Bilateral agreement between US and Russia comes into force
Approval of the Agreement between the United States of America and the Russian Federation Regarding Cooperation in Adoption of Children
On July 10, 2012 the Russian Duma approved the bilateral adoption agreement signed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on July 13, 2011. This marks a significant milestone toward the entry into force of the Agreement, which will provide additional safeguards to better protect the welfare and interests of children and all parties involved in intercountry adoptions. To find out more about the agreement, please visit the U.S. Department of State's FAQs and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) FAQs on the Agreement and its implementation.
The Agreement will now go to the Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian Parliament, and once approved, will be sent to President Putin. Following President Putin’s signature, the parties will need to establish procedures to implement the Agreement, which we are committed to doing as expeditiously as possible. Following the establishment of these procedures, the Agreement will enter into force upon the exchange of notes between the U.S. and Russian governments. The Department of State and USCIS will provide guidance on their websites related to the Agreement. Please monitor adoption.state.gov and uscis.gov for more information.
