"Not Clearly Approvable" Defined
Consular officers at U.S. Embassies and Consulates have limited, delegated authority from the United States Citizen and Immigration Service to approve Form I-600 petitions that are found to be clearly approvable. Clearly approvable means that the petition and supporting documentation clearly establish that the child is an orphan as defined by U.S. immigration law; all criteria identified on the Form I-600A approval regarding the child and any state pre-adoption requirements are met; and there are no concerns of fraud, child buying or other inappropriate practices in the adoption process.

In cases where the evidence is insufficient to establish that the child is an orphan or that the I-600A criteria have been met, the consular officer will allow the petitioner to respond to issues and questions that can be quickly and easily resolved. If issues and questions can be quickly and easily resolved and the case is clearly approvable the consular officer will approve the petition.

All non-Hague cases require an I-604 investigation to determine orphan status. In many instances this is a simple review of the documents and facts in the case. However, in some cases, an investigation by consular staff may be necessary to clarify doubts related to documentation presented or concerns of inappropriate practices. Investigations may include, but are not limited to, visits to the child's town of origin; interviews with birth relatives, orphanage staff, or social workers; DNA testing; and/or a field investigation.

If additional clarification and evidence does not fully resolve the issue quickly, the consular officer must send the petition to USCIS for review and adjudication. USCIS is the only agency with the authority to adjudicate NCA cases. If a case is identified as "Not Clearly Approvable", the consular officer sends the petitioner notification of the transfer to USCIS and provides contact information so that further inquiries may be directed to USCIS.

November 16, 2011 USCIS UPDATE ON PROCESSING OF “NOT CLEARLY APPROVABLE” CASES REFERRED BY EMBASSY ADDIS ABABA

A USCIS team of four officers arrived in Ethiopia and began working at Embassy Addis Ababa on November 7, 2011. As of the date of this notice, the team has received 63 “not clearly approvable” cases from Embassy Addis, and expects to receive at least 1 more case before they depart on Friday, November 18, 2011.
The following provides a summary of the results of the team’s review of the cases as of November 15, 2011:

Approvals Issued: 36
Requests for Evidence Issued: 9
Notices of Intent to Deny Issued: 1
Under USCIS Team Review: 9
Pending Birth Relative Interview: 8
Pending Physical Transfer: 1

During the team’s first days in Addis, they began reviewing the cases, and established procedures necessary for completing adjudication and issuing notices. Embassy Addis is providing the resources necessary for USCIS to be able to adjudicate the notclearly approvable cases. Although the team has encountered some technological challenges, the team has been issuing decisions and notices as soon as they are able. All cases that the team is able to approve before they depart from Addis Ababa will stay with the Consular Section in Embassy Addis Ababa, for immediate scheduling of immigrant visa processing. Families that receive an approval notice will be contacted directly by the U.S. Embassy within three business days. We strongly recommend that families wait to be contacted regarding an immigrant visa interview before making travel arrangements.

Cases that require a Request for Evidence or a Notice of Intent to Deny will be sent to the USCIS Rome District Office for further processing. Each family that received a Request for Evidence or a Notice of Intent to Deny should carefully read the instructions regarding where to send additional evidence to avoid delays in processing that could be caused by sending the evidence to the incorrect USCIS Office. USCIS has decided to utilize additional resources at the Rome District Office in the ongoing processing of some of the affected cases in an effort to ensure that they are processed to completion as quickly as possible.

Adoption Notice: Ethiopia
Confirmation of Orphanage Closures in Ethiopia

October 17, 2011

Ethiopian government officials confirmed the closure of several orphanages in the Southern Nations state due to revocation of the orphanages’ operational licenses. Each orphanage in Ethiopia receives an operational license that the Charities and Societies Administration administers and monitors to ensure compliance with Ethiopian regulations. This is an update to the previous Adoption Notice posted on August 3, 2011.

These orphanages are:
· SOS Infants Ethiopia (Arbaminch, Dila and Awassa branches)
· Gelgella Integrated Orphans (Tercha and Durame branches)
· Bethzatha Children’s Home Association (Sodo, Hosaena, Dila, Haidya, Durame, and Hawassa branches)
· Ethio Vision Development and Charities (Dila and Hawassa branches)
· Special Mission for Community Based Development (Hosaina branch)
· Enat Alem Orphanage (Awassa branch)
· Initiative Ethiopia Child and Family Support (Hawassa branch)
· Resurrection Orphanage (Hosaina branch)
· Musie Children’s Home Association (Hadiya, Hosaina, Dila, and Kenbata branches)
· Organization for Gold Age (Kucha, Dila, Hawassa branches)
· Hidota Children’s Home Association (Soto branch)
· Biruh Alem Lehisanat, Lenatochina Aregawiyan (Hosaina branch)

According to officials in the Charities and Societies Agency office, which oversees the licensing and regulation of orphanages in Ethiopia, the children in the care of those facilities have already been transferred to other
orphanages.

Ethiopian officials indicate that cases involving orphaned children from these facilities which are already pending with the Federal First Instance court will continue to move forward. The Embassy in Addis Ababa is working closely with Ethiopian officials to determine if children from these facilities who had been previously referred for matches will be allowed to continue in the adoption process. Regional officials have confirmed that the affected children’s case files are currently being reviewed on a case by case basis by regional Ministry of Women’s Affairs offices.

We continue to ask prospective adoptive parents and agencies that are hearing news of specific closures to inform the Department. Please send any specific information regarding orphanage closures to AskCI@state.gov with the subject line “Ethiopia Orphanage Closures.”

