Question: I am a single person living in Vietnam and am currently going through the process of adoption. I am of British nationality and have been living in HCMC for 4 years. My case file was completed in April, including police checks, health checks and other required evidence. My current lawyer has decided that he can no longer continue the case as he does not specialise in adoption and so is unfamiliar with how to progress further with my case. The file has not currently been sent the file to the Department of Justice for my certificate of eligibility.
I am therefore looking for alternative representation to help me continue my plight to adopt a child here in Vietnam.
The main questions that I have are:
1) Are you are familiar with this kind of adoption case.
2) How much do you charge for an adoption case of this sort (a Westerner adoption from within Vietnam).
3) Is mine a case that you would be willing to take on?
4) How long you think that it would take from start to finish.
5) What are the steps for which the application needs to take.
Answer:I was entrusted to provide you legal advice regarding to international adoption in Vietnam.
Firstly, we would like to note that under Vietnam Law, a Lawyer is not allowed to represent for Client for following administrative administrative procedure for adoption. Thus, what we can do for you in this case is to guide you how to follow the administrative procedure for adoption and reviewing your application dossier as prepared by your side.
We noted that you hold British Nationality. At presence, Vietnam does not have bilateral agreement with British regarding co-operation on international adoption. Thus, in order to start your adoption in Vietnam, you must satisfy following conditions:
– You have been staying in Vietnam at least 12 months before filing date of the application dossier. If you were absent from Vietnam for 6 months upward, such period shall be re-counted.
– You must have identified a child who is living in a orphan center which is eligible for recommendation for international adoption. This is an essential factors which shall determine your success possibility. Dossier of the child must be enclosed with your dossier upon filing to Department of International Adoption. We are not sure whether you have been aware of this or not. If not, we also would like to note that you shall face with challenges upon contacting orphan centers as they generally refuse to discuss with strangers.
– One another thing that you should be aware of is that if you are a single man, your possibility of success is not positive.
– Regarding to the whole process, in case you have already had a dossier of a child to be adopted, it shall take you about 5-6 months to complete all (for a straight forward case).
We do hope that the above information is helpful for you. Please let us know if you are willing to work with us.
