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Ethiopia Implements Pre-Adoption Immigration Review (PAIR) Requirement Effective Sept. 1, 2013, the government of Ethiopia will require all adoption cases filed by United States prospective adoptive parents to undergo the U.S. PAIR process.   Ethiopia’s Ministry of Women, Children and Youth Affairs (MOWCYA) will require a PAIR letter issued by USCIS in order to make a best interest determination.   Prospective adoptive parents must include the PAIR letter in the adoption dossier they submit to the Ethiopian Federal First Instance Court (FFIC) to initiate the adoption.   The FFIC will then forward the dossier, including the PAIR letter, to MOWCYA to review.   The new PAIR letter requirement will not affect adoption cases filed with Ethiopian courts before Sept. 1, 2013. Guidance for Prospective Adoptive Parents To help prospective parents to comply with Ethiopia’s new requirement, USCIS issued a policy memorandum, effective immediately, which allows prospective adopti...

  In today’s society, we tend to put movie stars up on a pedestal. As quickly as they go up, they easily fall down again due to bad publicity or the next new person who comes into the spotlight. We can name what movies they have starred in or what television show they originally came from.  We even know what magazine cover they were last featured in; but have we ever stopped to think about the fact that even though they are constantly under the pressure and judgmental eye of the public, they go through the same struggles we face? If you are not familiar, Nia Vardalos was the writer and star of My Big Fat Greek Wedding.  S he has also been in many other television shows and movies. Ms. Vardalos recently shared her struggles with infertility in her memoir, Instant Mom.  I devoured this book on a plane ride after meeting Ms. Vardalos at our annual American Academy of Adoption Attorneys meeting this year.  My seatmate gave me questioning looks as I wa...