Interstate Adoption in Ukraine is carried out only through direct participation of the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine:
Address: Kyiv, Str. Esplanadna, 8/10, 01601
Tel.: +38 (044) 226-24-45; Fax : +38 (044) 289-00-98, 289-56-29
E-mail: [email protected]
Official website: http://www.msp.gov.ua
In accordance with legislation Ukraine, a child - citizen of Ukraine can be adopted by a foreigner, if he/she is registered in the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine 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 if:
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 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.
Any commercial and intermediary activities in terms of adoption of children and placement or transmission of children for further education, upbringing and care to the families of the Ukrainian citizens, foreigners and stateless individuals are forbidden.
Steps to adopt
Who cannot adopt
List of documents necessary for adoption
Consular registration of adopted Ukrainian children
Annual report on adopted child
The form of annual report on adopted child you can find here
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:
Individuals who cannot be adopters:
1) individuals limited in capacity;
2) recognized as incapacitated;
3) deprived of parental rights, if these rights have not been renewed;
4) were adopters (guardians, caretakers, foster parents) of another child, but the adoption was canceled or invalidated (the custody, care or activity of the foster family or family-type orphanage was terminated) from their fault;
5) registered or treated in a psychoneurological or narcological clinic;
6) abusers of alcoholic beverages or narcotic drugs;
7) do not have permanent residence and permanent income (income);
8) suffering from illness, the list of which is approved by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine;
9) foreigners who are not married, except when adopter is a relative of the child;
10) were convicted of crimes against the life and health, freedom, honor and dignity, sexual freedom and sexual integrity of a person (individual), against public safety, public order and morality, in the sphere of circulation of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, their analogues or precursors, and also for crimes stipulated in Articles 148, 150, 150-1, 164, 166, 167, 169, 181, 187, 324, 442 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, or have a remaining or not prosecuted in the manner prescribed by law other crimes;
11) in need for constant third-party care due to the state of health;
12) stateless persons;
13) are married to a person who, in accordance with paragraphs 3-6, 8 and 10 of this article, can not be an adopter.
In addition, other individuals whose interests are in conflict with the interests of the child can not be adoptive parents.
Documents which should be presented for adoption of a child from Ukraine
According to the p.33 of the Governmental Decree № 905 dated 08/10/2008 Ukrainian citizens who are residing outside the Ukraine and foreigners wishing to adopt a resident of Ukraine has to apply to the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine with the following documents:
1) adopters application for registration should be addressed to the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine and issued by a notary;
2) a copy of the passport or other ID (four copies);
3) a conclusion of the competent authority of the country of residence, confirming the possibility of applicants for becoming adopters (in triplicate). The conclusion shall indicate the address, living conditions (number of bedrooms, availability of living conditions for the child), biographical data, family arrangement (number of persons living with the applicant, degree of family ties, the presence of their own children), attitude of applicants on adoption, adolescents' adoption training and previous upbringing, prior familiarization with the requirements for the adoption of an orphan child or a child deprived of parental care in Ukraine, information on previously adopted children, their health status, upbringing, education, accommodation, their stay in the family after adoption within the surveillance of social support services. The conclusion should include recommendations on the number, age and state of health of children who may be adopted by the applicants. Recommendations on the health of the child are indicated in the case when the applicants are recommended to adopt a disabled child, with a illness included in list of diseases approved by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, which give the right for adoption of a child without observance of the terms of him/her being registered with the Ministry of Social Policy, as well as children under the age of five.
The conclusion also must indicate information on the existence (absence) of court decisions on the recognition of applicants incapacitated, the deprivation of their parental rights, the abolition of adoption or invalidation, the removal of their children, as well as the facts of any refusals of applicants from the upbringing of their own or adopted children.
In case of issuing a conclusion by a non-governmental body, the following documents must be added to it:
a notarized document certifying the accreditation of the agency for the adoption of children on the territory of a foreign state (if any);
a copy of the license (to each copy of the conclusion) for the implementation of such agency that activities are related to the adoption;
a notarized copy of the document confirming the fact of obtaining the agreement between the adopters and the relevant agency for the adoption of children in the territory of a foreign state (if any), indicating information on ensuring the agency and adopters are aware of a duty on timely reporting and informing the consular establishment or diplomatic mission of Ukraine about any emergencies, including changes in the place of residence of the child, the possibility of abolishing the adoption or transfer to the adopted child to other foreigners, institutions for orphans and children deprived of parental care, the removal of adopted child from the adopters, the violation of rights and legal interests of the child, accidents, death etc.
4) permission of the competent authority of the applicants’ country of residence for the entry and future permanent residence of the adopted child;
5) notarized obligation of the applicant (in duplicate) addressed to The Ministry of Social Policy and diplomatic mission of Ukraine to ensure:
- registration of the child in the relevant diplomatic mission of Ukraine (indicating the name of the institution, mission, its address) within a month after its entry into the country of residence;
- the right of an adopted child to retain the citizenship of Ukraine until he / she reaches 18 years of age;
- submission to the diplomatic mission of Ukraine at least once a year for the first three years after adoption and then once every three years until the child reaches 18 years of age a report on living conditions and health of the adopted child in the special form;
- providing an opportunity for a representative of a diplomatic mission of Ukraine to communicate with a child;
- notification to the diplomatic mission of Ukraine about the change of residence of the adopted child;
- notification within 20 working days to the diplomatic mission of Ukraine about transfer of the adopted child to other foreigners, institutions, as well as the removal of the child by law enforcement agencies and social authorities;
- notification no later than three days to diplomatic mission of Ukraine about cases of violation of the rights and interests of the adopted child, as well as about accidents with the adopted child and his death.
