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Venezuela and the Hague Convention
Source: Wikipedia.org.
Venezuela is party to the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption ( Hague Adoption Convention ). Therefore all adoptions between Venezuela and the United States must meet the requirements of the Convention and U.S. law implementing the Convention.
Venezuelan law does not allow for private adoptions. To apply for an international adoption, a U.S. citizen living in the U.S. has to go through the U.S. Central Authority (U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs, Office of Children's Issues) and they will send the request to the Venezuelan Central Authority (Ministry of Foreign Affairs or MFA). The MFA will then send it to the Venezuelan Adoption Authority which is the " Instituto Autónomo Consejo Nacional de Derechos de Niños, Niñas, y Adolescentes" IDENA (Autonomous Institute National Council for Children & Adolescent Rights).
According to Venezuelan law, before an international adoption is approved priority will be given as follows:
- Relatives
- Friend of relatives
- Venezuelans with domicile in Venezuela
- International Adoption
Every adopted child must have a pre-approved adoption in order to leave Venezuela. After a year of living as a family, a family judge will decide upon the final adoption decree.
NOTE: Special transition provisions apply to adoptions initiated before April 1, 2008. Learn more.
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