United Kingdom | Adoption from Bulgaria - Family National Association

Step-by-step description of the process of adoption from Bulgaria:

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland comprises four geographic and historical parts - England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, two of which (England and Wales) have been united under common jurisdiction.

The prospective adopters who would like to adopt a child from a foreign country should use the services of an accredited adoption agency, respectively the local borough Social Services Office correspondent to their place of residence, or the local Health and Social Care Trust (for Northern Ireland).

The accredited adoption agency, respectively the local borough Social Services Office correspondent to their place of residence, or the local Health and Social Care Trust in Northern Ireland send to “Family National Association” the dossier of the candidate-adopters, which includes all the documents required for their registration;
Once the dossier has been received and translated, our team prepares a petition, which is filed to the Bulgarian Ministry of Justice along with the candidate-adopters’ dossier. The candidates get inscribed in the register, which is a list of the waiting prospective adopters with active status. The inscription in the register takes place within a 2-month period following the receipt of the candidates’ documents at “Family National Association”, provided that the documents are in the legally required form.
The waiting period for a referral starts from the moment the candidates get registered. The waiting period varies in each specific case. It depends on the characteristics of the children, who are available for adoption at the time (for instance, age, gender, health condition) and on the characteristics of waiting candidate-adopters (namely, their general preferences, desired age of the child, the number of waiting candidates).
The Intercountry Adoption Council reviews the applications following the order of their registration and refers the children to the candidates who are suitable for them. Once a child is referred for adoption, a package of documents is prepared, which is referred to as “referral”. Those documents are provided to “Family National Association”, who arrange their translation and then send them on to the partnering agency, who then provide them to the candidates. The package includes a referral certificate, a certificate with a full-length photo of the child and a detailed report about the child, which is prepared in accordance with Art.16 of the Hague Convention. The referral for adoption is received by the local Central Authority who then send it on to the accredited agency/ the local borough Social Services office (England and Wales), the local social services (Scotland) or the local Health and Social Care Trust (Northern Ireland), who acquaint the candidate-adopters with the documentation. While discussing the referral the prospective adopters are consulted by the relevant specialists from the accredited intermediary in view of making an assessment as to whether they are suitable adopters for the specific child.
The next step is for the candidates to meet the child. The meetings with the child take place for 5 working days. During that time a specialist from our team accompanies the candidate-adopters and provides translation services and support to them.
If the candidates refuse to adopt the child, the waiting period for a referral starts all over again. However, they could keep their position in the register in case they have not been informed about some significant health issues the child has, if the characteristics of the child referred to them do not correspond to the preferences they have stated, or in case they have applied to adopt a special needs child and subsequently they decided not to adopt that child.
If the candidates want to proceed with the child’s adoption, they should sign the necessary paperwork, which is provided by “Family National Association”, and that usually happens while they are in Bulgaria. In order for the adoption procedure to continue, the competent local Central Authority in the United Kingdom has to issue their consent for the continuation of the procedure.
After that the dossier is sent to the Sofia City Court. An attorney from our team represents the candidates before the court and performs all procedural actions by the time the court decree for the adoption becomes legally effective.
Once the court decree becomes legally effective (7 days following the court hearing), “Family National Association” assist the candidates with obtaining a certificate of compliance under Art.23 of the Hague Convention, a new birth certificate and a passport of the child.
The adopters should travel to Bulgaria so as to pick up their child and complete the process of passport issuance. Once the child’s passport is issued, the adoptive family can travel back home with their adopted child.
“Family National Association” should receive a total of 6 post-adoption reports regarding the child’s development and condition – each of them is to be sent at every 6 months, for 3 years following the admission of the adoption;

Required documents

Candidate-adopters with habitual place of residence in the United Kingdom should obtain the following documents in view of their inscription in the register of prospective adopters with habitual place of residence in a foreign country:

For England and Wales:

