Would you please consider signing the Fairness for Families petition?

Here’s the background:

1. Until recently, to get approval to adopt from overseas, families would file a form with the US Government (with US Citizenship and Immigration Services) called the I-600A. When this was approved, the approval would last for 18 months.
2. For most overseas adoptions, 18 months is long enough to complete an adoption, but …
3. China adoptions have slowed down dramatically, and now many families are waiting a couple years (or more) for a China adoption to go through.
4. While families are waiting, their approval from the U.S. government is expiring. Our government has given families ONE free 18-month renewal. But …
5. That renewal is running out for some families, and our government is telling them that they must start from scratch. Here’s why — and what it means:
   • In the last year, our country has officially become part of an international treaty governing intercountry adoptions, and part of this has required a new and “improved” (gag me with a well-used motor oil rag) process — no longer “I-600” but “I-800.”
   • The new process (I-800) is long and onerous
   • Some families will have to change agencies (think: a whole new set of fees — thousands of dollars) because only certain agencies are approved for the I-800 process.
   • Families that are required to change agencies will lose their “place in line” — moving to the end of a 25,000-person waiting list in China.
   • Some families will lose their approval, because Chinese requirements have changed, and by resubmitting their application to adopt (instead of just leaving it in line), they will be rejected.

The petition is asking US Citizenship and Immigration Services (US CIS) to obey the law (the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000) which requires USCICS to “grandfather” old cases. In other words, cases submitted under I-600A form must stay I-600 cases instead of becoming I-800 cases.

For more info (and more things to do!), go to my Carolina Hope blog post about it. Also consider passing this around to your friends and family.

Thanks! I won’t do this often. (By the way, I lifted the cute photo from Carolina Hope’s website. But I’m the one who took the photo, so I think I can do that. And no, he’s not available for adoption.)