The U.S. Department of State (DOS) announced that it is suspending processing of certain intercountry adoptions from India pending its review of Indian adoption laws [PDF version].
The DOS is reviewing India’s Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act. The review is to determine whether adoptions completed under the law comply with the requirements of the Hague Convention and the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000. The review is necessary to determine whether DOS can process adoptions under this law under the Hague Convention or whether the DOS must process them on a case-by-case basis. Pending the completion of the review, the DOS will not process Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act cases for immigration to the United States. The review has no bearing on adoptions completed under India’s Juvenile Justice Act.
The DOS advised families with pending Form I-800 petitions and immigrant visa applications who are considering pursuing adoptions under the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act to consider deferring their intercountry adoption decisions until the DOS can provide more information. The DOS directed U.S. accredited adoption agencies to not provide referrals to U.S. prospective adoptive parents in such cases until it provides further notice.
We will update the site with more information once it becomes available.
