INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION

July 2004

PATTERNS OF IMMIGRATION OF ADOPTED ORPHANS TO THE U.S.: Recent U.S. immigrant visa statistics reflect the following pattern for visa issuance to orphans

ADOPTION AUTHORITY IN BULGARIA:

Ministry of Justice
Slavyanska Street # 1, Sofia 1000
Tel: (359 2) 923-7303 (Bulgarian only)
http://www.mjeli.government.bg/ (Bulgarian only)

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR ADOPTIVE PARENTS: Prospective adoptive parents may be married or single. Adoptive parents must be at least fifteen years older than their adoptive children, but no more than forty-five years older. There are no Bulgarian age minimums or maximums; prospective adoptive parents are expected to comply with their home government's age requirements (For the U.S. prospective adoptive parents must be at least 25 years old; there are no age maximums).

RESIDENCY REQUIREMENTS: There are no residency requirements to complete an international adoption in Bulgaria. However, prospective adoptive parents are expected to spend 5 days with their adoptive child before the orphanage director will release the child.

TIME FRAME: It normally takes at least several months to complete an intercountry adoption in Bulgaria; however, some adoptions have taken over a year to complete.

ADOPTION AGENCIES AND ATTORNEYS: Prospective adoptive parents must use a Bulgarian licensed U.S. adoption agency or a Bulgarian adoption agency accredited by the Bulgarian Ministry of Justice Currently, there is only one U.S. adoption agency accredited to provide adoption services in Bulgaria.

Adopt an Angel International
Address: 1390 Highway 76 East, Suite E
Hiawassee, GA 30546
Telephone: (706) 896-5094
E-mail: AdoptAnAngel@aol.com

Bulgarian Branch
Address: Mladost 1, bl. 53, entr. 2, apt. 1, 1784 Sofia, Bulgaria
Telephone/Fax: (+359 2) 974-1411
Cell phone: (+359 888) 984-378
Ms. Liliana Radulova
E-mail: radulova@infotel.bg ; adoptanangelbg@netscape.net

Prospective adopting parents are advised to fully research any adoption agency or facilitator they plan to use for adoption services. For U.S.- based agencies, it is suggested that prospective adopting parents contact the Better Business Bureau and licensing office of the Department of Health and Family Services in the state where the agency is located.

Please see Important Notice Regarding Adoption Agents and Facilitators at our Web site travel.state.gov.

Please also see the Web site for the U.S. Embassy in Sofia for information on Bulgarian adoption agencies authorized to provide adoption services.

http://www.usembassy.bg/consular/adoptagency.html

ADOPTION FEES IN BULGARIA: The U.S. Embassy in Sofia is aware of the following Bulgarian fees for adoption. These fees are subject to change. All fees are given in euros as the Bulgarian currency is linked to the Euro.

1. Application fee at the MOJ: 100.00 Euro
2. Court fee: 750.00 Euro
3. Transcript of the Court Decree: 25.00 Euro
4. Passport fee for child under 14: 7.00 Euro
5. Passport fee for child over 14: 14.00 Euro
6. Birth Certificate fee: 3.00 Euro

U.S. adoption agencies may charge additional fees to those listed above for services they provide.

ADOPTION PROCEDURES: U.S. citizen parents interested in adopting a Bulgarian orphan should first contact the U.S. CIS and satisfy the U.S. pre-adoption requirements. The next step is to identify an orphan available for adoption. Changes in Bulgarian adoption law in July 2003 require prospective 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. The names of all prospective adoptive parents will be entered into a register. Another register will keep track of all Bulgarian children available for foreign adoptions. A council consisting of representatives of the Ministries of Justice, Health, Education, Social Services will review each application. The Council will offer a child to a prospective adoptive family. The MOJ will provide photographs of the child and information about his/her medical condition. If the family declines to adopt a specific child, the Council should be informed within two months and a new child will be offered for adoption.

Once the adoptive parent(s) select a child and the Council approves the application, the case will be forwarded to the Minister of Justice for final approval. When the Minister signs the parents' application, the paperwork will be transferred directly to the Bulgarian court, which must give custody of the child to the adoptive parents. One or both of the adoptive parents should plan on making a trip to Bulgaria. When the court has given custody of the child to the adoptive parents, they would be expected to spend at least five days with their adopted son or daughter before the orphanage director releases their child.

DOCUMENTS REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION IN BULGARIA:

1. Application (personal data, short family history, financial situation)
2. Document certifying that the adoptive parent has not been deprived of custody rights
3. Home Study
4. Medical Certificate
5. Police Certificate
6. Marriage Certificate
7. Approval by the USCIS (I-171H)

All documents should be translated and apostilled (see below).

