This alert updates the Department of State’s May 2 adoption alert regarding the suspension of issuance of exit permits to adopted Congolese children seeking to depart the country with their adoptive parents.
On June 17, the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) General Directorate of Migration (Direction Generale de Migration, DGM) informed the U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa that the DGM has partially lifted its temporary suspension of issuance of exit permits to adopted Congolese children seeking to depart the country with their adoptive parents. At this time, DGM will only issue exit permits to children whose adoptions were completed in the local Tribunal pour Enfants, in accordance with the Congolese 2009 law regarding the protection of children.
The U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa is seeking further clarification on the DGM’s decision and how it may affect intercountry adoptions completed in Tribunal de Paix in provinces where a Tribunal pour Enfants does not yet exist or did not exist at the time an adoption was completed. The Department of State will post new information as it becomes available on adoption.state.gov.
Prospective adoptive parents seeking to adopt from the DRC and their adoption service providers are encouraged to review the information provided by the Department of State regarding the current Embassy procedures, the general process for adopting from the DRC, and the most recent travel warning.
If you have concerns or questions regarding the alert or a specific adoption from the DRC, please contact the Department of State, Office of Children’s Issues at 1-888-407-4747 within the United States, or 202-501-4444 from outside the United States. Email inquiries may be directed to AskCI@state.gov.
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