What do I do?  I have a case pending and I want my child to come to the United States now.

• Several hundred Americans in the United States were in various stages in the process of adopting Haitian children on January 12.  We appreciate their deep concern about the children’s welfare; naturally, they want to expedite bringing them to the United States. 

    

• U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services at the Department of Homeland Security (USCIS) and the Department of State encourage U.S. citizens with pending adoption cases in Haiti to send detailed information about their cases to HaitianAdoptions@dhs.gov.  Working with Embassy staff in Haiti and using electronic files already created for each case, USCIS will ensure each child’s file has all the required documents so our colleagues in Haiti can adjudicate the application for humanitarian parole.  If anything is missing or needed, USCIS will contact the prospective adoptive parents directly.  We understand that some documents have been lost and USCIS adjudicators are ready to work with the orphanages and with parents with any documentation available.
  
  

• If USCIS determines that the child qualifies for either category one or category two humanitarian parole, then USCIS will notify the parent of the approval of the child for humanitarian parole.
   
  

• Once the child has been approved for humanitarian parole, parents in the U.S. or in Haiti, may make a scheduled appointment so that the child may be documented with a parole letter. To schedule an appointment click here for children with approved humanitarian parole.
  
  

• After the child is documented for humanitarian parole, the Embassy will seek the mandatory authorization from the Haitian Government for the child you are adopting to be able to depart Haiti. 
  
  

• After all authorizations are received, the child may depart Haiti via private or commercial flights that are available.
  

Why isn’t the U.S. government acting more quickly to bring Haitian orphans to the United States?

• Together with the Department of Homeland Security, we are processing and evacuating as fast as possible those orphans who were previously identified for adoption by American citizens.  More than 900 orphans have been documented for travel to the United States since the earthquake.

• Before children can be taken to the United States, we first have to be sure that the child is indeed an orphan.  Sometimes this is not as clear as it might first seem.  Many children who have lost parents have other living family members in Haiti who can care for them.  And some children who have been residing in orphanages were placed there temporarily by parents who could not care for them; in most of these cases the parents did not intend to permanently relinquish their parental rights.  Reuniting children with relatives in their own country is usually in the best interest of the child.  In addition, the Haitian Government must give authorization before any child, including those approved for humanitarian parole, may depart Haiti. 

I’ve heard about humanitarian parole.  What does that mean?

• Humanitarian parole is an extraordinary discretionary authority that the Department of Homeland Security may employ, in this instance to bring children who are pending adoption to the United States to be united with their adoptive parents.  When the children enter the country with humanitarian parole, they will then need to regularize their immigration status after arrival by completing the adoption formalities.  At this time, humanitarian parole is only available to children who had adoption cases pending before the earthquake.

Who qualifies for humanitarian parole?

• There are two categories of children who currently qualify for humanitarian parole:
  
  
• Category 1:  Children who have been legally confirmed by the Government of Haiti as orphans eligible for intercountry adoption who were in the process of being adopted by Americans prior to January 12, 2010 and meet the below criteria.
  
  Required Criteria for Category 1:
  
  

Evidence of availability for adoption, which MUST include at  least one of the following:

• Full and final Haitian adoption decree;
• Government of Haiti Custody grant to prospective adoptive parents for emigration and adoption;
• Secondary evidence in lieu of the above.
  
  

Evidence of suitability for adoption, which MUST include at least one of the following:

• Notice of Approval of Form I-600A, Application for Advance Processing of an Orphan Petition;
• Current FBI fingerprints and background security check clearances;
• Physical custody in Haiti plus a security background check.
  
  
  

• Category 2:  Children being adopted by U.S. citizens prior to January 12, 2010, with whom the adoptive parents have already established a genuine relationship, and for whom there is evidence that the children are available for adoption. 
  
  
  Required Criteria for Category 2:
  
  
• Significant evidence of a relationship between the prospective adoptive parents and the child AND of the parents’ intention to complete the adoption, which could include the following:
  
  
• Proof of travel by the prospective adoptive parents to Haiti to visit the child;
  
  
• Photos of the child and prospective adoptive parents together;
  
  
• An Adoption Service Provider “Acceptance of Referral” letter signed by the prospective adoptive parents;
  
  
• Documentary evidence that the prospective adoptive parents initiated the adoption process prior to January 12, 2010 with intent to adopt the child (filed Form I-600A, Application for Advance Processing of an Orphan Petition, and/or Form I-600, Petition to Classify an Orphan as an Immediate Relative, completed a home study, located an ASP to work with in Haiti, etc.).
  
  
• Evidence of the child’s availability for adoption, which could the following: 
  
  
• IBESR (Haitian Adoption Authority) approval;
  
  
• Documentation of legal relinquishment or award of custody to the Haitian orphanage;
  
  
• Secondary evidence in lieu of the above.
  
