March 25, 2008 -

On Monday, March 24^th, Joint Council met with Kazakhstan Ambassador to the United States Erlan Idrissov and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Michelle Bond.  The meeting addressed the Ambassador’s concerns regarding adoptions between the United States and Kazakhstan and confirmed the ongoing review of all adoptions cases currently at the Kazakhstan Embassy in Washington D.C. The Ambassador kindly detailed Kazakhstan’s efforts to ensure that intercountry adoptions are in the best interest of each child and conducted within an ethical and legal framework.  He also expressed Kazakhstan’s efforts to utilize the tenets of the Hague Convention in both current and future laws.

Joint Council is pleased to report that at the conclusion of the meeting, the Ambassador confirmed that the temporary suspension of dossier processing by the Embassy is lifted and dossier’s meeting all necessary criteria will be processed.   Dossiers not meeting the criteria will be held at the Embassy until all issues and concerns are successfully resolved.  The Ambassador also confirmed that a review of all adoption service providers and family dossiers is ongoing and will remain in effect until further notice.  During this review period, adoption service providers and potential adoptive parents should expect ongoing delays in processing times.  No specific time line for the processing of dossiers is currently available.  

It remains Joint Council’s understanding that in adoption cases where the dossier has already been processed by the Kazakhstan Embassy and forward to Astana are not affected by the review process noted above.   

The Kazakhstan Embassy, U.S. Department of State and Joint Council have agreed to work collaboratively over the coming weeks to ensure that the goal of ethical, legal adoptions under the tenets of the Hague Convention are met in a timely fashion and in the best interest of each child.  Joint Council hopes to meet with Consular Chief Almat Aidarbekov in the coming days to discuss specific issues related to child welfare in the U.S. and Kazakhstan.

Joint Council extends our sincere thanks and appreciation to Ambassador Idrissov and Deputy Assistant Secretary Bond for their efforts on behalf of the children we serve. We also applaud Ambassador Idrissov’s commitment to ethical child welfare and to ensuring a safe, loving and permanent family for every child.

March 22, 2008 -

At the invitation of Kazakhstan Ambassador to the United States Erlan A. Idrissov, Joint Council and a representative of the U.S. Department of State will hold a meeting on Monday, March 24, 2008 at the Kazakhstan Embassy.  The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the recent suspension of dossier processing by the Kazakhstan Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Related to the suspension, the U.S. Department of State issued a notice on Friday March 21, 2008.  The full text of the notice confirming the suspension can be found at the Department of State website.

March 17, 2008 -

Joint Council confirms the suspension of dossier processing by the Kazakhstan Embassy and Consulates pending the finalization of a review of adoption cases by the Kazakhstan government.  The following represents our understanding of the suspension.   

• The suspension of dossier processing by the Kazakhstan Embassy/Consulate is effective immediately.
• Dossiers which have been processed and forwarded to Almaty will be permitted to continue through to finalization. 
• Dossiers which have not yet been processed by the Embassy/Consulate will not be forwarded to Almaty and will remain at the Kazakhstan Embassy/Consulate pending the completion of the review noted above. 
• The Kazakhstan Embassy/Consulate will not accept new dossiers pending the completion of the review noted above.

Joint Council hopes to meet with Kazakhstan officials soon and will continue to provide updates and information. 

January 25, 2007 -

Joint Council staff and Board of Directors met with the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on Monday in conjunction with our quarterly Board meeting.   The following update was supplied to us by DOS: 

DOS received positive news from Kazakhstan the week of January 15^th, with an apparent decision by the office of the Mayor of Almaty to reinstate adoptions by U.S. citizens.  As the Joint Council has shared with the membership and public at large, the Almaty office had previously maintained a unilateral ban on American adoptions, even after the Kazakhstani national government again began accepting American adoption dossiers in late 2005.  We believe the reopening of Almaty will prove to be in the best interests of many Kazakhstani children who will now be able to find permanent homes and families in the United States.  DOS office director Ellen Conway is likely to travel to Kazakhstan in February and will have meetings on adoption issues.  We will continue to update the membership on any new developments as they are received by the Joint Council office.

February 3, 2006 -

On January 19th JCICS met with the two representatives from Kazakhstan, Ms. Zaida Nurabayeva, Chief of the Department of Organizational Work, Office of Civil Event Records (ZAGS) and Mr. Toktarbay Yerzhanov, Chief of Department, Prosecutor General’s Office.  During the meeting the representatives expressed that lack of post-placement report compliance from families is of concern for the government of Kazakhstan.  As a result, JCICS is currently working to obtain general guidelines for these reports and for submitting them to the government of Kazakhstan.  It is of utmost importance that families who have adopted from Kazakhstan update and submit any outstanding post-placement reports.  When we have more information regarding the guidelines for these reports, we will post them on this site. 
 

December 16, 2005 -

In response to the hold on adoptions as announced by the Mayor of Almaty, JCICS has sent a letter offering assistance in the collection of post placement reports and encouraging the government to proceed with intercountry adoptions.  Click here to read the letter. 

November 23, 2005 -

Regarding concerns over delays from Almaty city, the State Department has confirmed that the Mayor of Almaty has announced that he will not accept new dossiers until all outstanding post placement reports for that region have been filed.  At this time, this will only impact families whose dossiers would be processed in Almaty city. 

The US Embassy in Kazakhstan is currently working to obtain a list of families that have not filed their post placement reports in order to contact them.  Read more on the importance of post placement reports.
 

August 2003

Update from the JCICS Kazakhstan Caucus:

Adoptions in Kazakhstan continue to be processed, with the recent slow down starting to abate. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is checking all dossiers with extreme care. The adoption dossier is now required to have the translations attached to each page, as opposed to the previous updates advising that translations should be all together at the back of the dossier.

All translators must attach an authorization statement to the back of the dossier. Additionally, every single word on every single page of every document submitted should be translated. Previously translators have been summarizing and skipping certain passages.

The recent delays in adoption processing had to do with the change in policy and the new registration policies. By most reports the many government workers involved in adoption in Kazakhstan are working at maximum capacity and are apologetic for the delays and expect to get caught up soon. Agencies and families should be hopeful that cases will be running more smoothly soon. 

The new registration procedures will add about 3-5 days to the average adoptive families’ in-country stays. Adoptive families do not need to travel to Astana, and may be represented by their facilitators for the registration in Astana. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Registration office is not accepting registration documents every working day and facilitators should check before heading to Astana. The good news is families no longer need to register their children after arriving home. The four post placement reports are still required and will be monitored by officials. 

Rumors on chat sites about single women no longer being able to adopt and only one parent needing to travel to adopt, have been erroneous. The likelihood of being able to adopt more than one child not related by birth at the same time appears to depend on the region and the judge hearing the case. Families are advised to proceed with caution when wishing to adopt more than one child at the same time. 

Agencies handling families with one non-American citizen spouse should be aware that their cases will be rejected. Such families are not encouraged to adopt from Kazakhstan. 

For more information on adopting from Kazakhstan please consult the U.S. Department of State's website, the U.S. Embassy in Almaty and the Embassy of Kazakhstan.