U.S. Department of State

Ukraine - Government Announces Priority on Children’s Issues

On September 21, 2005 the Government of Ukraine informed the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv that the National Adoption Center (NAC) of Ukraine was suspending the acceptance of new adoption dossiers from U.S. citizens and citizens of several other countries. According to the NAC, the decision to stop accepting certain dossiers as of September 19 was based in large part on the past non-compliance of some families with post-adoption reports, which are required by Ukrainian law.

The Embassy has asked for further explanation from the Government of Ukraine regarding the premise behind this decision. The Embassy has also expressed concern about the abrupt nature of the decision and the fact that it was taken with no advance notice to, or consultation with, the countries affected.  

According to the NAC, the new procedures do NOT affect dossiers that have already been accepted, unless the prospective adopting parents have failed to register and provide reports about a previously adopted Ukrainian child.

The Embassy will continue to track this issue closely and is discussing next steps with the State Department. Updates will be posted on the Embassy’s webpage at http://usembassy.kiev.ua.

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