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Guatemala Program
Joint Council Update
Program International Relations Initiative
Date March 28, 2008
On December 31, 2007, the Hague Convention went into force in Guatemala. And now on April 1, 2008, the Hague Convention goes into force with respect to the United States. With the Convention in force in both countries and with Guatemala not currently having a functional Hague compliant intercountry adoption process, new adoptions between the United States and Guatemala can not be processed. Until such time that Guatemala has a functional Hague compliant process for intercountry adoptions, USCIS can not process I800-A or I800 petitions for Guatemala as of April 1, 2008.
It is the current assessment of Joint Council that intercountry adoption and other permanency services will not be viable options for Guatemalan orphans until some time in 2009.
Pending Adoptions
Please note that both DOS and USCIS will continue to process all adoptions where the I600-A petition was filed prior to April 1, 2008. Similarly, the Guatemalan government has reported that all adoptions cases appropriately registered with the CNA on or before February 12, 2008 will be processed.
Questionable Practices
It has been reported that some potential adoptive parents and their agents are attempting to process adoptions where the case was not properly registered with the CNA prior to February 12, 2008. It has also been reported that some adoption service providers are informing potential adoptive parents that new intercountry adoptions cases will be immediately processed after April 1, 2008. These two types of cases may be in serious jeopardy. Joint Council strongly urges any potential adoptive parent to contact a Joint Council Member Organization or Joint Council directly before proceeding with either of these two types of cases.
Joint Council Delegation to Guatemala
On April 16th, Joint Council and its Guatemala Caucus Co-chairs, Bruce Mossberg of Bethany Christina Services, Chris Huber of FTIA and Margaret Orr of Small Miracles International, will travel to Guatemala for a series of meetings. With a long-term goal of reestablishing intercountry adoption and all other permanency services as viable options for children living outside of family care, this delegation will seek to assess the status of the current Hague implementation plan, the status of pending adoption cases, and the feasibility of a joint effort to assist the Guatemalan government in providing much needed services to children.
Joint Council remains committed to its mission of protecting every child’s right to a permanent, safe and loving family. It is our belief that the delegation to Guatemala will be the first step in achieving our mission for the children ofGuatemala.
Thomas J DiFilipo, President
Happy Families International Center, Inc. is very proud to run our Guatemala adoption program with an experienced, knowledgeable and dedicated attorney in Guatemala, who handles cases of international adoption for our agency and our clients. The foster care homes we work with are run by loving and caring individuals who have dedicated their lives to providing outstanding parental care for children in a foster home environment for many years. They provide exceptional care, spending days and nights with the children. Guatemala is mostly a Catholic country and abortions are illegal there. Understanding the sensitivity of the situation, people in our foster homes work on many psychological issues with the natural mothers and everything is done to improve the child’s future. They take financial responsibility of birth-giving procedures, as well as the care after the delivery of the child and the biological mother. In addition, the staff members take care of all paperwork necessary for the adoption of the child by prospective adoptive parents.
Children available:
There are many generally healthy infants, occasionally toddlers, and older children of both genders available for adoption. Generally, sibling groups are not available, with the exception of occasional twins. The children have a beautiful Hispanic appearance. Infants may become available for referral within several weeks of birth. The prospective adoptive parents are provided with the medical information, results of lab tests, as well as photos of the child. You may accept a referral of a child within the first weeks of birth, however the process of completing the adoption, which is outlined below, may last up to 9 months, or even longer in some cases, during which time you may visit your child in Guatemala.
Prospective adoptive parents criteria:
Married couples and single women may adopt from Guatemala. There is no stipulation as to length of marriage. Adoptive parents applying for infants should be of 25 – 55 years old. One parent must be under the age of 55. Other situations will be reviewed on case-by-case basis. Prospective applicants are allowed to specify the gender of the desired child. There may be other children already living in your home. Single Males are not allowed to adopt.
It is the mission of Happy Families International Center, Inc. to find a loving family for every orphan in Guatemala who will provide him or her with the all the love and care that we feel every child is entitled to have. Happy Families believes that our program is beneficial for both the orphans and the families who choose adoption.
General guidelines
Applicants must provide a Homestudy prepared by a Certified Social Worker within a licensed home study agency. Your adoption coordinator at Happy Families International Center, Inc. throughout the dossier preparation process will provide the complete list of documents and all necessary forms and instructions. The completed documents will be forwarded to Guatemala.
