Adoption of a child shall be in his/her best interests and aimed at enabling stable environment and harmonious conditions of life for him/her.

Adoption is a separate institute of family law the primary goal of which is giving the possibility of comfortable upbringing in family conditions for orphans and children deprived of parental care. Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting for another and, in so doing, permanently transfers all rights and responsibilities from the biological parent or parents, and does so on the grounds of a respective court decision.

Intercountry adoption is a process whereby family relationships arise as a legal act and involve a  foreign citizen.

After adoption a child acquires same personal and property rights as own children of an adopter, and between them arise same rights and obligations as between natural relatives (Article 232 of the Family Code of Ukraine).

From the moment of adoption adopted children lose their personal and property rights and are exempt of obligations in respect to their biological parents and their relatives.

Intercountry adoption is possible in Ukraine with the participation of the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine only. All services of the Ministry of Social Policy and juvenile services are for free of charge.

In accordance with Article 24 of the Law of Ukraine “On children protection”, a child - citizen of Ukraine may be adopted by foreigners, if all the possibilities of finding custodians, guardians, adopters or carers - citizens of Ukraine for a child have been exhausted.

Any mediation, commercial activity related to adoption of children, their handing over into custody, care or upbringing in a family of citizens of Ukraine, foreigners or stateless persons shall be prohibited.

The procedure of adoption of an orphan child and a child deprived of parental care living in Ukraine by foreigners  and citizens Ukraine  living abroad  consists in the following steps:

1. Gathering documents in the country of your residence.
2. Registration for submitting.
3. Submitting a set of documents to the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine.
4. Registration as prospective adopters.
5. Receiving an invitation for an interview for familiarization with information about children that can be adopted.
6. Interview at the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine. Familiarization with information about children that can be adopted.
7. Receiving a permit for meeting and establishing a contact with a child.
8. Meeting a child at the place of his/her living.
9. Submitting a declaration of intent to adopt a child to the Office of Children's Services.
10. Obtaining from the Office of Children's Services a conclusion on the expediency of adoption and whether it corresponds to a child’s interests.
11. Submitting  documents to the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine for obtaining a permission to  child adoption 
12. Obtaining an approval of the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine  of child adoption.
13. Submitting an application and documents to the court. Court proceedings as regards adoption.
14. Obtaining a court resolution regarding child adoption.
15. Obtaining a new Certificate of Birth of a child from a Civil Registry Office.
16. Handing over a child to adopter (s).
17. Issuing travel documents.
18. Consular registration of the adopted child in the country of residence.

 

In accordance with legislation Ukraine, a child - citizen of Ukraine can be adopted by a foreigner, if he/she is registered with the central authority of executive power competent in dealing with issues of adoption and protection of children’s rights at least one year and is not under five years of age.

  A child may be adopted before the expiration of the above-mentioned term or before a child will attain five years of age in case of:

1) adopter is a child’s relative;

2) a child suffers from a disease from the special list of diseases  approved by the Ministry of Healthcare (the Order of the Ministry of Healthcare of № 973 27.12.2011);

3) adoption of all natural brothers and sisters to one family, if one of them is five years old and older and is registered with the  central authority of executive power competent in dealing with issues of  adoption and protection of children’s rights at least one year;

4) foreigners wish to adopt a child who is brother/sister of a child they have adopted before.

A child can be adopted by a foreigner, if there is no a citizen of Ukraine that would wish to adopt it or take into own family for care and upbringing.

A pre-emptive right to adoption of a child – citizen of Ukraine will have foreigners who are:

1) relatives of a child;

2) citizens of the countries with which Ukraine has signed agreements for legal support.

A foreigner shall obtain a permit for adoption of a child from the central authority of executive power competent in dealing with issues of adoption and protection of children’s rights.

The central authority of executive power competent in dealing with issues of  adoption and protection of children’s rights shall send an inquiry, according to the procedure established by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine for checking foreigners wishing to adopt a child - citizen of Ukraine regarding of availability or absence of compromising information in law-enforcement authorities of other countries and the General Secretariat of Interpol.

Adoption by foreigners shall occur when a child is able to obtain all the rights in the scope not less than stipulated by laws of Ukraine.

The adopted child will remain a citizen of Ukraine till the age of eighteen.

