US Adoption Visas Delayed as Families Wait Weeks for Extra Approval

Adoptive families from the United States are being left abroad for weeks or months waiting for an extra approval before they can bring a child home from Malawi or Sierra Leone. A US travel ban introduced in December 2025 did not exempt adoption visas, and since August the added step has taken far longer than the few days families were first told to expect.

Key facts

• The travel ban announced in December 2025 covers 39 countries and did not exempt adoption visas.
• Affected children can be considered under the ban's national interest exception (NIE), decided case by case.
• Before the NIE requirement, families received their visa on the same day as the interview.
• Since August, NIE waits have stretched to weeks or months, leaving one parent abroad.
• Reported waits include almost 40 days, about a month and a half, and two and a half months.

What is changing?

In December 2025, President Donald Trump banned travel to the US from 39 countries. Unlike previous travel bans, this one did not exempt adoption visas. After adoption groups mobilised, the US State Department issued guidance in late January telling families to proceed as usual: affected children would qualify for visas under the ban's national interest exception clause and be evaluated case by case.

The exception is requested by the embassy from the State Department after the child's visa appointment in the country of adoption. At first it caused a delay of only a few days. Since August, adoptive families have reported lags of weeks or months, often with one parent stranded overseas with the adopted child and separated from the rest of the family.

Who is affected?

Families completing intercountry adoptions from countries covered by the ban. St. Nick's Kids, one of the agencies involved, works with 13 affected countries. The cases described involve adoptions from Malawi and Sierra Leone.

Josh and Katie Derrick arrived in Malawi on 21 May with their three oldest children to complete the adoption of their three-year-old daughter. After a month, the mother and children returned to the US while the father stayed on. Their embassy appointment was on 4 August; the consular officer approved their documents and said the NIE would take a week. It was approved on 14 September and the family reunited five days later.

Two families from a church in Alma, Michigan, adopting from Sierra Leone waited almost 40 days for their NIE approvals. One mother returned home to their three young daughters while the father stayed abroad. Both families received their NIEs in mid-October and came home.

Why is this happening?

Adoption agencies report slow processing and difficulty communicating with US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the State Department. Multiple agencies cited State Department staff turnover in early September as contributing to the longer NIE waits. On 26 August the US also canceled all visa appointments worldwide for mandatory training. Further immigration policy changes have slowed intercountry adoption, including the realignment of US visa services in Africa to regional hubs.

One agency executive, Jyotika Acharya of St. Nick's Kids, argued the extra approval repeats checks already carried out, asking: “Why are we doing another layer of vetting when there is already one?” A State Department spokesman said the administration supports intercountry adoption and processes such cases as quickly as possible while ensuring full compliance with federal law.

What this means for travellers

Families adopting from a country covered by the ban should plan for an additional approval after the visa interview and for an extended stay in the country of adoption, since one parent may need to remain abroad with the child. Before the NIE requirement, visas were issued the same day as the interview.

Adoption agencies say they are still pressing the US government to drop the extra step. Nothing in the current guidance sets a maximum wait time for a national interest exception decision.