Order for the grant of consent on the part of the Minister of Justice

A foreigner who wishes to adopt a person – Bulgarian citizen, should submit a request to the Ministry of Justice through the central body of the respective country or through an accredited organization that has received a permit by the minister of justice. The request can be also submitted by the central body or the accredited organization.

The request contains:

1. short presentation of the adoptive parent – personal data, nationality and citizenship, number and place of issue of the identity document, place of birth, country of residence, permanent and present address;
2. short history of the family of the adoptive parent;
3. information about the economic and social status of the adoptive parent;
4. . information about the central body or the accredited organization, which is the adoptive parent’s mediator, including contact persons, address, phone number, agency, conditions regarding the permit of the accredited organization;
5. other circumstances bearing significance with regard to the adoption;
6. signature of the person submitting the request.

The following should be enclosed to the request:

7. permit for child adoption according to the legislation of the home country and the legislation of the permanent residence of the adoptive parent;
8. document issued by a competent body and certifying that the adoptive parent has not been deprived of parental rights;
9. . social study regarding the adoptive parent, also containing information about the members of his family, including his health status;
10. дdocument regarding the health status of the adoptive parent, reflecting his physical and mental health, the lack of grave chronic, infectious venereal diseases, AIDS, tuberculosis, and other diseases endangering his health;
11. certificate of conviction of the adoptive parent;.
12. marriage certificate.
13. short description of the adoptive parents – personal data, nationality and citizenship, copy of an identity document (translated and certified with an apostille);
14. power of attorney between the association and the candidates for adoptive parents / accredited foreign organization;
15. signed contract between the association and the candidates for adoptive parents / accredited foreign organization.

All foreign documents should be presented in the Ministry of Justice in their original and with a certified translation in the Bulgarian language.

When omissions or discrepancies are established in the presented documentation, the Ministry of Justice shall notify the central body, or, respectively, the accredited organizations, and shall give instructions with regard to their elimination in a 7-day term as of notification. In case the flaws according Par. 1 are not eliminated in the term stipulated in the notification, the submitted documents will not be considered and will be returned to the sender. On the grounds of the submitted documents, the adoptive parent shall be entered into the register, if he complies to the requirements of the family code. Entry shall be effected according to the order of receipt of the documents in the Ministry of Justice. The Ministry of Justice shall notify in writing the sender in a term of 7 days as of effectuation of entry. In case the person is not entered, the documents shall be returned to the sender with a notification containing the reason for the no-entry.
The “International Legal Protection of the Child and International Adoptions” direction shall survey the children and the candidates with regard to the opportunity for the effectuation of the adoption, shall prepare a motivated report for this and shall submit it, together with the respective dossiers in the International Adoptions Council with regard to its consideration and decision taking.
The dossiers of the children entered into the register shall be considered by the International Adoptions Council according to the order of their entry and shall be compared to the information of the adoptive parents and the conditions contained in their permits for adoption.
When making a decision, the council shall be guided by the interest of the child, by the possibilities of the adoptive parents to provide the child with a physical, mental and social well-being, as well as by the information for the personality of the adoptive parent and the other circumstances bearing significance to the adoption process. The estimation shall be effected mainly on the grounds of the reports for the adoptive parents. The resolution shall contain information for the child and the adoptive parents as well as motives for the choice made. The International Adoptions Council shall make an offer to the minister of justice for determining the suitable adoptive parent – foreigner. The minister of justice shall pronounce a decision in a 14-day term. The minister of justice may not approve the offer of the council in the following cases:

1. upon establishment of circumstances that are in the child’s interest;
2. upon allowed essential omissions in the adoption procedure. In these cases the International Adoptions Council shall reconsider the child’s dossier and shall offer the same or another suitable adoptive parent for it.

After determining an adoptive parent – foreign citizen, the “International Legal Protection of the Child and International Adoptions” direction shall prepare a report for the child. The report shall be sent to the central body of the accepting country – party according to the Convention, and respectively, to the accredited organization, accompanied by a photograph of the child in full height, and, if required, video recordings and other materials regarding the child. In a two-month term as of receipt of the report, the central body of the accepting country – party according to the Convention, or the accredited organization shall send to the Ministry of Justice a notification of consent or dissent with regard to the continuation of the procedure for the adoption of the specific child.
In this two-month term, the central body and the accredited organization shall also send to the Ministry of Justice the written consent or dissent of the adoptive parent regarding the adoption, together with a written request signed by said adoptive parent, containing a statement for consent regarding the adoption of the specific child, statement that the adoptive parent is acquainted with the health status of the child, that the adoptive parent is acquainted with the consequences of the adoption, statement for an established contact with the child, as well as statement for consent regarding the initiation of court proceedings.

The following should be enclosed to the request:

1. document certifying that the legislation of the home country or the legislation according to the permanent residence of the adoptive parent does not allow re-adoption, issued by a competent body, or a declaration by the adoptive parent, bearing notary verification and stating that the child shall not be placed for adoption, if the law allows it;
2. declaration bearing notary verification that the child shall not be subjected to experimental treatment or that parts of its body shall not be used for donor purposes;
3. documents for paid state taxes.

In the framework of this same two-month term, the adoptive parent shall be obligated to effectuate a personal contact with the child, not shorter than 5 days.
If the contact cannot be effected due to an illness, financial difficulties, pressing business engagements or travel impediments, the adoptive parent shall present a declaration bearing notary verification and stating that the adoptive parent accepts the risk for the child’s origin and its future physical and mental state and development, as well as the reason for the inability to establish personal contact.
In the above case, the contact with the child shall be effected by a representative of the organization accredited in Bulgaria, acting as a mediator to the adoptive parent.
After presentation of the requisite documents, the International Adoption direction shall prepare an offer to the minister of justice regarding the grant of an explicit written consent for the adoption.
In a 7-day term as of the issuance of the written consent, the Ministry of Justice shall duly send the dossier to the court.
In the 7-day term, the Ministry of Justice shall send to the central body or to the accredited organization the explicit written consent for adoption and a notification that the consent has been sent to the court.
An adoptive parent who has effected an explicit refusal to the offer for the adoption of a child, shall be entered officially into the register under a new number from the date of receipt of the explicit refusal on the part of the Ministry of Justice.
As an exception, the adoptive parent can request from the minister of justice a prolongation of the two-month term with a period of up to a month due to extraordinary circumstances that have occurred, hindering the effectuation of a respond.
In case no respond has been received in the Ministry of Justice in the two month term or in the prolonged term, the adoptive parent shall be obliterated from the register.
The adoption shall be by all means full.
Between the adopted child and its inferiors on the one side, and the adoptive parent and his kin on the other side, rights and obligations arise like between relatives by origin, and the rights and obligations between the adopted child and its inferiors and its relatives by origin shall be terminated.