The adopted child shall have the right to preserving his/her national identity in accordance with the Convention on children’s rights and other international agreements.

Adoption of a child - citizen of Ukraine by a person - citizen of the country with which Ukraine did not sign an agreement on legal support   shall not be secret, if in the country of residence of the adopter, where a child is going to live, adoption is not subject to secrecy.

Adoption of a child - citizen of Ukraine  by a person - citizen of the country with which Ukraine did not sign an agreement on legal support, if such person doesn’t live permanently in   Ukraine, is not subject to secrecy.

Adoption by a foreigner of a child who is a foreigner or stateless person shall be carried out in Ukraine in accordance with Ukrainian laws, unless otherwise stipulated by international agreements of  Ukraine.

If children are adopted by foreigners and reside abroad, a respective consular institution, under commission of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, shall keep the register of such children and exercise control of observance of their rights until they attain the age of eighteen.

 

In accordance with Ukrainian Law, the Consular Office of the Embassy of Ukraine to the USA should include your child (children) adopted in Ukraine within the list of Ukrainian citizens permanently residing in the USA.

In order to complete appropriate paperwork you have to mail the following documents to the Consular Office:

1. Completed application; applicationenglish.doc

2. Completed registration form; registrationenglish.doc

3. Your child's (children's) original passport(s);

4. Your child's (children's) birth certificate(s);

5. A copy of the second and third pages of the US passport(s) of adoptive parents;

6. An original and a copy of the Ukrainian Court's Decree on adoption (in Ukrainian); 

7. 1 passport-sized photo.

Please include a return self-addressed postage-paid envelope (for FedEx – an account number is required; a credit card number is not acceptable).

Failure to submit all required documents may result in delayed registration.

If you change your place of residence you are also required to inform the Consular Office.

Please be sure to send your child’s registration documents to the Consulate that has jurisdiction over the district of your residence:

Consular Office of the Embassy of Ukraine (the District of Columbia, states: Alabama, Virginia, Delaware, Georgia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee and Florida, the associated states of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands (US), countries: Antigua and Barbuda and Trinidad and Tobago, the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, Barbados, Grenada, the Commonwealth of Dominica, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Jamaica).

Address: 3350 M St NW, Washington, DC 20007 E-mail: [email protected] Phone: 202-349-2948

Consulate-General of Ukraine in New York (States of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont).

Address: 240 East 49 St, New York, NY 10017 E-mail: [email protected]

Consulate-General of Ukraine in Chicago (States of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin).

Address: 10 East Huron St, Chicago, IL 60611 E-mail: [email protected]

Consulate-General of Ukraine in San Francisco (States of Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming).

Address: 530 Bush St, suite 402, San Francisco, CA 94108-3623 E-mail: u[email protected]; [email protected]

Consulate-General of Ukraine in Houston (Arkansas, Colorado, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas).

Address: 3040 Post Oak Blvd., ste 1250, Houston, TX 77056 E-mail: [email protected]

Ukrainian legislation requires that adoptive parents to provide information about the adopted child's living conditions and educational progress to the Consular Office of the Embassy of Ukraine annually, during the first three years following the adoption and once every three years thereafter, until the child's 18th birthday.

The Consular Office of the Embassy of Ukraine will be grateful for your detailed reports about your adopted child's (children's) development, and photos of your family.

You can find the annual report form on adopted children from Ukraine. annual-report-form.doc

All reports can be filed in English.

Consular officer of the Embassy of Ukraine in the USA, responsible for the issues of Adoption of Ukrainian children as well as and the issues of Annual Post-Placement Reports is:

Yana YEMTSEVA, First Secretary for Consular Issues

Address: 3350 M Street N.W., Washington D.C., 20007

Phone: +1 (202) 349-2948 Email: [email protected]

To facilitate communication the Reports can be forwarded by any of these means:

1. filling out the Report Form (the link is above), scanning and sending the scanned file to e-mail: [email protected] 

2. mailing to the Consular Office of the Embassy of Ukraine at: 3350 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20007;

3. filling out Googleform, using the following link: https://forms.gle/GutBpdwrTZaqU7om6 

All reports must be signed by the parents.

We want to express our sincerest appreciation to those parents who have adopted a Ukrainian child (children).  We trust that you understand the need to comply with the applicable Ukrainian legislation, and complete all post-adoption requirements in a timely manner.