Permission for adoption - issued by the Central Authority;
Document, certifying that the candidate-adoptive parents have not been deprived of their parental rights - issued by the accredited intermediary in the form of a certificate after the Disclosure and Barring Service performs a check;
Home study report - issued by a competent social worker at the adoption agency or the local borough Social Services Department;
Updated Home study report or a document certifying the lack of any changes in the circumstances described in the report – the authority competent to issue the document is the same authority that issues the initial report;
Documents about the adopters’ health condition - issued by a Doctor of Medicine;
Documents regarding the adopters’ criminal record - issued in the form of a certificate from the Disclosure and Barring Service;
Marriage certificate (in case of married candidates) - issued by the General Register Office of the United Kingdom in the form of an extract from the Population register;
Authorization of representation from the candidate-adoptive parents to the Bulgarian accredited agency that represents them;
Declaration of information from the candidate-adopters under Art.20, clause 10 of Ordinance No.2/24.10.2014;
Declaration from the adopters regarding the characteristics of the child they would like to adopt and their motivation for adoption.

For Scotland:

Permission for adoption - issued by the Central Authority;
Document, certifying that the candidate-adoptive parents have not been deprived of their parental rights - issued by the accredited intermediary in the form of a certificate after the Executive Disclosure Agency of the Scottish Government performs a check;
Home study report - issued by a social worker at the adoption agency;
Updated Home study report or a document certifying the lack of any changes in the circumstances described in the report – the authority competent to issue the document is the same authority that issues the initial report;
Documents about the adopters’ health condition - issued by a Doctor of Medicine;
Documents regarding the adopters’ criminal record - issued in the form of a basic disclosure certificate by the Executive Disclosure Agency of the Scottish Government (Disclosure Scotland);
Marriage certificate (in case of married candidates) - issued by the General Register Office of the United Kingdom in the form of an extract from the Population register;
Authorization of representation from the candidate-adoptive parents to the Bulgarian accredited agency that represents them;
Declaration of information from the candidate-adopters under Art.20, clause 10 of Ordinance No.2/24.10.2014;
Declaration from the adopters regarding the characteristics of the child they would like to adopt and their motivation for adoption.

For Northern Ireland:

Permission for adoption - issued by the Central Authority;
Document, certifying that the candidate-adoptive parents have not been deprived of their parental rights - issued by the accredited intermediary in the form of a certificate after the Disclosure and Barring Service performs a check;
Home study report - issued by a social worker at the local Health and Social Care Trust or the voluntary adoption agency;
Updated Home study report or a document certifying the lack of any changes in the circumstances described in the report – the authority competent to issue the document is the same authority that issues the initial report;
Documents about the adopters’ health condition - issued by a Doctor of Medicine;
Documents regarding the adopters’ criminal record - issued in the form of a certificate from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS);
Marriage certificate (in case of married candidates) - issued by the General Register Office of the United Kingdom in the form of an extract from the Population register;
Authorization of representation from the candidate-adoptive parents to the Bulgarian accredited agency that represents them;
Declaration of information from the candidate-adopters under Art.20, clause 10 of Ordinance No.2/24.10.2014;
Declaration from the adopters regarding the characteristics of the child they would like to adopt and their motivation for adoption.

Requirements for Candidates

Requirements towards the candidate-adopters as per the legislation of the United Kingdom:

England, Wales and Scotland have identical requirements: Both married couples and single candidates can apply for adoption. If permitted by the legislation of the sending country, cohabiting couples or couples living in a registered partnership (including same-sex couples) could apply for adoption. The minimum age for candidate-adopters is 21 years. There is an additional requirement for the candidates to have been living on the territory of the United Kingdom for at least a year before filing the application for adoption.

Northern Ireland has the same requirements for the family status and the age of the adopters, with the only difference being that in Northern Ireland cohabiting couples or couples living in a registered partnership (including same-sex couples) are not allowed to apply for adoption.