Comment Period Reopened for Adoption-Related Rule
Rule Addresses Certain Intercountry Adoptions Under the Hague Convention

WASHINGTON – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published in the Federal Register today a notice re-opening and extending the public comment period for the interim rule, “Classification of Aliens as Children of United States Citizens Based on Intercountry Adoptions Under the Hague Convention.”  USCIS reopened the comment period to enable the public to thoroughly review and offer comments about the interim rule.  The comment period will remain open until May 27, 2008.   The interim rule establishes USCIS procedures governing the immigration of children who are adopted by U.S. citizens and who come from countries that are parties to the Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (Convention).

USCIS published the interim rule in the Federal Register on October 4, 2007, and will begin accepting intercountry adoption cases under the Convention and the interim rule on April 1, 2008.  The reopening of the comment period will not, however, delay the implementation of the Convention and the interim rule.  Prospective adoptive parents may still begin filing Convention adoption cases on April 1, 2008.

The public may submit written comments about the interim rule through the Federal eRulemaking Portal (www.regulations.gov) or by mailing or delivering paper, computer disk or CD-ROM submissions to:

U.S. Mail and Hand Delivery/Courier:

Director, Regulatory Management Division,
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services,
Department of Homeland Security
111 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, 3rd Floor,
Washington, DC 20529

All submissions must reference DHS Docket No. USCIS-2007-0008, and arrive by May 27, 2008.  

Related Files

• USCIS Update (29KB PDF)