Documents needed for registration in the Ministry of Justice
Documents needed after proposal to adopt a specific child
Documents,necessary after receiving the proposal of the specific child to be signed in Bulgaria

A. Documents needed for registration in the Ministry of Justice

1. a power of attorney certified by a notary in favor of Foundation "Beati".
2. a social report;
3. permission for the adoption of a child of Bulgarian nationality;
4. a certificate that the prospective adoptive parents are not deprived of parental rights;
5. in cases where prospective adoptive parents are habitually resident in a State not party to the Hague Convention, an additional document issued by a competent authority certifying that the decision of the Bulgarian court of adoption will be recognized in the State of habitual residence of the adopters;
6. a medical certificate on the physical and mental health of the prospective adoptive parents;
7. conviction status certificate;
8. birth certificates - although it is not a mandatory document, we recommend to be part of your general dossier;
9. a marriage certificate;
10. an application expressing the child's profile by the adoptive parents;
11. a copy of the identity documents of the prospect parents for data reconciliation;
12. photographs of the prospective adoptive parents.

All of the above documents (except for the latter) should have an apostille placed in the candidate's adoptive country.

B. Documents needed after proposal to adopt a specific child

1. current medical certificates;
2. current conviction status certificate;
3. a certificate under Article 17 of the Hague Convention issued by the relevant Central Authority;
4. a document certifying that a competent authority in the country of habitual residence of the adopters will carry out post monitoring reports of the adopted child for a period of two years from the adoption admission.

C. Documents,necessary after receiving the proposal of the specific child to be signed in Bulgaria

1. application by which the adoptive candidates expresses their written consent to the adoption of the proposed child;
2. a document issued by a competent authority certifying that the law of the adoptive parent's habitual residence does not allow the child to be adopted a second time until the existing adoption has ceased or a declaration by the adopters with a notarized signature that the child will not be re-adopted if the law of their coountry of origins permits so;
3. a declaration by the adopters with a notarized signature, that the child will not be subjected to experimental treatment and that parts of his or her body will not be used for donor purposes;
4. a statement that the given consent by the applicant-adopters is not tied to any material benefits;
5. a power of attorney in favor of a lawyer of FOUNDATION BLAGOSLOVENI, necessary for the implementation of the adoption procedure.

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Entry in the registry of the Ministry of Justice
Receiving a proposal
Journey to Bulgaria and personal contact
Accepting he proposal
Refusal of the proposal - consequences
Consent of the Ministry of Justice
Judicial proceedings
Technical actions befor leaving Bulgaria

Entry in the registry of the Ministry of Justice

On the basis of the documents in Group A, the candidate adopters enter in a special register kept at the Bulgarian Ministry of Justice.

Receiving a proposal

Once the candidate adopters enter into this register, they may expect a child proposal according to they characteristics.

The proposal is made by the International Adoption Council at the Ministry of Justice, taking into account the order of entry of the adoptive parents and the characteristics of the child they wish to adopt.

It is difficult to specify a time limit within which the proposal will be received - the time depends on the age of the child being asked for adoption, the child’s health status, etc. It is important to know that the Bulgarian legislation does not contain a text indicating a deadline within which an enrolled candidates should receive an offer for adoption of a specific child. Such period is only applicable to the children enrolled in the Adoption Register kept by the Ministry of Justice - the Adoption Council is obliged within 2 months of registering the child to find a suitable prospective adoptive parent in accordance with the preferences of the candidate adopters, the sequence of the entry in the Register, as well as other indicators consideret significant by the Council for a particular child.

Journey to Bulgaria and personal contact

Once an offer for a child has been received, the prospective adopters have a period of 2 months within which to organize their trip to Bulgaria and make personal contact with the child where is located - in a specialized institution, foster family or residential type of social service. The personal contact should not be shorter than 5 days. During this period, the adopters are accompanied by an interpreter of the Foundation "Beati" and can rely on other specialists such as psychologist, pediatrician or pedagogue - if necessary.

It is important to know that the Bulgarian legislation allows the adoption of a specific child without personal contact between the applicant adopters and the child. However, the conditions for continuing this adoption are two:

• that the applicant-adopters have good reasons why they can not travel to Bulgaria within two months (illness, financial difficulties, urgent work commitments or travel difficulties) and
• To sign in their own country a notarized declaration that they accept the risk of the child's provenance and future physical and mental condition and development, and indicates the reason for unrealised contact.

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Accepting he proposal

In order to certify the will to adopt the child they contacted, the candidate adopters during the period in Bulgaria should sign the documents from Group B in front of Notary. Upon return to the country of habitual residence, the prospective adoptive parent must prepare and send to Bulgaria new medical certificates and new conviction status certificates both with apostille, translated and legalized. Within 2 months, the candidate adopters must send to Foundation "Beati" two certificates issued by the respective central authority:

• certificate under Article 17 of the Hague Convention - consent to the continuation of the adoption;
• a certificate stating which authority will monitor the adaptation of the adopted child for 2 years, producing reports every 6 months after the adoption is finalized.

Within the same two month Foundation "Beati" has the obligation to present all these documents, translated into Bulgarian with apostille, to the Ministry of Justice, in order to initiate the legal procedure for adoption.

By way of exception, the 2-month period may be extended by one month due to extraordinary circumstances.

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Refusal of the proposal - consequences

The applicant adopters have the right to refuse the proposal to adopt a specific child. The refusal should be written and motivated. Within two months, if no response is received by the Ministry of Justice from the candidate adoptive parents, it is considered a refusal. When there is no motivated refusal by the applicants or no response at all within the two months, the prospective adoptive parents lose their order in the register and are recorded under a new number. However, the adopters retains the number under which they are entered in the register only by a decision of the International Adoption Council in the event that their refusal is due to established child health problems for which the adopters were not initially informed and they did not indicate in the adopting application that are accepting such health conditions.

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Consent of the Ministry of Justice

After the Foundation "Beati" has submitted all the aforementioned documents to the Ministry of Justice, within 14 days of their submission, the Minister of Justice gives his consent to the opening of the court phase.

Within three days of receiving of the notification that the Minister of Justice has given consent to the adoption, Foundation "Beati" fill an application for the opening of legal proceedings for admission of the adoption to the Civil Court of Sofia through the Ministry of Justice.

Within 7 days of receiving of this request, the Ministry of Justice sends it together with the file available to the Ministry to the prospective adoptive parents and tjeir proposed child in court.

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Judicial proceedings

Within 14 days of the receiving of the application and the documents in the court, the hearing is scheduled. If no further evidence is gathered, the court will decide on the date of the hearing. The decision shall enter into force within 7 days of its delivery.

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Technical actions befor leaving Bulgaria

After the enactment of the decision for admission of the adoption, Foundation "Beati" presents a certified copy of the judgement to the relevant municipal office for issuing a new birth certificate. In this act, the child is recorded with his new name, chosen by the adoptive parents, and the names of his adoptive parents are recorded. On the basis of the new birth certificate it is requested a new Bulgarian passport to the child with which can leave the borders of Bulgaria with the new parents.

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