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Country Status
Bulgaria is currently
allowing adoptions by US citizens on a
LIMITED basis.
PLEASE NOTE: While Bulgaria is not technically closed for
adoptions by US citizens, the US Embassy in Bulgaria issued visas
for only 29 children to be adopted to the US in 2005. Please
read the detailed information and caution for adoptive parents
which is available on the US Embassy website (Sofia, Bulgaria) at
http://sofia.usembassy.gov/adoption3.html.
For a list of Joint
Council agencies working in Bulgaria, please consult our
Country Programs page.
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July 18, 2006 -
Despite persistent
rumors to the contrary, there is no moratorium on Bulgarian
intercountry adoptions. Last year, the U.S. Embassy in Sofia issued
29 IR-3 and IR-4 visas to Bulgarian orphans adopted by American
families, and is currently averaging 1-2 visas per month.
The Bulgarian
Parliament passed a new adoption law in July 2003 in order to comply
with the requirements of the Hague Convention. The Ministry of
Justice (MOJ) started implementing the law in September 2004. In
accordance with this law, the MOJ started entering into a special
register all Bulgarian children available for foreign adoption. A
Bulgarian child may be entered into the register only if three
Bulgarian families have declined to adopt the child. The adoptive
parents whose adoption dossiers have been accepted by the MOJ are
entered into another register. An Adoption Council at the MOJ reviews
the parents' documents and offers them a child for adoption.
Currently, there are about 120 children available for foreign adoption
and 1200 adoptive families from Europe and North America wishing to
adopt Bulgarian children. According to the MOJ, 80% of the adoptable
children have serious medical conditions. It is important to note
that the prospective adoptive parents' applications are not processed
in chronological order. Priority is given to adoptive parents willing
to adopt a handicapped child. Furthermore, the Adoption Committee is
very strict in keeping to the principle that it must find proper
parents for a child in need and not a proper child for parents wishing
to adopt in Bulgaria.
Availability of Children for
Adoption
Recent statistics reflect the
following patter for visa issuance to Bulgarian orphans adopted by
American citizens:
The statistics for fiscal year 2005
show that the Embassy in Sofia issued 29 adoption visas. This number
reflects the current trend of steady decline of foreign adoptions in
Bulgaria. If this trends continues, we may expect less than 40 visas
issued to Bulgarian orphans in FY 2006. The government of Bulgaria is
pressed by the European Union to reduce the number of foreign
adoptions and to find alternative methods of placement of orphans and
neglected children. According to the most recent information from the
Ministry of Justice, there are only 171 children children available
for foreign adoption and about 1400 families and single parents from
North America and Europe on the waiting list.
Approximately 80 % of the children
have medical conditions. Please note that the parents’ applications
are not processed in chronological order. An adoption Council at the
Ministry of Justice reviews the applications and matches children to a
proper family. Priority is given to parents wishing to adopt a child
with medical condition.
July 6, 2004 - Joint Council recently sent
a letter
to the Bulgarian Minister of Justice asking for
clarification on a number of issues. For a copy of
the letter, click
here.
In July 2003, the Bulgarian Parliament passed a new adoption law. This
law requires adoptive parents to deposit their applications directly at
the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) using the services of an American adoption
agency licensed in Bulgaria or a Bulgarian agency accredited by the MOJ.
As of February
9, 2004, there are 11 Bulgarian adoption agencies approved by the MOJ.
One American adoption agency has been licensed so far. For a list
of adoption agencies licensed in Bulgaria,
click here for the U.S. Embassy in Sofia's website.
July 2003
Recently there has been quite a bit of activity in
Bulgaria regarding the laws pertaining to adoption. The Bulgarian
Family Act has been rewritten and international adoptions are affected
by the new laws. Here is an outline of the recent events:
The new law was written, sent to the Parliament,
approved by the Parliament and passed on to the President.
On June 27 the Family Act was vetoed by Bulgaria’s
President Georgi Parvanov and returned with suggestions for revisions.
“According to President Georgi Parvanov, the controversial motion will
limit the selection of Bulgarian adopters thus creating more
opportunities for foreigners willing to parent Bulgarian children. The
head of state insisted that the parliament should protect the rights
of indigenous adopters more efficiently”. (Source: Novinite.com –
Bulgarian News)
On July 3 the law passed again through the legislative
committee of the Parliament and they had not taken into consideration
any of the President's objections.
On July 10: The Parliament voted and overrode
President Parvanov's veto. “Some 148 Bulgarian MPs from the ruling
majority Simeon II National Movement, the junior coalition partner
Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) and the rightist opposition
Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) cast their votes against the veto.
Only 18 MPs from the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) backed the
president's veto”. (Source: Novinite.com – Bulgarian News)
The next step is that the law will be published in the
Register (this makes it official) in approximately 10 days and three
days after publication, it will become law. How long it will take them
to implement the changes it only conjecture at this time.
Two reported changes are that:
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The revised law also strips parents who leave their
children in social institutions for more than six months of their
parental rights and bans mothers from rendering consent on the
child's adoption earlier than fourteen days following the delivery.
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Bulgarian authorities are to issue the passport of a
child who will be adopted abroad within three days after such
request is filed.
More will be known once the law is published and
translated.
Click here for the U.S. Department of State's website on Bulgaria.
Click here for the Embassy of Bulgaria's website page on
International Adoption.
Click here for the U.S. Embassy in Sofia's information page on
International Adoption.
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