  
• Evidence of suitability for adoption, which MUST include at least one of the following:
  
  
• Notice of Approval of Form I-600A, Application for Advance Processing of an Orphan Petition; OR
  
  
• Current FBI Fingerprints and background security check clearances.

You say humanitarian parole is temporary.  Does that mean that the child will have to go back to Haiti? 

• All cases will be evaluated by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).  Depending on their circumstances, and information available some children will receive immigrant visas with permanent immigration status and will require no further processing. 
  
  
• Those who enter under humanitarian parole status will need to have their immigration status resolved after arrival.

I would like to help the situation in Haiti by adopting a Haitian child.

• At this time, we understand that there are no new adoptions in Haiti.
  
  
• We understand that many Americans have been deeply touched by the plight of Haitian children, including many who may have been orphaned by the recent earthquake.  
  
  
• Before children can be taken to the United States, it first has to be certain that the child is indeed an orphan.  Sometimes this is not as clear as it might first seem.  Many children who have lost parents have other living family members in Haiti who can care for them.  And some children who have been residing in orphanages were placed there temporarily by parents who could not care for them; in most of these cases the parents did not intend to permanently relinquish their parental rights.  Family reunification efforts should be given top priority.

• Adoption.State.gov is a good place to get information on how to adopt from another country.  It has information on the intercountry adoption process, including how to get started.  However, at this time we understand there are no new adoptions possible in Haiti. 
  
  
• Prospective adoptive parents must first be approved through a procedure that includes a “home study,” which is conducted by an authorized social service agency.  Parents must also be matched with a child in the country where they want to adopt.  In Haiti this is done by the Institut du Bien Etre Sociale et de Recherches (IBESR). 

What are you doing about these children who lost their parents in the earthquake?  Can I adopt one of them?

• Children who have become separated from their parents in an emergency situation cannot be assumed to be orphans and are not available for adoption.  However well-intentioned, it is difficult to determine the status of separated and unaccompanied children following a disaster.  As long as the fate of a child’s parents and/or other close relatives cannot be verified, each separated child must be considered as still having close relatives who are alive.
  
  
• Adoption, and particularly inter-country adoption of newly orphaned children should not take place during the emergency phase.  Intercountry adoption involves strict safeguards and legal requirements that must be met to protect children from illegal adoptions, abduction, sale and child-trafficking as well as to ensure that any adoption is in the best interests of the child.
  

Are the orphanages getting adequate protection from looters and other threats?

All assistance is being distributed through the United Sates, JTF Haiti, the UN, and other international organizations and NGOs.  The personnel on the ground are working tirelessly to get the assistance out to the places that need it most.  Addresses and locations of orphanages have been passed to relief workers on the ground.  We are working to ensure that orphanages are among those institutions that receive regular security visits.  Meanwhile, we will ask Southcom to check locations where U.S.-bound children are being cared for and report back on security concerns.

I’ve applied for humanitarian parole for the child I’m in the process of adopting in Haiti. Can I take my child overland to the U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic for onward travel to the U.S.?

All Haitian citizens require a visa to enter the Dominican Republic.

Taking a child out of Haiti without authorization from the Haitian government is a violation of Haitian law. It may be considered child trafficking and/or kidnapping and may result in arrest. It may prevent you from ever being able to legally adopt a child.

In addition, the U.S. Embassy in Santo Domingo will not document any Haitian child for onward travel to the United States or otherwise facilitate such travel UNLESS there is proof that the child has entered the Dominican Republic legally, AND has been approved for humanitarian parole by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) under one of the two categories of humanitarian parole announced by DHS on January 18 (link to DHS fact sheet) AND has been authorized by the Government of Haiti to depart Haiti for the express purpose of onward travel to the United States. 

Once a Haitian child receives humanitarian parole authorization from DHS at the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince and has been authorized by the Government of Haiti to depart Haiti for the United States, the adoptive parent or parents may make arrangements for the child to travel to Miami via commercial or private chartered flights that are available. It is imperative that prospective adoptive parents follow these established procedures in order to ensure that the child they are adopting will be able to travel to the United States. This process is both faster and safer than undertaking overland, international travel between Port-au-Prince and Santo Domingo. 

No. As noted above, all Haitian citizens, including children and infants, require a visa to enter the Dominican Republic. Even though the two countries share an island, travel between the two countries is international travel.

Once a Haitian child receives humanitarian parole authorization from DHS at the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince and has been authorized by the Government of Haiti to depart Haiti for the United States, the adoptive parent or parents may make arrangements for the child to travel to Miami via commercial or private chartered flights that are available. It is imperative that prospective adoptive parents follow these established procedures in order to ensure that the child they are adopting will be able to travel to the United States. This process is both faster and safer than undertaking overland, international travel between Port-au-Prince and Santo Domingo.