In 2017, Annapolis, MD residents, Aaron and Emma Skalka adopted Bhagya, then a five-year old girl, from an orphanage for abandoned children in Nepal.  But the United States government put a long-term hold on all adoptions from Nepal.
 
Her adoptive family in the United States, including her brother adopted from Nepal, have since been fighting to bring their daughter home. 
 
Bhagya’s adoption was formally approved by the Nepalese Ministry of Children and Social Reform in 2017 — which the U.S. government refuses to recognize.  The family is not seeking to adopt Bhagya; they already have — she is their daughter.    

There is no question as to Bhagya’s status as an orphan before the Skalkas adopted her. She was born in a hospital, from which the mother fled after birth.  The biological mother has not been heard from since.

Bhagya remains the only adopted child trapped in a Nepalese orphanage due to the intransigence of the United States government.  

The government can act to bring the family back together, but it has failed to even consider doing so. 

The Skalka family has exhausted every attempt for humanitarian parole, medical visas, visiting visas, and every other conceivable option to bring their adopted daughter, Bhagya, home from Nepal.  The State Department and Department of Homeland Security have neglected their legal obligation to adjudicate the approvable I-600 immigration petition, which would recognize her as the immediate relative of her adopted parents, the Skalkas. It is unconscionable to suspend processing for eight years.   

Please tell the Department of State to fulfill its legal duty and Bring Bhagya Home.