Ukraine stopped accepting new dossiers some time between March 27 and April 1, 2007. And the US Embassy in Kyiv confirmed this shutdown on April 5. The April 5 email is at the bottom of this post for reference.
The email confirms what German adoptive families and Mike from Virginia Beach said.
Families who are in Ukraine can continue to process their adoptions. And dossier processing has slowed down. SDAPRC is supposed to approve/deny dossiers within 20 business days, but it is taking longer for some families.
The Carlisle family is back in Kyiv. Their first referral had a serious health issue and they had to turn the referral down. Hopefully they will get another referral on Tuesday. The SDAPRC is closed for Easter holidays; April 6 – 9, 2007.
The Gordon family has already waited 16 business days for their dossier approval.
Mark and Courtney just mailed off their dossier to Ukraine. They hope it arrives April 16 and will be submitted by the end of April.
The political turmoil hasn’t scared away Michelle and her husband. They just started their paper chasing for a Ukrainian adoption.
I recently started reading a new blog; Bringing Raisa Home. I think that I may have read their story on FRUA. Oleg and Nataliya were born in Ukraine and are now US citizens. They are trying to adopt Oleg’s niece. Since this is an international adoption (ie Raisa won’t be living in Ukraine after the adoption), the family has to follow the same process as other Americans. They have their dossier ready, but cannot file it due to the SDAPRC’s stoppage.
Rumor is that all SDAPRC staff is being replaced. First the minister was replaced, and then the directors were removed. Now EVERYONE is being replaced. And this is why they had to stop accepting new dossiers.
Another rumor is that there are several candidates for the SDAPRC directorship. The field has been narrowed and within the next week or so the director will be selected.
My fingers and my daughter Natasha’s fingers are crossed that new dossiers will be accepted on April 16. Natasha was adopted from Ukraine in 2000 and is almost 10 years old now. She loves hearing about other kids finding families.
Natasha is a very loving and creative kid. I asked her to cross her fingers so that I could take a picture. And she created a heart shape with crossed fingers.
Here is the US Embassy email that I mentioned above.
From: US Embassy in Kyiv
Date: April 5,2007
Subject: Public Notice – Resignations at the SDAPRCDear Members of the American Adoption Community Interested in Ukraine:
This is to inform you of the most recent news regarding the situation at the State Department for Adoptions and Protection of the Rights of the Child (SDAPRC).
On March 20, 2007 the SDAPRC Director Ludmyla Volynets, her First Deputy Ludmyla Balym, Deputy Director Inna Savchuk and Head of the Intercountry Adoption Unit Olena Remen have resigned. New leadership has not yet been appointed.
Currently, the SDAPRC is not accepting any new dossiers from foreign citizens. Dossiers that have already been submitted are being processed and registered, but the processing time can exceed the regular twenty working days. We have been told that the main reason for this is the large number of the submitted dossiers and the fact that the SDAPRC is short-staffed at the moment. According to the SDAPRC, this temporary suspension will last until April 16, 2007. The suspension will not affect the adoptive families with scheduled appointments.
The Embassy has discussed the situation with senior officials at the Ministry for Family, Youth and Sports, and we remain in regular contact with them. At this point, we are not aware of any pending changes in policy. However, the situation remains fluid and we will continue to monitor it.
We will provide further updates when possible.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any additional questions.
Sincerely,
Adoption Unit/Immigrant Visa Section
Consular Section
American Embassy
Kyiv, Ukraine
Tel: 38-044-4904422
Fax: 38-044-490-4570
Kyivadoptions@ state.gov
http://kyiv.usembassy.gov/amcit_adoptions_eng.html
In accordance with E.O. 12958 this message is not classified.