Contact Your Representatives About the Adoption Visa Pause

A State Department memo issued January 14 pauses the issuance of all immigration visas for 75 countries. This pause applies to the visas that international adoptive parents use to bring their children home. We, and many other families, are impacted by the delay.

Here is more on our situation.

We are requesting people contact their representatives about the unintended consequence the memo has on international adoptions.

Below is a template letter.

How to send this letter:

The easiest way to do this is to go to Democracy.io. It lets you message your Rep and both Senators at once. Just copy/paste the subject and body below, and replace [City/State] and the contact information at the bottom with our information. Don’t worry if the bold formatting disappears when you paste it, the text is what matters.

Subject: Please Exempt International Adoptions from New Visa Pause (Jan 14 Memo)

I am writing as your constituent in [City/State] to urge you to address a recent State Department policy that is inadvertently separating American families from their adopted children.

The Issue

On January 14, 2026, the State Department announced a pause on immigrant visa issuances to nationals of 75 countries due to “public charge” concerns (under INA § 212(a)(4) codified as 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(4)).

This policy has unintentionally halted international adoptions, trapping children who are already matched with American parents.

Why This Matters to Me

A family I know is currently adopting two teenagers from Colombia (an affected country) under the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption. They have completed every requirement, including proving their financial fitness to USCIS.

One of their last steps is to travel to Colombia to receive IH-3 visas to bring their children home. Because of this new pause, their children are now blocked from receiving their IH-3 visas to return to the United States, where they will be citizens upon arrival.

Why the Policy Flaw Must Be Fixed

The State Department’s justification for the pause (preventing reliance on public benefits) is legally irrelevant to international adoption under IH-3 visas for two reasons:

1. Financial Vetting is Already Complete: Adoptive parents must prove significant financial capacity upfront in the adoption process to receive I-800A approval.
2. They Become Citizens Upon Entry: Under the Child Citizenship Act, children entering on IH-3 visas automatically become United States Citizens the moment they step on U.S. soil. The “public charge” statute only applies to immigrants, not citizens. Therefore, it is legally impossible for them to become public charges in the United States under the statute. (8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(3) defining an alien as a non-citizens and 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(4) only applying the public charge criteria to aliens)

Action Requested

The visa pause takes effect January 21, 2026. I respectfully ask you to take one or more of the following actions:

1. Submit a congressional inquiry to the State Department on behalf of affected constituents, requesting clarification on whether IH-3 adoption visas will be exempted.

2. Sign or initiate a bipartisan letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio requesting that intercountry adoption IH-3 visas be exempted from the January 14 memo.

3. Contact the White House Office of Domestic Policy to flag this unintended consequence before the policy takes effect.

These families have followed every law. The children will become U.S. citizens upon entry—they cannot legally become “public charges.” This appears to be an oversight, not an intentional policy toward adoptive families.

Thank you for your assistance.

Sincerely,
[Full Name]
[Address]
[Phone / Email]