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EmailThe Expiration of the current Adoption Agreement with Vietnam
June 2008
The Department of State continues to urge prospective adoptive parents and adoption service providers not to initiate new
adoptions from Vietnam at this time. The bilateral Memorandum of Agreement, required by Vietnamese law to authorize adoptions
between the United States and Vietnam, expires on September 1, 2008. In addition, recent field investigations have revealed
incidents of serious adoption irregularities, including forged or altered documentation, mothers paid, coerced or tricked
into releasing their children, and children offered for adoption without the knowledge or consent of their birth parents.
On April 25, the Government of Vietnam announced that it will allow adoption to be completed in cases where prospective adoptive
parents have been matched with a child and received an official referral prior to September 1, 2008. Dossiers that have not
received a referral as of September 1 will be closed and returned to the Adoption Service Provider. The Government of Vietnam
further stated that in accordance with Vietnamese law, the DIA will stop accepting new dossiers on July 1, 2008.
In mid June, the U.S. Embassy contacted the Vietnamese Office of the Government in response to rumors that the Government
of Vietnam had changed its policy regarding adoption dossiers still pending (without a referral) when the Agreement expires
on September 1, 2008. The Office of the Government stated unequivocally that no decision has been made to change this policy.
The Department of State strongly recommends that anyone considering an adoption in Vietnam review all of the information that
is posted by the Department of State (http://travel.state.gov/family/adoption/country/country_369.html#v), the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (http://uscis.gov/), and the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi ( http://vietnam.usembassy.gov/orphan_visas.html ) .
