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What is an Adoption Visa?
The permanent entry to Australia (and ultimately citizenship) of children who have been adopted overseas is usually by way of an Adoption Visa (subclass 102).
Australia is a signatory to the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Cooperation in regard to Inter-country Adoption. It came into force in Australia in December 1988. The objectives of the Convention are to:
- eliminate abduction, trafficking or sale of children
- ensure inter-country adoptions are in children’s best interests and
- ensure processes are according to consistent law and practice
Requirements for Parents
- at least one adoptive parent must be an Australian citizen or resident at the time
- must have been residing outside of Australia at least 12 months (the absence must not contrived for the purpose of adoption)
The Australian High Commission is not involved in selection of children, legal assistance, home studies, court process, deed polls, etc
For details on Singapore Government's processes please contact Singapore's Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS).
Website and information can be found at: http://fcd.ecitizen.gov.sg/ChildrenNParenthood/AdoptAChild/
Please note that home studies required will be performed by recognised agencies only which are listed at: http://fcd.ecitizen.gov.sg/ChildrenNParenthood/AdoptAChild/RelatedOrganisations/AccreditedAgencyForHomeStudyReport/Contact+Details+for+Accredited+Agencies.htm
Requirements for Children
- any nationality (please note for applicants residing in Australia that adoptions occurring in Australia are potentially covered by separate bilateral agreement. Please see: http://www.ag.gov.au/www/agd/agd.nsf/Page/IntercountryAdoption_Currentintercountryadoptionprograms)*
- must be the subject of lawful adoption order that: is recognised in country of citizenship; gives adoptive parents permanent and irrevocable rights
- must not have been trafficked (ie no monies paid to natural parents)
*Please note that while Australia does not prohibit the adoption of children from particular countries, it is mindful of factors such as trafficking in children and hence it is recommended that you discuss the possible proposed country of adoption with the Principal Migration Officer before adopting a child.
The Process
- adoption finalised (in birth name)
- application for subclass 102 (Adoption) visa submitted to the High Commission, Immigration Section
- documentary evidence of the adoption process to be submitted with application
- in Singapore, MCYS may need an “Embassy letter” (adoptive parents may be asked for a letter confirming Australian citizenship will be granted on adoption; the High Commission is only authorised to confirm that permanent residency will be granted if all requirements are met, after which citizenship can be applied for). For the production of this letter you will need to present to the High Commission the passports of the adoptive parent(s), evidence that you have resided outside Australia for more than 12 months and evidence that the stay was not contrived for the purpose of adoption (eg. evidence of an employment contract or other evidence showing purpose of overseas residence)
- child must meet Australian health requirements (examination by accredited “panel doctor” - details of the doctors can be found at http://www.immi.gov.au/contacts/panel-doctors/index.htm and the medical form 26 can be found at http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/pdf/26.pdf)
- child must be overseas at time of grant of the adoption visa.
A renewable 5-year visa (in the child's national passport) will permit residence in Australia and travel within the 5 year period. After the visa is granted Australian citizenship can be applied for by parents (introduced by Australian Government on 8 May 2005 to ensure children applying for citizenship were genuinely available at time of adoption)
- what about the child’s name? If the child's name is changed by deed poll after the adoption is finalized, the new name may be used for citizenship, provided the new name is included in the citizenship application (no changes to the name can be made following the finalisation of the citizenship)
- the High Commission cannot recommend any individual agencies
- for countries where there are high levels of fraud and trafficking in children, all documentation will be referred to the local Australian mission for verification against original records
- processing normally takes around 3 months (where cases must be referred to another country for checking, the local post processing times will apply, normally this will be 6-10 months)
- if a visit to Australia is proposed during processing a visitor visa may be applied for. Please approach the High Commission to apply for the visa.
Application Forms
Forms can be found at:
http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/pdf/40ch.pdf (sponsorship form) and
http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/pdf/47ch.pdf (application form)
both forms must be completed.
DOCUMENTS TO BE LODGED WITH YOUR CHILD'S APPLICATION FOR MIGRATION TO AUSTRALIA UNDER SUBCLASS 102 (ADOPTION)
Please read the attached information carefully and the information included in the migration booklet with the visa application forms. In this information sheet the “main applicant” is the child applying for the visa.
