The US will resume adoptions of Vietnamese children after a six-year ban triggered by flagrant corruption and poor oversight.

At a press conference held by the US Embassy in Hanoi on September 16, Tiffany Murphy, chief of the Consular Section of the US Embassy in Hanoi, announced that the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice has given licenses to two US adoption service providers to operate in Vietnam. 

Tiffany Murphy, chief of the Consular Section of the US Embassy in Hanoi at the press conference

Adoptions between the US and Vietnam were suspended in 2008 due to concerns over a lack of oversight. Since then, however, Vietnam ratified the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation, and changed its law on adoption.

Murphy said that Vietnamese children legitimately adopted by US parents will be provided with adoption visas by the US Embassy to Vietnam. These children will given all the rights of a full US citizen.

Prospective adoptive parents must participate in 20-30 hour of training before sending in applying to adopt a Vietnamese child.

Before 2008, just before the moratorium on adoptions between Vietnam, there were been 42 US adoption service providers in Vietnam. Murphy expects that one more US adoption facilitator will be licensed to operate in Vietnam in the near future.

According to statistics, France has the highest rate of adoptions from Vietnam, followed by Italy, Canada and Spain.