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How to Adopt from Serbia
Source: Wikipedia.org.
Adoption Authority
Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Policy
The Process
The process for adopting a child from Serbia generally includes the following steps:
- Choose an adoption service provider
- Apply to be found eligible to adopt
- Be matched with a child
- Adopt the child in Serbia
- Apply for the child to be found eligible for orphan status
- Bring your child home
1. Choose an Adoption Service Provider
The recommended first step in adopting a child from Serbia is to decide whether or not to use a licensed adoption service provider in the United States that can help you with your adoption. Adoption service providers must be licensed by the U.S. state in which they operate. The Department of State provides information on selecting an adoption service provider on its website.
2. Apply to be Found Eligible to Adopt
In order to adopt a child from Serbia; you will need to meet the requirements of the Government of Serbia and U.S. immigration law. You must submit an application to be found eligible to adopt with the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Policy of Serbia. There is no specific application form. Please see Part 4, under Documents Required.
You must also file an I-600A, Application for Advance Processing of an Orphan Petition with U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to be found eligible and suitable to adopt. U.S. citizens considering adopting from Serbia may choose to work with a U.S. adoption agency or attorney to assist them with the U.S. portions of the process. Adoption service providers must be licensed by the U.S. state in which they operate. The Department of State provides information on selecting an adoption service provider on its website.
3. Be Matched with a Child
If you are eligible to adopt, and a child is available for intercountry adoption, the central adoption authority in Serbia will provide you with a referral. Each family must decide for itself whether or not it will be able to meet the needs of and provide a permanent home for a particular child.
If determined eligible by the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Policy, prospective adoptive parents are added to the register of eligible adoptive parents. Each municipality in Serbia has an authority called the Center of Social Work (Centar za Socijalni Rad), which is part of the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Policy. These centers attempt to match registered children awaiting adoption with registered prospective adoptive parents. Prospective adoptive parents are directed to a specific municipality after a prospective match is made. When a match is made and the Ministry informs the prospective adoptive parents of the match, local authorities will then schedule a "Solemn Ceremony of Adoption" (usually within a few days).
The child must be eligible to be adopted according to Serbia’s requirements, as described in the Who Can be Adopted section. The child must also meet the definition of an orphan under U.S. immigration law.
4. Adopt or Gain Legal Custody of Child in Serbia
The process for finalizing the adoption (or gaining legal custody) in Serbia generally includes the following:
- Role of the Adoption Authority: Determination of eligibility of prospective adoptive parents; registration of eligible prospective adoptive parents;
matching of registered prospective adoptive parents with children registered for adoption; arranging issuance of the new birth certificate and passport.
- Role of the Center of Social Work: Center of Social Work issues the Adoption Decree and conducts the adoption ceremony.
- Role of Adoption Agencies: There are no adoption agencies in Serbia.
- Adoption Application: There is no specific application form. See documents required below.
- Time Frame: The length of the adoption process varies greatly. If prospective adoptive parents have located a child prior to their arrival in Serbia, the whole process may be finished within four weeks.
- Adoption Fees: There are no Serbian government fees for adoption. The only fee to be paid is a fee in Serbian dinars (approximately US$25) for the issuance of the child’s Serbian passport.
- Documents Required: Documents required include:
- 1. Written request with justification signed by at least one of the prospective adoptive parents (a short explanation or cover letter explaining the reasons and circumstances of the adoption). Along with the written request, prospective adoptive parents should include the documents listed below;
- 2. Short biography of prospective adopting parents;
- 3. Home study (U.S. home study acceptable);
- 4. Prospective adoptive parents' birth certificates;
- 5. Marriage certificate, if applicable;
- 6. U.S. Criminal records/police certificates;
- 7. Medical report on general health condition (usually completed by a U.S. physician);
- 8. Evidence of employment, income, assets and home;
- 9. Evidence that prospective adoptive parents meet the U.S. adoption requirements (I-171H is accepted);
- 10. Evidence of U.S. citizenship (passport);
- 11. Photographs of adoptive parents (two 3.5 by 4.5 cm passport photos each). NOTE: Additional documents may be requested. All documents must to be translated into Serbian by a court certified translator.
- Authentication of Documents: The United States and Serbia are parties to the Hague Apostille Convention. U.S. public documents may be authenticated with Apostilles by the appropriate U.S. Competent Authority.
5. Apply for the Child to be Found Eligible for Orphan Status
After you finalize the adoption (or gain legal custody) in Serbia, the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services must determine whether the child meets the definition of orphan under U.S. law. You will need to file a Form I-600, Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative. This form can be approved by a consular official at the U.S. Embassy Belgrade.
6. Bring Your Child Home
Once your adoption is complete (or you have obtained legal custody of the child), you need to apply for several documents for your child before you can apply for a U.S. immigrant visa to bring your child home to the United States:
- 1. Birth Certificate
If you have finalized the adoption in Serbia you will first need to apply for a new birth certificate for your child. Your name will be added to the new birth certificate.
If you have been granted custody for the purpose of adopting the child in the United States, the birth certificate you obtain will, in most cases, not yet include your name.
The Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Policy arranges the issuance of a new birth certificate for adopted children. Following the adoption, local authorities will also erase the names of the biological parents from the registry books and make a new entry with the names of the adopting parents. Please note that the child's first name cannot be changed in Serbia, only the last name will be amended to reflect the adoptive parents’ last name Should the U.S. adoptive parents wish to change the child's first name, they must do so through a separate U.S. court process after returning to the United States. Authorities will also issue an Adoption Decree (Resenje o usvojenju) which includes the child's history and details of the adoption process, birth certificate, and passport.
- 2. Serbian Passport
Your child is not yet a U.S. citizen, so he/she will need a travel document or passport from Serbia.
The Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Policy will arrange the issuance of a new Serbian passport for the adopted child.
- 3. U.S. Immigrant Visa
After you obtain the new birth certificate and passport for your child and you have filed Form I-600, Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative, you then need to apply for a U.S. immigrant visa for your child from the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade, Serbia. This immigrant visa allows your child to travel home with you. As part of this process, the Consular Officer must be provided the Panel Physician’s medical report on the child.
You can find instructions for applying for an immigrant visa on the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade’s website.
To learn more about the Child Citizenship Act please read The Child Citizenship Act of 2000.
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