I had hoped to have all the information about the changes in the Guatemalan adoption laws by now, but the Guatemalan government has not been forthcoming. I do have some partial information; please remember that this information is not official.

The adoption agency I used has provided the following information on the status of adoptions in Guatemala.

1. All pending adoptions that have a power of attorney dated before December 31, 2007 and are registered with the new Guatemalan Central Authority within 30 days after the new law goes into effect, will be processed under the old law.
2. New cases will be accepted by the CIS in 2008. They will continue accepting only 20 new cases per day, but a separate line for submitting other documents or picking up pre-approvals will be established at the US Embassy.
3. USCIS will continue to accept all documents for the I-600 and all finalized packets, but the petitioners must make sure that their adoptions are filed correctly. After December 31, 2007 they must be filed with the new Central Authority.

The JCICS gives us a little more information. Apparently the Guatemalan government has not decided what the requirements for registering a pending adoption are, but apparently they may consider the “filing of the notification (Aviso) with the PGN as the registration required by the law.”

The Embassy recommends therefore that the legal representative of each adoption case file the “Aviso” with the PGN, but be aware that this may not be all that needs to be done, or the right thing to be done. Your adoption agency will probably be making this kind of decision with your lawyer at this point, but it would be wise to ask them what exactly they are planning to do. I’m also wondering if a new case, far from being ready to be submitted to PGN can be filed with PGN.

All offices are closed over the holiday season in Guatemala, and embassy interviews (Pink) are already being scheduled for January, 2008. It is especially hard for families during the holiday season to not have their children home with them; however we can be cheered by the fact that it appears that adoptions in process will be handled under the old law, and new adoptions may continue. There is a good chance that there will be holdups during the transition period; that is to be expected in any country.

Let’s all make a New Year’s Wish for smooth adoption completions, and for the continuing adoption of children from Guatemala in 2008.

Wishing each and every one of you a peaceful holiday season.

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