This obligation must indicate the address of residence of the applicant (if there are several places of residence - the address of each of them), passport data, telephone number and e-mail address;
6) notarized written consent of the second spouse for the adoption of the child, indicating the reasons for adoption by only one of the spouses (in case of adoption of the child by one of the spouses), unless otherwise provided by law;
7) a certificate from work on the salary for the last six months or a copy of the declaration of income for the previous calendar year, certified by the authority that issued it or notarized;
8) notarized copy of the marriage certificate (in duplicate);
9) a conclusion (report) on the health of each applicant, drawn up in accordance with the Procedure;
10) certificate of verification in the territory of the country of residence of the presence or absence of convictions for each applicant issued by the competent authority of the country of residence (criminal record certificate);
11) notarized copy of the document confirming the property or rent of the apartment, with the indication of its total and living size and the number of bedrooms
12) notarized written consent of the applicant, who is a foreigner, to obtain information about him from the General Secretariat of Interpol and law enforcement agencies of the state of his citizenship and the state where he resides (in triplicate), until the adopted child reaches 18 years;
13) a document issued by the foreign competent authority or a notarized written consent of the applicant to the processing of personal data about him and the adopted child in all competent authorities of the country of residence (in triplicate);
14) information of the competent authority of the applicant's country of residence and information of the diplomatic mission of Ukraine on the submission of reports in time/not in time and on the presence (absence) of improper treat by an adoptive parent who is a foreigner or a citizen of Ukraine permanently residing outside Ukraine in case of re-adoption on the territory of Ukraine.
In the case of adopting a child by one of the spouses, the documents provided in subparagraphs 2, 9, 10, 12 and 13 of this paragraph shall be submitted by each spouse.
Other applications except of notarized statements on the size of salary or other income of the applicants, the possession of their property or the right to use the property do not replace the documents specified in this paragraph.
The case is accepted by the Ministry of Social Policy if it contains all the documents specified in this paragraph.
Documents that are provided in subparagraphs 1, 3, 5-7, 9, 10, 12-14 of paragraph 33 of the Procedure, must be submitted in originals. In the case where the original of the document is kept by the authority that issued it (as to be indicated in the document itself), a copy of it should be submitted and notarized.
Each document (except for a copy of the passport or other identity document) specified in paragraph 33 of the Procedure, as well as any application from the citizens of Ukraine residing outside Ukraine and foreigners, must be authenticated by apostille, and submitted to the Ministry of Social Policy, together with their notarized translation into the Ukrainian language.
Applications, appeals and requests that don`t meet with the requirements of 33 paragraph of the Procedure, are not considered by the Ministry of Social Policy.
The validity of the documents specified in paragraph 33 (except for subparagraphs 12 and 13) of this Procedure is one year from the date of their issuance, unless otherwise provided by the legislation of the country in which they are issued (as indicated in the document).
At the date of submission of documents to the Ministry of Social Policy, the term of their validity must be not less than six months.
Consular Registration of Adopted Ukrainian Children
In accordance with Ukrainian Law, the Diplomatic mission of Ukraine abroad should include your child (children) adopted in Ukraine into the list of Ukrainian citizens permanently or temporally residing abroad, particularly in Israel.
In order to complete an appropriate procedure, you must apply to the Embassy with the following documents:
1. Filled application (Annex 6: https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/85-2020-%D0%BF#n126);
2. one photo of a child (size - 10x15) (the image should be from 70 to 80 % of the total area of the photograph, background - white or light gray;
3. a passport of the adopted child, as well as a copy of the data page of such passport;
4. originals and copies of passport documents of adoptive parents
5. the original and a copy of the decision of the court of Ukraine on the adoption of a child
6. the original and a copy of the birth certificate of the adopted child;
7. a copy of the document confirming a permit of the Israeli competent authorities for residence;
8. a copy of a document issued by the Israeli competent authorities, confirming the address of residence or stay.
In case you change your place of residence, you are also requested to inform the Embassy within 1 month (you can do it by email: [email protected] or [email protected] , by sending application (Annex 7: https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/85-2020-%D0%BF#n128 ).
In case of residence change to another country, the adopter is obliged to apply to a diplomatic mission of Ukraine at the new place of residence within one month with applications for deregistration of the adopted child at the previous place of residence and registration at the new place of residence.
Annual Post-Placement Report on Adopted Child from Ukraine
The Ukrainian legislation requires 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 Embassy will be grateful for your detailed reports about adopted child's (children') development and pictures of your family.
All reports can be filed in English, Russian or Ukrainian.
To facilitate communication, the reports can be forwarded via e-mail to: [email protected], [email protected] or can be sent by mail to the Embassy of Ukraine in the State of Israel at the address: 50 Yirmiyahu St, Tel-Aviv, Israel. All reports must be signed by parents.
We express our sincere appreciation to those parents, who adopted Ukrainian child (children) and we hope to find understanding on the requirement to comply with the legislation of Ukraine and complete all post-adoption requirements in a timely manner.