U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will be hosting an informational meeting on April 6 for all individuals and organizations concerned about the recent restrictions on adoption enacted by the government of Ethiopia. This meeting is open to adoptive families, and can be joined by webinar or conference call. The USCIS announcement and invitation is available here. Note that you must RSVP by April 3 in order to participate.
Members of the USCIS and the Department of State team that visited Ethiopia will provide the briefing and answer questions about what they learned on a recent visit to Addis Ababa.
You may RSVP by emailing to [email protected]. You must mention “Ethiopia – Phone/Webinar” in the email. Please also include your full name and, if appropriate, the organization you represent in the body of the email. Once an RSVP email has been received, USCIS will provide you call-in and webinar details.
Also of significance to families considering or in the adoption process in Ethiopia, the Department of State has also issued a notice (see notice here) relating the latest news on the situation in Ethiopia. It essential confirms what was already known:
- Adoption cases presented to the Federal Court of First Instance prior to March 8, 2011 will be processed expeditiously.
- Cases presented to the Court after March 8 will be processed in a more deliberate manner. MOWYCA will process these cases at a rate of approximately 5 per day.
- Prospective adoptive parents who did not reach the court summons stage before March 8, 2011, should expect significant delays in the progression of their paperwork through the Government of Ethiopia.