Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05GUATEMALA2623
2005-11-17 19:04:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Guatemala
Cable title:  

Adoption Visas Processed in Guatemala City

Tags:  CVIS CASC CMGT GT 
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171904Z Nov 05
UNCLAS GUATEMALA 002623 

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR CA/OCS/CI AND WHA/CEN
ALSO FOR CA/P AND CA/VO/F/P

MEXICO FOR DHS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: CVIS CASC CMGT GT
SUBJECT: Adoption Visas Processed in Guatemala City
Reach New High


UNCLAS GUATEMALA 002623

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR CA/OCS/CI AND WHA/CEN
ALSO FOR CA/P AND CA/VO/F/P

MEXICO FOR DHS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: CVIS CASC CMGT GT
SUBJECT: Adoption Visas Processed in Guatemala City
Reach New High



1. Guatemala City's Immigrant Visa Unit issued 3,783
immigrant visas to adopted Guatemalan orphans in FY

2005. This is a new record for Guatemala City, and is
a 15.9 percent increase in orphan visa workload over FY

2004. It also represents nearly 53 percent of our
total IV workload for the year. The increase in
adoption cases is testament to the easy availability of
infants relinquished by their birth mothers, the
relatively short amount of time that it takes to
complete a Guatemalan adoption, and the relative
reliability of the process.


2. The following table illustrates the growth in
orphan visas in Guatemala since FY 2001. The IV unit
has managed the most recent increases with one officer
and four locally engaged staff as the mainstays of our
immigrant visa unit, at a time when continued growth in
the number of orphan visa cases coincides with an
increase in the volume of other IV cases due to USCIS
approval of an unusually large number of petitions in
FY 2005. To help manage the increased IV workload, the
IV unit implemented a new appointment system for
adoption immigrant visa interviews in October 2005.
Prior to that, adopting families could come in without
an appointment for their immigrant visa interview.
Rather than seeing up to 70 families on Mondays, the
appointment system distributes adoption cases evenly
across the week without creating a backlog.

YEAR Visas Issued Percentage of Change

FY 2001 1609 5.9
FY 2002 2419 50.3
FY 2003 2326 -3.85
FY 2004 3262 40.2
FY 2005 3783 15.9

Note that the number of orphan visas issued in FY 2003
was suppressed reduced by Guatemala's failed March 2003
attempt to implement the Hague Convention on
Intercountry Adoption, which slowed the processing of
adoption cases by Guatemalan authorities and may have
caused some prospective adopting parents to adopt
elsewhere because of the uncertainty. A second attempt
to implement an adoption process consistent with Hague
requirements is currently under consideration by the
Guatemalan Congress. Attempts by adoption agencies and
parents to complete action prior to its possible
approval also appear to be one factor pushing high
numbers of adoption cases through the system.

DERHAM