U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will not be processing petitions for adoption of Vietnamese children by U.S. parents. USCIS made this announcement recently after the Department of State determined that Vietnam was not capable of fulfilling its requirements under The Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Inter-country Adoption (Hague Adoption Convention).
U.S. parents need to file the Form I-800, Petition to Classify Convention Adoptee as an Immediate Relative when they want to petition a child from a Hague Adoption Convention country. The Hague Adoption Certificate or the Hague Custody Declaration has to be issued by the DOS in its consular office. But because of this recent announcement DOS consular officers will not be able to issue the certificates for children being adopted from Vietnam. Without these certificates the USCIS will not be able to process Form I-800s for such adoptees.
USCIS is therefore requesting petitioners not to file Form I-800 or Form I-800A Application for Determination of Suitability to Adopt a Child from a Convention Country, identifying Vietnam as the country from which they seek to adopt.