Prospective and adoptive parents are encouraged to remain in contact with their adoption service provider to stay up-to-date on any information pertinent to their individual case. The Department will post any confirmation on www.adoption.state.gov as we receive it.

Update on adoption case processing by MOWCYA in Ethiopia

Ethiopia Adoption Alert

Adoption Alert

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Bureau of Consular Affairs
Office of Children’s Issues
__________________________________

Government of Ethiopia Plans Major Slow-Down in Adoption Processing

March 9, 2011

Citing the need to work on quality and focus on more important strategic issues, the Government of Ethiopia’s Ministry of Women, Children, and Youth Affairs (MOWCYA) will reduce to a maximum of five the number of adoption cases it processes per day, effective March 10, 2011. Under Ethiopian adoption procedures, MOWCYA approves every match between prospective adoptive parents and an Ethiopian child before that case can be forwarded for a court hearing. The U.S. Embassy is working with Ethiopian government officials and adoption agencies to learn more about this change in procedures. We will continue to share information as it becomes available.

Given MOWCYA's current caseload, the U.S. Embassy anticipates that this change could result in an overall decline in case processing of some 90 percent. If this change is implemented as proposed, we expect, that parents who have begun the process of adopting from Ethiopia but have not yet been matched with a child could experience significant delays. It is not clear if this change in procedures would have any significant impact on cases in which MOWCYA has already approved matches.

Prospective adoptive parents should remain in close contact with their adoption service provider to obtain updates on individual cases.

The Embassy's Adoptions Unit can be reached at consadoptionaddis@state.gov.

This evening at 7:30pm Central Time, we will explore the joys and challenges of adopting the older child. Email info@littlemiracles.org for the dial-in number!

Older children are near to LMI's heart. They are the children often left behind, through no fault of their own. They are the children who want nothing more than to be loved. They know what a parent is, they want parents.

When I traveled to Kazakhstan, I was touched by two older children. As we adopted our baby, a family was there adopting an 8 year old. I'll never forget the transformation of that little girl in the month we spent together; you can see it in the photos and videos I took throughout. A child who looked at her feet and whispered the first few days was jamming with an air guitar like my now 8 year old daughter does.

The second child who touched my heart is the one who led me to my role as Program Coordinator at Little Miracles upon my return. A 4 year old boy approached me on the orphanage playground, and looked at the baby in my arms. He asked the same question over and over and over.....we looked at our translator for help. "Will you be my Mama and Papa? I want one!" That was it, folks, my lightbulb moment filled with guilt, sadness, and motivation.

Over the years, I've had the opportunity to help many families through the adoption process. Each is amazing. We can all agree that the best communications we receive from families is the recognition of new trust between a child, and the new parent.

In the spirit of preparation, education, and realistic expectations, please join in the call!!

Andrea Jacobs
Mom to Haley and Mitchell, Kazakhstan Little Miracles

Happy New Year! I hope 2010 treated you well and that 2011 will be even better. If you are still planning on starting an adoption we have a great teleconference coming up on January 11 at 7:30 p.m. Central time. Adoption research is overwhelming! Join LMI's Andrea Jacobs as she discusses the criteria impacting your adoption decisions: current overall timelines, time spent in-country, ages of children available, ethnicity, referral method, etc. The goal is to find the right adoption program and, ultimately, your child. There will be a question and answer question following the teleconference, too.

International Adoption Crisis. BothEndsBurning.org from GloboxMedia on Vimeo.

Join the Campaign at BothEndsBurning.org

Stand up for children worldwide who need families! Join us in our campaign to reform the system of international adoption so more orphans can be matched with loving, nurturing families. SIGN OUR PETITION and help us make REAL CHANGE!

Spread the word about the need for international adoption reform in your community. Join the Both Ends Burning movement, which engages policymakers, government officials and the private sector to make a real difference for children.

A family is a child’s most basic human right. Both Ends Burning is a broad-based campaign to create a new system of international adoption so that the world’s orphaned and abandoned children can benefit from the support of a permanent family.

Children who have families thrive and lead healthy, meaningful lives. Children who do not suffer from unmet needs and developmental, emotional and intellectual challenges, and even permanent damage. They lead wasted lives, wrongfully detained in substandard orphanages, or worse, left to fend for themselves in homelessness or slavery.

Through creative works, grassroots outreach, and social and traditional media, the Both Ends Campaign works to shed light on the crisis that is strangling international adoption. Adoptions to the U.S. have fallen by 50 percent in the last six years. Countries are closing their adoption programs to overseas families. Would-be parents face hope-crushing delays, expenses and bureaucracy under the existing system. Meanwhile, the number of orphans continues to grow.

Both Ends Burning provides an alternative common-sense solution to replace the current process. What’s needed is a new international adoption system that works to match waiting children with eligible families in a time frame measured in a few months, not several years.

The current process is broken. Help us force the creation of a new one. Please sign our petition calling for a new international adoption system. Your involvement will help us provoke change. The time to act is now — too many children are suffering, too many families have lost hope and given up. Help us provide orphans with what every child deserves: A loving family.

Produced by: Craig Juntunen

Direction & Cinematography : Thaddaeus Scheel
at Globox Media Group, Inc. NYC

Creative Concept: Tripp Baltz and Jay Ferracane
AngryBovine.com

Special Thanks: Mark Fedyniak, Roy Leland

Copyright © – 2010 BothEndsBurning.org All Rights Reserved.

Watch this video on Vimeo. Video created by GloboxMedia.

This video is a family's experience and advice to those considering adopting transracially.

We love when he says "There is no other face that is my mom!" What an amazing relationship these two have.