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Overseas Adoption

This means an adoption where the applicants do not have the same nationality as the child or live in a different country from the child. A child who is adopted outside the UK will not automatically become a British citizen, even if his / her adoptive parents are British. They will need to apply for citizenship.

Whereas, a child adopted in the UK will become a British citizen if either adoptive parent is a British citizen at the time the adoption order is made.

English courts recognise adoption orders made in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Isle of Man and Channel Islands.

In order to bring a child who normally resides outside the British Isles into the UK a prospective adopter must comply with the provisions of the Adoption and Children Act 2002, this provides that:

1. A prospective adopter must have applied to a local authority or accredited adoption agency for assessment of his/her suitability to be an adoptive parent.

2. The authority or accredited adoption agency must then provide a report approving the prospective adopter as suitable to be an adoptive parent. The report must set out the family, medical and social background of the applicants and the characteristics of the child to be adopted. This will be sent to the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) to be processed by their casework team.

3. The DCSF must have notified the prospective adopter in writing that it is prepared to issue a certificate confirming to the authorities in the overseas country that the prospective adopter has been assessed and approved as suitable and that the child will be authorised to reside permanently within the British Isles. This is known as a Certificate of Eligibility and Suitability to Adopt.

The papers will also be certified by a Notary and legalized by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as this is often required by certain countries.

The DCFS will then forward the papers to the other country’s Embassy in London for the final stage of legalization. The application for adoption can then be sent by the DCFS to the relevant authorities in the country where the adoption is to take place.

4. The state in which the child lives will then normally prepare a report about the child's adoptability, family and social background and whether the child has any needs and whether consent to the adoption has been given freely and whether adoption is in the best interests of the child.

When bringing a child into the country it is necessary to show the child is under 18, unmarried, will be looked after and paid for by the applicants, was adopted legally in the child's country and the adoption took place because the birth parents could not care for the child and was not arranged to get the child into the UK.
The child also has to hold a valid UK entry clearance.

It is an offence to send a child who is a British subject abroad for the purposes of adoption unless the adoption is legitimate and the adopters are not living in the UK and intend to obtain a proper adoption order abroad.

The Adoption and Children Act 2002 allows arrangements to be put in place for the recognition in England and Wales of overseas adoption (known as 'inter-country adoptions'). The UK has recently ratified (put into effect) the 1993 'Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in respect of Inter-Country Adoption' (The Convention). This provides for:

• Establishing safeguards to ensure that inter-country adoptions take place in the best interests of the child.
• Establishing a system of co-operation between countries who have signed the Convention to prevent the abduction, sale or traffic in children.
• To recognise inter-country adoptions in the countries who have signed the Convention (see www.hcch.net for a full list of those countries).
• The countries that have signed the Convention must ensure, amongst other things:
• That any child from their country is adoptable.
• Consider whether they should be placed with adoptive parents within their country.
• Consider whether adoption overseas is in the child's best interests.
• Ensure that any consent by the natural parents has been given freely and that they understand the effect of their consent.
• Ensure that no payment has been made to obtain the consent and that the mother has given consent after the birth of the child.

The authorities in the country where the child is to be brought must ensure that the prospective adopters are eligible and suitable to adopt, that they have consented and that the child is authorised to enter and live permanently in that country.

No unsupervised contact is to take place between the prospective adopters and the natural parents until the above requirements have been met. This is to avoid the natural parents being pressurised by the prospective adopters.

It is an offence for parents or prospective adopters to advertise their wish to adopt or for anyone other than an adoption agency to advertise and arrange adoptions. The penalty for this offence is 3 months imprisonment and/or a fine of £5,000.

Those who illegally bring a child into the UK to adopt will face a 12-month prison sentence and/or an unlimited fine.

 

INFORMATION PROVIDED COURTESY OF COMPACTLAW LTD www.compactlaw.co.uk