INTER - MINISTERIAL CIRCULAR

INSTRUCTIONS ON IMPLEMENTING THE TEMPORARY REGULATIONS ISSUED IN ACCOMPANY WITH THE DECISION No 145/HDBT ON APRIL 29, 1992 BY THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS (NOW THE GOVERNMENT)

On April 29, 1992 , the Council of Ministers (now the Government) issued the Decision No 145/HDBT on Temporary Regulations to allow foreign people to adopts Vietnamese children who are orphaned, abandoned or disabled living in feeding institutions administered by the Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs authorities.

Basing upon the Article 11 of the Temporary Regulations, the Ministries of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, Justice Foreign Affairs and Interior issue the following instructions on the implementation:

I. SCOPE OF APPLICATION

1. The Temporary Regulations on adoption are only applied to foreign people adopting those Vietnamese children who are orphaned, abandoned or disabled, living in the feeding facilities administered by the Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs authorities. The said facilities comprise:       

- The institutions administered by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.

- The institutions administered by the local Departments of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.

2. The foreign people mentioned in the Temporary Regulations are people who have no Vietnamese citizenship at the point of the adoption and consist of:

- People who have foreign citizenship or no citizenship; including the foreign people living in Vietnam.

At the moment of adoption, the above-mentioned people should be 20 years older than the adopted.

II. DOSSIER AND FORMALITIES FOR THE ADOPTION

1. The dossier of the adoption applicant shall comprise:

a. Adoption Application: indicating name, birth date, nationality, residence, address, profession, justified purpose for the adoption and commitment to perform the Temporary Regulations, Article 8, positions 2, 3, 4 and 5. The application should be accompanied with the photograph of the applicant.

In case the applicant is aware of the child to be adopted, the former should indicate clearly the name, sex, age of the child and the feeding institution where the child is being supported.

If the applicant does not know about the child to be adopted, the former should indicate clearly in the application the age, sex and health of the child. If a disabled child is desired, the type of disability should also be known.

If the applicant has got a spouse, the application should bear the signatures and full names of both husband and wife.

b. The legal paper certifying that the applicant has got sufficient conditions to satisfy the requirements of supporting an adopted in accordance with the laws of the applicant's country, and that the adoption of Vietnamese children is thereby recognized to be legal and legitimate. The paper should be issued by the relevant competent authorities in the country in which the applicant is a citizen or a resident.

c. A health certificate of a competent medical authority in the country of which the applicant is a citizen or a resident confirming that the applicant does not have any contagious disease and mental disorder.

d. The certification on annual income being sufficient to support the adopted.

e. A Certificate of Birth.

g. A copy of the passport or any substitute.

The certified paper under position b and certificates on annual income, health (if issued abroad) of the applicant shall be made legitimate at overseas Vietnamese Diplomatic Missions, Consulate or at the Consular Department-Ministry of Foreign Affairs. If the applicant has got a spouse, the paper under position c, d, e, g for both the husband and wife shall be available.

All above-mentioned dossier shall be translated into Vietnamese and the translation should be notarized in accordance with Vietnamese laws.

2. The child who is proposed to be adopted shall have the following paper:

a. Written agreement by the Director of the feeding institution on allowing the child to be adopted by foreign people.

If the child has got a father, mother or guardian, the latter should make a written statement on his (her) free approval of the adoption by foreign people.

b. A Certificate of birth with photographs.

c. A written agreement of the child on his (her) free consent to the adoption by foreign people, if the child is from 9 years old.

d. A Health certificate of the child.

e. Other paper as reasonably requested by the applicant.

All above-mentioned dossier shall be prepared by the feeding institution and notarized in accordance with Vietnamese laws.

3. Formalities and Procedures:

The foreign adoption applicant shall send the dossier to the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs of Vietnam. If the dossier is not a sufficient as stipulated under Part II, Section 1, the applicant will be requested to provide supplement.

a. In case the applicant has been aware of the proposed adopted:

- The dossier will be transferred immediately to the People's Committees of the Provinces, Cities affiliated to the central administration (hereinafter referred to briefly as the Provincial People's Committees) where the child's feeding institution is situated. The provincial Department of Justice should assist the provincial People's Committee in making the inspection, investigation and suggestion to the provincial People's Committee for solution.

During the inspection and investigation, the Justice Department should co-operate with authorities involved (Police, External Affairs Service ...). If problems arise beyond their competency, the authorities involved should ask for the instructions from their relevant Ministry.

After having received the opinions form the Justice Department and authorities concerned, the provincial People's Committee shall make the decision on allowing (or disallowing) the foreign applicant to adopt the child. A copy of the decision is sent to the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs for notifying the foreign applicant.

- Duration for handling the adoption application is not more than 2 months to maximum, from the day People's Committee receives the dossier.

- Upon receiving the notification of approval, the foreign applicant should come himself to Vietnam to sign on the commitment with the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and fulfill other adoption formalities. In a very special case, where the applicant can not come himself to Vietnam at the moment of delivery, he can entrust one of his relatives or (if the latter is not available) a person of the organization stipulated in Article 8, Position 2 of the Temporary Regulations to come to Vietnam to fulfill procedures of adoption on his behalf. The entrusted person should have a legal credentials of the applicant. The credentials shall be legitimate as stipulated under Part II, Section 1 of this Circular and be translated into Vietnamese. The translation should be notarized in accordance with Vietnamese laws.

- The delivery ceremony should be held simply but seriously at the Provincial People's Committee of the province where the feeding institution is situated with the participation of the following authorities:

- Representative from the Provincial People's Committee.

- Representative from feeding institution.

- The adoption applicant (or his (her) legal representative.

At the ceremony, the local Justice Department will have the adoption registered in the Family Identity Record and filed.

b. In case the applicant does not know specifically about the child, the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs will make the choice and recommendation on the children who are orphaned, abandoned or disabled living in the feeding institutions administered by the Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs authorities. If the proposed child is accepted by the applicant, the procedures will be implemented as stipulated under Part II, Section 3, position a of this Circular.

III. IMPLEMENTATION ORGANIZATION

1. In accordance with the functions and assignments, the Ministries of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, Justice, Foreign Affairs and Interior will direct and instruct their inferior agents on technical implementation. They shall simultaneously co-ordinate closely with one another to execute the Temporary Regulations issued by the Council of Ministers (now the Government) and solve all problems arising during the course.

2. In case the international agreement signed or entered into by Vietnam together with the country of which the applicant is a citizen contains provisions at variance with those in the Temporary Regulations, the provisions of the international agreement shall prevail.

3. This circular shall come into force from the day of signing and the Circular No 06/LD-TBXH of the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs issued on June 1, 1992, is hereby repealed.

4. During the course of the implementation of this Inter-Ministerial Circular, the local functional authorities should consult their relevant Ministry in case of problems arising.

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