Adoption STAR’s International Adoption Coordinator Meg Montgomery gives an update on recent developments in Nepal.
On August 6, 2010, the U. S. Department of State and USCIS suspended processing of new adoption cases from Nepal involving children claimed to have been found abandoned because of concerns regarding the unreliability of documents presented in support of the abandonment of these children in Nepal. Cases involving relinquishment by known birth parent(s) were not affected by the suspension.
This November a review team comprised of representatives of the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services are headed to Nepal to learn about the Government of Nepal’s progress towards reforming its adoption system, including implementing new intercountry adoption safeguards.