The Department of State has started a review of the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act (HAMA) to understand whether adoptions completed under this law comply with the requirements of the Convention and the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000, such that the Department could move forward with the processing of such cases as Convention Adoptions under U.S. law, on a case-by-case basis.  Until this review is completed, cases involving adoptions completed under HAMA cannot be processed for immigration to the United States.

The Department urges families with pending I-800 petitions and immigrant visa applications who may be considering pursuing an intercountry adoption under HAMA to consider deferring such a decision until further information is available. In the meantime, U.S. accredited adoption agencies should not provide referrals to U.S. prospective adoptive parents in such cases until further notice.

Adoptions completed pursuant to India’s Juvenile Justice Act are not affected by this review.

Please continue to monitor adoption.state.gov for updated information. For questions about this notice or adoption related visa processing, please email the Office of Children’s Issues at adoption@state.gov.