On July 18, 2012, the Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian Parliament, approved the bilateral adoption agreement signed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on July 13, 2011.  This followed the Russian Duma’s approval of the Agreement on July 10, 2012.  Both of these actions mark a significant milestone toward the entry into force of the Agreement, which will provide additional safeguards to better protect the welfare and interests of children and all parties involved in intercountry adoptions.  To find out more about the agreement, please visit the U.S. Department of State's FAQs and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) FAQs on the agreement and its implementation. 

The Agreement will now be sent to President Putin.  Following President Putin’s signature, the parties will need to establish procedures to implement the Agreement, which we are committed to doing as expeditiously as possible.  Following the establishment of these procedures, the Agreement will enter into force upon the exchange of notes between the U.S. and Russian governments.  The Department of State and USCIS will provide guidance on their websites related to the Agreement.  Please monitor adoption.state.gov and uscis.gov for more information.