Special Humanitarian Parole Program for Haitian Orphan Ends April 14, 2010

The Haitian government requested that the U.S. bring its special humanitarian parole program for Haitian orphans to a close. The special parole policy and process, developed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as part of the overall U.S. government response to the January 12, earthquake will end on April 14, 2010. The program affects the following prospective adoptive or adoptive parents of Haitian orphans:

• those who either had full and final adoptions completed by United States citizen parents before the earthquake or,
• who were far enough along in the adoption process that both the governments of Haiti and the United States could verify the identity and eligibility of the children for adoption, and the United States government could confirm the suitability of the adoptive parents.

More than 1,000 Haitian orphans have been approved for travel to the United States to join their adoptive families under this expedited process. USCIS is in the process of considering several hundred more requests and anticipates that ultimately some 1,200 children will benefit from this program.

If you are in the class of adoptive parents that may be affected by this deadline, contact us at 888-509-5901 or email us or contact us as www.aislaw.com for further assistance.