AUTHENTICATING U.S. DOCUMENTS TO BE USED ABROAD: All U.S. documents submitted to the Bulgarian government/court must be authenticated. Bulgaria is a party to the Hague Legalization Convention. Generally, U.S. civil records, such as birth, death, and marriage certificates, must bear the seal of the issuing office and an apostille must be affixed by the state's Secretary of State. An apostille is a special seal certifying that a document is a true copy of an original). Documents must be apostilled in the state where they are issued. Tax returns, medical reports and police clearances should likewise be authenticated. Prospective adoptive parents should contact the Secretary of State of the state where documents originated from for instructions and fees for authenticating documents.

Documents issued by a federal agency must be authenticated by the U.S. Department of State Authentications Office. Their address is Authentications Office, Department of State, 518 23rd St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20520, (202) 647-5002 Fee: $6.00. For additional information, call the Federal Information Center: 1-800-688-9889, and choose option 6 after you press 1 for touch tone phones. Walk-in service is available from the Authentications Office from 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 am Monday-Friday, except holidays and is limited to 15 documents per person per day (documents can be multiple pages). Processing time for authentication requests sent by mail is 5 working days or less.

Please visit the Web site for the State Department Office of Authentications for additional information about authentication procedures.

Bulgarian Embassy and Consulates in the United States:

Embassy of Bulgaria
1621 22 nd Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008
Tel: 202-387-0174 (main), 202-387-7969 (consular section)
Fax: 202-234-7973
Email: office@Bulgaria-embassy.org, consulate@bulgaria-embassy.org
http://www.bulgaria-embassy.org/

Bulgaria also has a Consulate General in New York City:
121 East 62 Street
New York, NY 10021-7301
Tel: 212-935-4646
Fax: 212-319-5955
Email: bulconsgen@cs.com

U.S. IMMIGRATION REQUIREMENTS

Prospective adopting parents are strongly encouraged to consult U.S. CIS publication M-249, The Immigration of Adopted and Prospective Adopting Children, as well as the Department of State publication, International Adoptions. The U.S. CIS publication is available at the U.S. CIS Web site. The Department of State publication International Adoptions can be found on the Bureau of Consular Affairs Web site, http://travel.state.gov, under “International Adoptions.”

Adoptive parents are strongly encouraged to read the flyer the requirements for filing I-600 petitions for orphans adopted by U.S. citizens before completing an adoption abroad. Please see our flyer How Can Adopted Children Come to the United States at our Web site http://travel.state.gov

APPLYING FOR A VISA FOR YOUR CHILD AT THE U.S. EMBASSY IN BULGARIA:

Immigrant visa interview appointments should be arranged a few days in advance. Interviews can be scheduled by calling (359-2) 963-1250 each working day from to 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. This is the direct line to the Immigrant Visa Unit. In case of emergency or if the line is busy, adoptive parents may reach the Immigrant Visa Unit through the Embassy's switchboard: (359-2) 937-5100, ext. 81-117. Email inquiries are also welcome at iv_sofia@state.gov. Embassy conducts immigrant visa interviews on Wednesdays and Fridays.

U.S. Embassy In Bulgaria:

As soon as prospective adopting parents arrive in Bulgaria, they should contact the Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy in order to register their presence in Bulgaria. The Consulate Section is located at:

Kapitan Andreev Street # 1
Sofia 1421
Tel: (359 2) 963-1391
e-mail: acs_sofia@state.gov

NATURALIZATION: Under the Child Citizenship Act of 2000, which became effective on February 27, 2001, orphans adopted by U.S. citizens acquire U.S. citizenship automatically when all of the following requirements have been met:

• at least one parent is a U.S. citizen;
• the child is under 18 years of age;
• there is a full and final adoption of the child; and, the child is admitted to the United States as an immigrant.

A foreign–born adopted orphan who enters the United States on an Immediate Relative (IR) –3 visa becomes a U.S. citizen upon admission. A foreign-born orphan, who enters the United States on an IR-4 visa and is adopted in a U.S. court, will become a U.S. citizen when the adoption is finalized in the United States (the child will be a legal permanent resident until then). For further information, please consult with the consular section at the U.S. Embassy or the nearest office of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service. Additional information is available at http://www.travel.state.gov/childcitfaq.html

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Specific questions about adoption in [country] may be addressed to the U.S. Embassy in Bulgaria. General questions regarding international adoption may be addressed to the Office of Children's Issues, U.S. Department of State, CA/OCS/CI, SA-29, 4 th Floor, 2201 C Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20520-4818, toll-free Tel: 1-888-404-4747.

Useful information is also available from several other sources:

•  Telephone:

•  Internet: