

	*Nepal*
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Country Status

Nepal is currently CLOSED to adoptions by foreign citizens. The Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare (WCS), which is the ministry in charge of international adoptions in Nepal, has informed the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu that the Government of Nepal has suspended all intercountry adoptions pending approval of reforms of the adoption process by the Nepali Cabinet. The Government of Nepal, which initiated this suspension on May 8, 2007, has given no indication about when it will be lifted.

November 6, 2007

Joint Council is very pleased to report that the Nepali Cabinet has approved the completion of the over 400 adoptions which have been suspended since April 2007.

With a goal of ensuring that each child retained the right to find a permanent, safe and loving family, this truly collaborative effort included the governments of the United States, Spain, Italy and France along with advocates such as Joint Council and service providers such as Faith International and Holt International. Undoubtedly, the nexus of our collective advocacy was a small group of loving and tenacious adoptive families. These families remain committed to the children referred to them over six months ago and to all Nepalese children.

Joint Council, along with other advocates will continue to work with the Nepali government to ensure the process of facilitating the adoptions serves the best interest of each child via an expeditious and legal manner.

October 27, 2007

Joint Council, in cooperation with adoptive families and the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute, have initiated numerous efforts to complete the adoptions of over 400 children currently caught in legal limbo. Prior to the suspension of adoptions, 400 children were referred to families, yet their adoptions have not been able to be completed. Joint Council expects to announce a new Initiative in the coming weeks as part of the collaborative effort to allow Nepal's children to find permanent families through intercountry adoption.

September 5, 2007

On May 8, the Nepali government imposed a moratorium on all intercountry adoptions pending the passage of adoption reform legislation by the Nepali cabinet. On May 23, the U.S. Embassy delivered a formal diplomatic note urging the Nepalese government to continue processing cases in which adoptive parents have already been matched with a child. For more information about Nepalese adoptions, please visit the Department of State's Nepal website.

January 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:

The U.S. Government continues to have concerns about the adoption process in Nepal. Due to both the security situation and Nepal’s difficult geography, the Embassy in Kathmandu has not always been able to conduct the level or number of field investigations we would like. The number of orphanages in Nepal has proliferated during the past two years. Nepalese law regarding paternity claims – under which Nepalese fathers of out-of-wedlock children have up to 12 years to assert paternity – make maternal relinquishments essentially impossible, and thus many children are “found abandoned”. The State Department has been working closely with USCIS and particularly the USCIS office at Embassy New Delhi (which covers Nepal) to review how we might be able to better deal with this environment. Joint Council will continue to work closely with DOS to assess the situation and advocate for the best interest of children in Nepal. We will be sure to update the membership with new information as it is made available to us.

The U.S. Department of State has posted frequently asked questions regarding the current status of adoptions in Nepal on its website. Topics discussed include actions taken by the U.S. Embassy in Nepal to address the current suspension, as well as what it is doing for American parents currently in the process of adopting a child from Nepal. Click here to access the full document.