The process of requesting to adopt a child in the case of an adoptive foreign family adopting a child under the care of the Department of Children and Youth

     The details of the process of requesting to adopt a child in the case of an adoptive foreign family seeking to adopt a child under the care of the Department of Children and Youth are as follows:

Consideration by the committee 

     The committee considers and selects foreign families for children by taking into account the registration and qualifications of the applicants. In cases in which the child has a complete history, the committee will forward the case to the relevant officer for further investigation of the child's history and the current information on both the child and the applicant. The committee will then review and approve the application within approximately 25 working days.

     Afterwards, the request and the report of the home visit (translated from English to Thai) will be presented for approval by the selection committee. A report on the history of both the applicant and the child will be prepared for submission to the committee for consideration of approving the applicant to take care of the child for at least 6 months as a trial period. The child's history (in English) will be sent to governmental agencies or child welfare organizations in the applicant's country of residence for their consideration. The child's social, health, and developmental history will be translated from Thai to English. The child's history may be reviewed and revised, and the commanding officer will sign and send the child's history to the foreign country in accordance with Article 16 of the agreement, in case the applicant resides in a foreign country.

Investigation

     Coordination for the health examination of children, in conjunction with the request for approval to enter the country for children (in some countries, such as Great Britain, Australia, Denmark, Spain, and the Netherlands), involves coordination with the welfare agencies to take the child for a health check-up. Officials are required to prepare the necessary documents for the welfare agencies, including a certification letter for the child, a translation of the child's birth certificate into English, a confirmation of the health check-up from the embassy, and an English-language medical certificate from the hospital to certify that the child is in good health.

Signing/Getting the approval of the committee

     The process will proceed after receiving the acceptance from the foreign country of the applicant in Thailand. This involves preparing documents for the person adopting the child and scheduling appointments for the adopter to receive the child. Additionally, the applicant will be scheduled to meet with the committee. A letter of notification is then issued to inform the foster home in preparation for the transfer of the child to the adoptive family.  After that, the necessary documentation is arranged, such as the approval documents from the minister to allow the child to be taken out of the country for a six-month trial period. An English-language permission document will also be prepared to legally allow the child to be taken care of during this time. The officer will take the applicant to meet the children at the welfare center. If the child is in a different province from the applicant's location, the applicant will travel to meet the child in person. The officer will inform the welfare center of the travel schedule and prepare a letter of cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to issue an Emergency Certificate for the child and to coordinate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs four days in advance of meeting the child. The applicant and the child will meet with the adoption committee to sign the Memorandum of Agreement for the adoption of the child.

     In addition, there will be document translation and certification at the Department of Consular Affairs and the embassies of certain countries in order to enable the applicant to use them to apply for a visa for the child. The organization for the welfare of children and relevant agencies (in both domestic and foreign countries) will send reports on the results of the trial period in raising the child. A document will be prepared to notify the state agencies/organizations for the welfare of children in foreign countries (in case the applicant wishes to receive a child as an adopted child from a foreign country). A report on the trial period in raising the child for no less than 6 months will be prepared and sent to the Provincial Office of Social Development and Human Security for a visit and a report on the results for no less than 6 months.

     Subsequently, the committee will review the results of the childcare trial and approve the registration of the child as an adopted child. A registration notification for the registration of the adoption will be submitted to the foreign affairs ministry along with documents verifying the child's registration within a period of 6 months. Additionally, a certification letter in English will be prepared to confirm the true parent-child relationship and to verify the absence of a relationship between the biological parents and the child.

Data updated on March 23, 2023.
Source: Digital Government Development Agency
Tel: +66 2612 6060