Prospective adoptive parents must receive pre-approval from the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (DHS/USCIS) office in Guatemala before the attorney can submit their dossier to the Guatemalan authorities. The attorney will complete all necessary paperwork on your behalf to finalize your adoption. As required by the Guatemalan government and the US consulate, officials will interview birth mothers and a DNA test will be performed in order to avoid any fraudulent practices during the process of adoption. After obtaining clearance from a social worker under the supervision of a family court to proceed with a potential adoption case, the attorney submits the case to the Guatemalan Solicitor General’s Office (Procuradoría General de la Nación, PGN) for review.
The PGN reviews the adoption case for signs of fraud or irregularities before providing its approval for the adoption to proceed. Once the PGN approves the case, the final adoption decree is issued. The Guatemalan attorney (the notary) authorizes the adoption deed and registers it at the Civil Registrar where the child’s birth was recorded. The Guatemalan birth mother needs to provide final approval for the adoption at the time of the adoption deed unless she has given Power of Attorney to the proper authorities. Both parents should meet their child after DNA Authorization is valid and the court in Guatemala has relinquished parental rights, before the documents are submitted to the PGN. After that, adoptive parents are able to visit their child in Guatemala during the paperwork preparation.
Upon registration of the adoption deed with the Civil Registrar, the adoptive parents in the U.S. are legally responsible for their child(ren). Finally, the Guatemalan attorney requests a birth certificate listing the adoptive parents as the parents of the adopted child. Following issuance of the new birth certificate, the attorney then requests and receives the child’s Guatemalan passport. With these final documents, the attorney submits the complete case file, including the I-600 orphan visa petition to DHS/USCIS in Guatemala. It is at this point that the appointment date and time of the Visa interview at the American Embassy is given to the adoptive family. One or both parents can travel to the Visa interview once the Embassy has issued an interview date.
Next, the child is given an examination and tested by the doctors at the American Medical Center. Finally, the adoptive family must to go through an interview at the American Embassy in order to get the American visa for the adopted child. The child gets an IR3 visa if both parents have seen the child before the adoption is final. After that the family can travel back home with the child. The American citizenship will be granted to the child automatically upon arrival to the US. An IR4 visa is issued to a child if only one of the parents has seen the child before the adoption is finalized, in this situation the child must be re-adopted in the U.S. after arrival in order to obtain the U.S. citizenship.
A travel preparation seminar will be given at which time the adoption coordinator will advise the traveling families on many issues. While in the country, adoptive parents will be escorted to all institutions necessary for the adoption completion. For our adoptive families, a reasonably priced hotel, translators, Internet access, food, and transportation is available. Happy Families International Center, Inc. does it’s best to insure that all the adoptive families’ needs are met.
Guatemala Requirements (Original Dossier)
The dossier documents have to be notarized as well as certified at the State level and by the Guatemalan Consulate. We will guide you throughout the process of the dossier preparation.
List of Documents:
Certified copy of the Birth Certificate
Certified copy of the Marriage License (if applicable)
Certified copy of the Divorce Decree (if applicable)
Certified copy of the Death Decree (if applicable)
Employment letter
Statement of net worth signed by the applicant or a CPA.
Reference letter from a religious authority. If not possible, replace it with a third Affidavit for Guatemala and two other reference letters.
Medical reports for each applicant
Two letters of reference – use the official declaration for Guatemala format
Power of Attorney – form in Spanish with the English translation provided
Home Study and the valid home study agency license
Police clearances for each applicant
Affidavit of names (list all your names used in any documents)
Photo album
USCIS Form G-28 can be downloaded from http://uscis.gov/graphics/formsfee/forms/g-28.htm
Immigration approval for adoption from Guatemala
The Guatemalan adoption is mainly an administrative process that is done through two avenues to fulfill the requirements of the Guatemalan Government (A) and the US Consulate (B).
The following steps are involved in the adoption process:
A)
Birth mother’s relinquishment of the child.
Translation of the documents for adoption.
Authentication of the adoption dossier by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Assignment of the social worker to the case.
Visit and report by the social worker.
Final adoption decree issued by Public Ministry.
Guatemalan Immigration clearance and issuance of Guatemalan passport.
B)
Presentation of G-28 and immigration clearance.
Approval for DNA testing of the birth mother and the child with an interview of the birth mother at the US Consulate.
Presentation of the DNA results.
Clearance of the case and issuance of Certificate of Approval.
Additional birth mother release signature.
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