1
Immigration and Nationality Department
Lunar House 40Wellesley Road Croydon CR9 2BY
Telephone 01-760
[HOME OFFICE
ind
Your reference
Our reference
Date
Dear
Thank you for your letter dated from an
country.
regarding your wish to adopt
For your information, I am enclosing a copy of our standard letter, RON 117, which sets out in some detail the procedures governing inter- country adoption.
It may be helpful if I explain that under the Immigration Rules, children who have been legally adopted overseas may be admitted to the United Kingdom if their adoption is recognised as valid here. Ultimately, only the Courts can determine the validity of an adoption in a particular case, but an adoption made by order of a court in one of the countries listed in appendix 1 of the enclosed RON 117 may be recognised under United Kingdom legislation by virtue of the Adoption (Designation of Overseas Adoption) Order 1973.
If you are legally adopting a child from one of the designated countries, you may apply for him/her to join you in the United Kingdom as your adopted child. However, prior entry clearance must be obtained for the child from the British Diplomatic post nearest to their address abroad before he/she travels.
Before entry clearance is granted, the Entry Clearance Officer will need to be satisfied that the adoption involves a genuine transfer of parental responsibility on the grounds of the original parents inability to care for the child, and that the adoption has not been arranged simply to facilitate the child's admission to this country. If these requirements are met, the child will be issued with entry clearance and admitted for settlement on arrival in the United Kingdom.
If, however, you are adopting a child from a country not specified in the above mentioned list, you or your representative abroad will need to apply for entry clearance to bring the child to the United Kingdom for legal adoption here.
Although there are no provisions in the Immigration Rules for a child to be brought here for adoption, the Secretary of State may exceptionally exercise his discretion to allow a child to come here for that purpose, provided that it is appropriate to do so in all circumstances of the case. It must be stressed though, that as with the designated country adoptions, prior entry clearance must be obtained from the child's nearest British Diplomatic Post abroad before they travel. It must also be noted that should it be decided to bring the child to the United Kingdom without the requisite entry clearance, there is the possibility that he/she would be refused entry into the country, or immediately placed into care.
Once an application has been made, the Entry Clearance Officer will in the first instance refer it to this Department. In the same way as outlined above, we need to be satisfied that the adoption involves a genuine transfer of parental responsibility on the grounds of the original parents inability to care for the child, and that it has not been arranged to