Many in-process families have been receiving an e-mail regarding a new requirement for supplying a copy of your passport. There was confusion about exactly what it is that needs to be provided. We inquired with the Embassy who informed us that all they need is the front page (with your pic, passport #, etc) and then the page where your passport would hae been stamped when you visited (if you did). This makes a lot of sense and is being done to streamline the process of determining whether your child will return home on an IR3 or IR4 visa. The embassy also stated that only one page needs to be notarized in which you state that it is a true copy of the passport.
The e-mail sent by teh Embassy is below:
In an ongoing effort to better serve you more efficiently, USCIS will now require that adopting parents submit notarized copies of their passports (every page that contains any information) with the final adoption packet and the fully completed I-600. USCIS is requiring these notarized copies in order to expedite the final adjudication process on the day of your "pink slip" appointment interview with the U.S. Consulate.
Please note that new requirement decisions are ones that are not made arbitrarily or capriciously, but are made in the interest of the adopting parent.
This is effective November 27, 2006.
Thank you for your understanding.
Sincerely,
Joseph T. Roma
Officer-in-Charge
I just wanted to add (and I posted this on the section of PGN), that we had to include all of that and we had NOT been to see our baby. The Embassy refused our file because we didn't have the passport copies or letter. They did not accept a letter from our lawyer -- it had to be from us. This occured for us, initially on October 10th. We had our lawyer write a letter and they refused it on the 11th. We sent the paperwork to Guatemala the next day. We were finally accepted on October 16th.
Posted by: Shannon at October 31, 2006 04:21 PMKevin,
I received this email from USCIS as well. It states that parents should "submit notarized copies of their passports with the final adoption packet". And my agency has explained that it is not in support of receiving your pink slip appt, but rather should be brought to your pink slip appt. Is that accurate? Thanks in advance
Posted by: Matt at October 31, 2006 04:35 PMPlease confirm WHEN notarized passports are to be submitted to the embassy - we have our embassy preapproval, we are in the PGN, would we submit this prior to our pink slip appointment?
THANKS for any help!
Why would they refuse a case, Shannon, when the when the effective date is November 27, 2006 which has not happened yet?
Posted by: Sandi at October 31, 2006 07:47 PMis there a government website where this requirement is documented? I'd like to have the official statement to forward to my lawyer & social worker. THANKS!
Posted by: jj at October 31, 2006 11:43 PMHi-Our agency requested, as part of our dossier, two color photocopies of our passports (all pages) when we were adopting our first child in August 05 and again now as we are in the process of adopting our second child. These were submitted to the USEmbassy as part of our dossier to get pre-approval. It would stand to reason to provide a current copy of your passport the day of your pink slip interview because the photocopy that is in the dossier on file would have been submitted prior to any visitation, providing no current accurate information whether you visited your child or not. That is clearly stated in the USEmbassy email: "USCIS is requiring these notarized copies in order to expedite the final adjudication process on the day of your "pink slip" appointment interview with the U.S. Consulate." Marie
We too were refused by the embassy in last week because they wanted copies (although they did not need to be notarized) of the photo page and all pages with stamps from the passports. (We also sent a notarized letter stating we had not been to see the baby just in case.) Seems like they are maybe implementing this is steps...?
We also got kicked out of the embassy because the new birth certificate was wrong and because some stamp on something else wasn't clear. We got out of the PGN in early September and are still waiting on our Pink...
Posted by: sam at November 1, 2006 11:53 AMHi, I was just wondering if there is something going on in Guatemala that has stopped DNA tests, etc.? We cannot get in touch with our adoption social worker for the past month and dont know how to get information on our case as if we are in family court, no dna test requested yet, etc.
Posted by: Joey Corrole at November 1, 2006 12:20 PMIf your already in PGN, waiting for the final approval, to complete your adoption does this mean by doing this you will be able to get out of PGN faster??? Or perhaps is this another means of stalling the adoption process??
If you have already been there to visit your baby don't they already have information from the passport?? I can understand if all of this would make the process go faster but it seems that it is just another stumbling block in the adoption.....Their always coming up with something to prolong the adoption....
Our agency said that the passport notarization is required in order to be sumbitted for pink. Our son's case just got out of PGN on Monday, now today (Wednesday) I had to call our agency to find out about this requirement, they weren't going to notify us of this until next week.
We are submitting these notarized copies with the final paperwork to our attorny right after our families have come out of PGN. That way we know whether they have visited or not and the notarization is fairly current. This is also when we have a pretravel appointment to prepare our clients for the pick up trip and make sure they are prepared for the next phase of their adoption journey. Sandi
Posted by: Sandi at November 1, 2006 09:37 PMJoey-DNA is still being processed in Guatemala after your dossier is preapproved by the USEmbassy.
Jean-Having a notoraized copy of your passport to show if you have already visited your child and submitted to the USEmbassy does not have any bearing on getting out of PGN faster. Simply because you need to be out of PGN to get a USEmbassy appointment, known as "the pink". So submittting the notarized copy of your passport showing whether you had visited your child at the time of your appointment occurs well after you out of PGN. This by no means prolongs the process, but shows documentation of your visit. Please note as stated in the Embassy website, this requirement is effective November 27, 2006. Marie
Sandi~
If I knew the answer, I would tell you. I have no idea why they refused us, but they did. The facilator told us it was new as of October 5th. I'm just posting to make sure people are aware they could ask for a notarized letter and copies of the passport even if you have not been to see your child.
Sorry to hear it happened to you too, Sam.