Terms and procedure for granting approval by the Minister of Justice

• A foreigner who wishes to adopt a child who is a Bulgarian citizen shall file an application to the Ministry of Justice through the central body in the respective country or through an accredited organisation which has obtained a permit by the Minister of Justice. The central authority or the accredited organisation may also file the application.


• The application shall contain:
  
  
  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 standing of the adoptive parent;
  4. information about the central body or the accredited organization which mediates for the adoptive parent, including contact persons, address, telephone, representation, conditions on the permit of the accredited organization;
  5. other circumstances as may be required for the adoption;
  6. signature of the applicant.
  
  Enclosed to the application shall be::
  
  
  1. a permit for adoption of a child pursuant to the home country law and the law of permanent residence of the adoptive parent;;
  2. a document certifying that the adoptive parent is not divested of parental rights, issued by a competent body;
  3. social report on the adoptive parent, containing also data about the members of his family, including their medical condition;
  4. a document on the medical condition of the adoptive parent, which shall reflect the physical and psychological health of the person, absence of serious chronic, infectious venereal diseases, AIDS, tuberculosis and other diseases endangering his life;
  5. document of conviction of the adoptive parent;
  6. marriage certificate;
  7. short description of the adoptive parents – personal data, nationality and citizenship, copy of the identity document;
  8. power of attorney by the adoptive parents for ;
  9. Signed contract between the adoptive parent (s) and ;
  All documents from abroad must be submitted to the Ministry of Justice in original and in certified translation in the Bulgarian language;
• Where the Ministry of Justice establishes that the submitted documentation is incomplete or there are discrepancies, it shall notify the central body or the accredited organization and shall give instructions for their removal within 7 days of the notification. In case the inconsistencies under § 1 are not removed within the time frame set in the notification, the submitted documents shall not be reviewed and shall be returned to their sender.
• The adoptive parent shall be entered in the register on the basis of the submitted documents, provided he meets the requirements of the Family Code. The registration shall be made in the order of documents receipt at the Ministry of Justice. The Ministry of Justice must notify in writing the sender within 7 days from registration. If the person is not registered, the documents must be returned to the sender with notification thereof.
• International Adoption Directorate must study the children and the prospective adoptive parents with regard to the possibility for completion of adoption, prepare a motivated report thereof and deposit it with together with the relevant files at the Council for International Adoptions for consideration and decision-making.
• The files of the children entered into the register shall be reviewed by the Council for International Adoptions in the order of their entry and shall be compared with the data of the adoptive parents and the conditions contained in their adoption permits.
  In taking a decision the Council is guided by the interest of the child, by the capacity of the adoptive parents to ensure his/her physical, psychological, and social well-being, as well as by the information about the personality of the adoptive parent and the other essential for the adoption circumstances. The judgment is based mainly on the reports on the adoptive parents. The decision must contain data about the child and the adoptive parent(s) and motives for the selection.
• The Council for International Adoptions must put forward proposals to the Minister of Justice for determining the most appropriate adoptive parent, a foreigner.
  The Minister of Justice must take a decision within 14 days:
  
  1. where it establishes circumstances which are not in the interest of the child;
  2. upon significant irregularities in the adoption procedure. In such cases the Council for International Adoptions shall reconsider the child’s file and shall offer the same or another appropriate adoptive parent for the child.
• After determining the adoptive parent – foreign person – International Adoptions Directorate shall prepare a report on the child. The report is sent to the central body of the recipient country which a signatory to the Convention and the accredited organization respectively, accompanied by a full-length photo of the child, and where necessary, video recordings and other materials about the child.
• Within two months following receipt of the report the central body of the recipient country, a signatory to the Convention, or the accredited organisation shall send to the Ministry of Justice a notification of agreement or disagreement with continuation of the adoption procedure for the specific child.
  Within the two-month term the central body and the accredited organisation shall also send to the Ministry of Justice the written agreement or disagreement of the adoptive parent with the adoption, together with a written application signed by him, containing a statement of agreement with the adoption of the specific child, a statement that the adoptive parent is acquainted with the medical condition of the child, that he is informed of the consequences of adoption, a statement of an established contact with the child, as well as a statement of agreement on initiation of court proceedings.
• The following shall be enclosed to the application:
  
  1. document certifying that the home country law or the law of permanent residence of the adoptive parent does not allow subsequent adoption, issued by a competent body, or a notarized declaration by the adoptive parent that the child will not be offered for adoption if the law allows him to do so;
  2. notarized declaration that the child will not be subject to experimental medical treatment or parts of his/her body will not be used for donor purposes;
  3. documents of due state charges paid.
• Within the said two-month term the adoptive parent is obliged to establish a personal contact with the child, which shall not be shorter than 5 days.
  If the contact could not be established due to a disease, financial difficulties, urgent business engagements or difficulties with travel arrangements, the adoptive parent shall submit a notarized declaration containing a statement that he accepts the risk of the origin and future physical and psychological condition and development of the child, specifying the reason for the non-existent contact.
  In this case contact with the child shall be established by a representative of the accredited organization in Bulgaria, mediating in the adoption.
• After submission of the required documents the International Adoptions Directorate must table a proposal to the Minister of Justice for giving an explicit written approval for the adoption.
  Within 3 days from issuance of the written approval the Ministry of Justice shall duly send the file to the court.
  Within the 3-day term the Ministry of Justice shall send to the central body or the accredited organization the explicit written approval of the adoption and a notification that the file has been sent to the court.
• An adoptive parent who has denied explicitly the proposal for child adoption shall be entered ex officio in the register with a new number from the date of receipt at the Ministry of Justice of the explicit denial.
  By exception, the adoptive parent might request from the Minister of Justice extension of the two-month term for up to one month due to force majored events preventing him from giving an answer.
  If the Ministry of Justice does not receive an answer within the two-month term or within the extended term, the adoptive parent shall be deleted from the register.
• Adoption is mandatory full.
  Between the adopted child and his/her descending line on the one hand, and the adopter and his relatives on the other hand, rights and obligations arise as between relatives by origin and the rights and obligations between the adopted child and his/her descending line and their relatives by origin shall be terminated.