Adopting a Child From Bulgaria

Bulgaria is a country located in between Romania, Greece, and Turkey. In the application process of adopting a child from Bulgaria, there are 3 different agencies or representatives that are involved, and a few minimum costs associated with the necessary paperwork in adoption. Read on to find out about what the general requirements of adoption are, the process of adoption and cost, and who to contact to get the procedure started. The process can take as little as a year when adopting a child from Bulgaria.

In Bulgaria children that can be adopted are from the ages of just over 2 - 10 years old. The children come from the many orphanages in Bulgaria, but the fact that there are a lot of orphanages is misleading. At least ½ of the children placed for care in the orphanages are not available for adoption at any given time. Adopting a child from Bulgaria might seem a little intimidating to you at first because the government doesn't keep a centralized registration of children available for adoption. Within each designated area regional directorships are composed of doctors, heads of orphanages, and certain local officials to decide if a child may be placed for adoption in Bulgaria.

The parental standard for adopting a child from Bulgaria is not rigid. Couples and singles may adopt, and only one parent must be 15 years older than the child. However, you'll need to be at least 25 years of age to start the process of adopting a child from Bulgaria. When the application process of adopting a child draws to a close there will be a required two trips for both adoptive parents to Bulgaria. Requirements do exist for adopting a child from Bulgaria as far as using an adoption agency or facilitator, if adopting from the US. As of current standards from Bulgaria, you must use a pre approved adoption agency from the BMO (Bulgarian Ministry of Justice). You can find helpful information on the Internet at www.usembassy.bg. It's also a good idea to go online and check out pre approved adoption agencies at the Better Business Bureau of the US at www.bbb.com.

When you're adopting a child from Bulgaria, your adoption process will start with the US CIS (Citizenship and Immigration Services). Their website www.cis.gov is loaded with information and the necessary contacts, and steps that you'll need to satisfy before you can begin the process of adoption. After you've met all of the requirements for the CIS, you can then move to the adopting of your child in Bulgaria. The following steps will help you to know where to begin.

• Begin searching for a child through your adoption agency.

• Submit your application to the MOJ through your adoption agency.

• Once the representatives of the council from the sub departments of Health, Education, and Social Services approve your adoption application, you'll be offered a child to adopt from Bulgaria.

• The MOJ will then review your application and the suggestions set out by the representatives.

• If the MOJ approves it will then be transferred to a Bulgarian court, where you'll have custody of your Bulgarian child.

There are certain inter country costs for other types of adoption paperwork when adopting a child from Bulgaria.

• Application Fee for the MOJ
• Court Fee
• Transcripts
• Passport

There are 2 Bulgarian Embassies located in the US that you can contact if you would like to write or speak with them directly.

Embassy of Bulgaria
1621 22nd St., NW
Washington, D.C. 20008
Phone: 1-(202) 387-0174

Bulgarian Consulate General of New York City
121 E.62nd St.
New York, NY 10021-7301
Phone: 1-(212) 935-4646

All documents when adopting a child from Bulgaria will be required to be authenticated by the US government, so there will be other fees too. Your tax returns, medical records, and state police information will have to be authenticated too, write your Secretary of State for the fees and process of authenticating.

For federal documents write:
Authentications Office
518 23rd St. NW
Washington, D.C. 20520
Phone: 1-(202) 647-5002
Or Toll Free: 1-800-688-9889