to provide
us with this information to do so as soon as possible. Please send the
reports along with pictures of your children so that we may follow their
development throughout the years.
Please understand that your neglect to inform the Ukrainian authorities
about your adopted children blocks the process of the Ukrainian orphan
children adoption by American families.
For your convenience, information on the consular registration of Ukrainian
adopted children is available online at
A sample of the post placement report is available online at
To facilitate communication, the reports can be forwarded via e-mail to:
adoption@ukremb.com
The Embassy of Ukraine at 3350 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20007.
If you have any contact with adoptive parents, organizations, agencies or
persons who may benefit from this information, the Embassy of Ukraine
kindly asks you to pass this information along so that everyone may
become well informed.
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact the Consular Office of
the Embassy of Ukraine via fax at (202) 333-7510 or by email address at
adoption@ukremb.com
The Embassy of Ukraine appreciates any assistance in compiling this
information because this in turn will help keep the adoption process open
for the American families.
Posted to Adoption News