Signing the candidate–adopter in the Register of the Ministry of Justice
MOJ signs the candidate-adopter in the register in one month term after the submission of the documents and informs AMOR in a written form about the date and the entrance number of the signing. In case of gaps or inconsistencies a new one month term is given.
Waiting time and terms
The long period of waiting is the biggest challenge in the procedure of international adoption. The candidate-adopters have spent months in preparing and collecting documents, as well as several social and psychological interviews in their country. And suddenly after their signing in the register of adopters in Bulgaria it seems that the time stops, a period deprived from quick events arrives. Indeed the period is long; it depends from the number of children, who are signed in the register for international adoption every year as well as the number of candidate-adopters who are eligible to adopt a child with the same characteristics. The readiness of the candidate-adopters to adopt a child with special needs or an older child significantly shortens the time for the adoption.
There is no legal term for referral of a child, it depends on the age and the health condition of the child:
After the legal conditions for a child to be acknowledged for eligible for adoption, it is first signed in the Register for national adoption. The child is signed in the Register for international adoption only in case, that in term of 6 months after the signing in the national register the child was not required for national adoption or there aren’t eligible adopters for him/her.
This practically means that the children signed in the international Register are at age at least 2 years old. The tendency is that the number of children at age between 2-3 years old, who are signed in the Register for international adoption to decrease every year.
- For a healthy toddler at age up to 3 years old at the moment the waiting time for referral is 4-4,5 years.
- For a healthy child at age up to 5-6 years at the moment the waiting time is 3,5-4 years.
- For a healthy child at age from 7 and older, who is not in the register of children with special needs the waiting time at the moment is 1,5-2,5 years.
- For an adoption from the list of children with special needs and age more than 7 years old, the time for adoption is between 8 months and 1,5 years under special relieved order.