Adopting special need children in Vietnam for foreigner

Vietnamese Justice Ministry issued a guidance to find alternative families overseas for special need children as per Circular 15/2014/TT-BTP. Overseas Vietnamese or foreigners who meet all conditions required by the law of the country in which they permanently reside and Vietnamese Law can adopt special need children in Vietnam. 

Special need children is referred to as children with disabilities, children with serious diseases, children aged 5 or older and two or more children being siblings who need alternative families.

Disable, dangerous disease children include: children with cleft lip and cleft palate, children who are blinded with one or two eyes; mutism, deaf; dumb; children with curved arms or legs, children with missing fingers, hands, foot (feet), toes, children infected with HIV; children with heart diseases; children with navel, groin, belly hernia; children without an anus or sexual organ; children with blood disease; children with diseases requiring life-long treatment; children with other disabilities or dangerous disease which restricting the chances of adoption.

Adopting special need children in Vietnam for foreigner

A. Application files of foreigners adopting specific special needs children in Vietnam.

1. A dossier of a foreigner adopting a specific child with special care needs must comprise the following papers:

 a. A written request for adoption;
 b. A copy of the passport or a valid substitute paper;
 c. A written permission for adopting a person in Vietnam:
 d. A completed questionnaire on psychology and family;
 e. A health certificate;
 f. An income and property certificate;
 g. A judicial record sheet:
 h. A written certification of the marital status;
 i. A document evidencing the case of adoption of a specific child depend on each case, must have the following correlative documents:
  o Copy of marriage certificate of stepfather or stepmother with natural mother or father of adopted children.
  o Papers, documents proving that adopting persons are natural aunt, uncle of the adopted children.
  o Copy of Vietnam competence agency’s decision allows such person adopting Vietnamese children and papers, documents proving that such adopted children with the children introduced to be adoptees are biological siblings.
  o Papers, documents proving that adopted child is belong one of the cases provided in clause 1 Article 3 of Decree No. 19/2011/ND-CP.
  o Confirming document of the Commune-level People’s Committees or Public Securities of the adopting persons’ Vietnam residence and the other papers, documents proving that the adopting persons are the foreigners working, educating uninterruptedly in Vietnam for an at least 01 year period, counted to the date of application of dossiers at the Department of Child Adoption.

2. An adoption dossier must clearly state that the adopter is psychologically ready, eligible in terms of economic and family conditions and planned to care for and nurture the child with special care needs.

3. For a person specifically adopting a child aged over 5 or two or more children being siblings, the dossier must clearly state the plan on psychological preparation and conditions for the child or children to integrate into the new family, cultural and social environment.

B. Submission of dossiers for adopting special needs children in Vietnam for foreigner.

1. Overseas Vietnamese and foreign residents overseas adopting specific children with disabilities or serious diseases shall submit dossiers to the Adoption Department of Vietnamese Justice Ministry.; or

2. Overseas Vietnamese and foreign residents overseas shall submit dossiers to foreign adoption offices who shall submit dossiers of adopters to the Adoption Department of Vietnamese Justice Ministry.
When finding alternative families overseas for children, foreign adoption offices shall provide full and detailed information on the disabilities, diseases and special care needs of children and their family circumstances and psychological and social conditions for adopters to thoroughly consider their capacity to care for and nurture children before submitting adoption dossiers.

C. Processing time for adopting special need children in Vietnam for foreigner

For adopting special need children in Vietnam who are eligible for intercountry adoption, the processing time for Vietnamese authorities is about 72 days from receipt of valid dossiers.

If foreigners have any requirements about adopting special need children in Vietnam, please contact with us, Click here. 

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