The Bulgarian adoption program is a wonderful program geared to find homes for older children and children with special needs. We estimate that the process can take 12-24 months from application to completion.

For information on Bulgaria’s geography, history, language, climate, cuisine, children available, adoptive parent eligibility and travel requirements.

How long does it take to adopt?

How is a child assigned to me?

What are the advantages of adopting from Bulgaria?

What is the process?

• Complete home study and CIS form I-800A.
• Gather documents for your dossier and submit them to Adoption S.T.A.R. for certification. (This step can be completed simultaneously with the home study.)
• Receive petition approval which marks the beginning of the adoption process.
• To initiate the procedure of international adoption, an Application to the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) with the dossier enclosed. The Application will be processed by the MOJ within 30 days. If lapses and inconformity are found, the MOJ will give directions for their corrections and they should be dealt with within 14 days. The application will then be processed by the MOJ within another 30 days.
• It is very important that all diagnoses and medical conditions that would be accepted in a child are listed in details in the Application. The MOJ publishes on a regular basis a list of diagnoses and conditions of special needs children on their website.
• Once the Application is received, the adoptive parent(s) shall be entered in the register of prospective foreign adoptive parents willing to adopt a child under the conditions of full adoption. This entry does not in any way approve the Application or guarantee future referral of a child. It is merely a registration of the adoptive family as eligible to adopt from Bulgaria.
• In order to be referred a child, the adoptive family ought to be determined by the International Adoptions Committee (the Committee) as suitable to adopt the specific child from the registry of children who may be adopted by foreigners under the conditions of full adoption. The Committee reviews the dossiers of the children who may be adopted in the order of their entry in the register and compares them to the data of the prospective adoptive parents and to the conditions contained in their permissions to adopt a child. The Hague Convention, which is in force for Bulgaria, lays as fundamental and leading the principle of the child’s highest interest solely and only.
• Determination for suitability of the prospective adoptive parents for the adoption of the specific child from the register depends on a complex of factors:
  1. on the characteristics stated in the Home Study and I-171H – age, sex, health condition, number of children, etc.;
  2. on the expectations stated by the adoptive parents – age, sex, number of children, health condition, etc.;
  3. on the assessment of the Committee regarding the abilities of the prospective adoptive parents to meet the needs of the child to the highest degree and to provide him/her with physical, psychical and social well-being. Criteria like social status and educational qualification of the adoptive parents would be applied also.
• On the grounds of the assessment, the Committee makes a decision for the referral and proposes to the MOJ that the respective adoptive parent(s) are determined to adopt the specific child. The Minister shall rule his decision within 14 days and, in case of approval, the referral shall be officially sent. The referral would contain a photo and written report about the identity of the child, his/her social environment, social status, personal and family development, health condition, history of his/her diseases, his/her social needs and the consents for the adoption given. The agency will forward the referral to you.
• In a two month term of receiving the referral, three requirements have to be met:
  1. the adoptive parents should personally meet the child referred and the contact needs to be established for at least 5 days;
  2. the adoptive parents shall file with the MOJ their consent or denial to adopt the child referred;
  3. consents for proceeding with the adoption from the agency need to be filed with the MOJ.
• The procedure before the MOJ is finalized with explicit written consent for the adoption issued by the MOJ in a 14 day period as well as filing additional paperwork. Within three days of the Minister’s consent, the agency shall file with the MOJ the application for adoption to the court. The MOJ shall transfer the dossier to the Sofia City Court within another 7 days.
• The Court shall hear the case within 14 days after the dossier is filed. The court shall grant an order immediately (during the court hearing) and after 7 days it will become final.
• Documents for issuance of the new birth certificate of the child will be filed. You will be registered as parents of the child and the new names of the child shall be recorded. The new birth certificate shall be issued within 10-15 days.
• An application will be filed the international passport of the child.
• You are now ready to travel to Bulgaria to pick up your child.
• You will be assisted in the process of obtaining the immigrant visa for your child in order for him/her to be admitted to the territory of the USA.
• Return home with your child!

Looking for more information?

The Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) Travelers’ Health Website is another good website to check out as it contains a wealth of information on health issues pertaining to international travel, including information on destination countries, recommendations regarding immunizations, and travel notices.

Are the children pictured on this page available for adoption?