Photocopies of the following documents must be certified by a Notary Public and submitted with your application. A list of Singapore Notary Publics can be found in the Yellow Pages. In addition, any foreign language documents must be accompanied by official translations into english (please refer to the Yellow Pages for official translators).
1. Original application form 47CH
2. Original sponsorship form 40CH – must be completed by the sponsor and submitted AT THE TIME OF LODGEMENT of the application
3. Original passport of the main applicant must be presented with application for verification of application details
4. Birth certificate of main applicant in the country in which they were born and if the adoption occurs through the Singapore courts, the birth certificate issued in Singapore showing the adoptive parent(s) names.
5. Passport of main applicant (if applicable)
6. Singapore Social Visit Pass or Dependent Pass of main applicant (if applicable), demonstrating that they were legally resident in the country of adoption
7. Four (4) recent passport-sized photographs – coloured or black and white
8. Adoptive parent(s) passport – bio data page, signature page and current Australian resident visa (if not an Australian citizen)
9. Marriage certificate of adoptive parents (if applicable)
10. Employment and Dependent Pass or evidence of other status of adoptive parent(s) in Singapore
11. Evidence adoptive parent(s) have resided overseas for more than 12 months, for example: letter from employer and income tax assessment notices
12. Legal adoption papers from main applicant’s country of birth confirming the adoptive parents have lawfully acquired full and permanent parental rights by adoption (in Singapore this would be the Singapore Adoption Order)
13. Sworn affidavit signed by the agent stating the main applicant was available for adoption and there was no exchange of money in the country in which the main applicant was born (that is, no money has been given to the natural parents)
14. Adoptive parent(s) to provide a statutory declaration that, to their knowledge, no money was paid to the natural parents
15. Detailed account of monies paid to any party (for example an orphanage or agency) in connection with the adoption (apart from legal fees)
16. Contract the adoptive parent(s) signed with the adopting agent in Singapore (if applicable)
17. Statement giving background leading to the application for child’s adoption in Singapore by adopted parents
18. Consent to adoption order signed by both natural parents
19. Passports & Identity cards of both natural parents showing their signatures
We recommend that you conduct medical checks for the main applicant prior to lodging your application. In many countries the adoption process will require additional medical checks for the child. We recommend that you obtain from our offices or from the website the Australian medical examination form 26 (see: http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/pdf/26.pdf) and, where possible, conduct all checks with the Australian panel doctor in that country (see: http://www.immi.gov.au/contacts/panel-doctors/index.htm for the list of accredited panel doctors). If other medical checks are undertaken at another medical service, the Australian checks must be conducted by an accredited Australian panel doctor.
PLEASE NOTE: The onus is on the applicant to submit all documents, as detailed above, at the time of application.
LODGING YOUR APPLICATION
Applications can be submitted in person during normal office hours: See http://www.singapore.embassy.gov.au/sing/aboutus.html.
When you lodge the application you will receive a receipt for the fee and a letter of acknowledgment. The letter will contain contact and file reference numbers.
A Visa Application Charge (fee) is payable. This fee is non-refundable if your application is refused. You are therefore strongly encouraged to read the information papers in the Migration Package carefully to determine the likely success of your application.
PROCESSING TIMEFRAMES
The average time it takes to process 75% of applications in the Immigration Section, Singapore is listed below. Please note that these time frames are current as of October 2008.
Full Assessment
Subclass 102 Child/Adoption 3 - 6 months (applications for children adopted from Cambodia are currently taking 6-10 months)
from countries where there is significant fraud and/or trafficking in children will be subject to the processing times of the post responsible in that country (as the papers are sent to the post for checking), hence the highly variable processing time.
For further information please refer to the Department's information booklet number 2, Child Migration. This booklet, which includes the forms and explanations of the visa requirements is available to be viewed/downloaded from the Internet at http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/booklets/books2.htm for no charge or from our office for a fee during counter hours.
Additional Information
DIAC Fact Sheet 36
http://www.immi.gov.au/media/fact-sheets/36adopting.htm
This fact sheet contains general information and links to the information on citizenship applications (and the forms) once the adoption visa has been approved.
If you have further questions, please call the Principal Migration Officer, James Goodsell on (65) 6836 4137.