Adoption of Children Who are Citizens of Ukraine and Their Consular Registration.

By its Decree No. 1377 of August 28 2003, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted the following procedure for foreign adoptions, which became effective on January 1, 2004. In accordance with this procedure:

Canadian citizens or foreign citizens who are permanent residents of Canada applying to adopt a child who is a citizen of Ukraine and resides on its territory must provide a written declaration of their intent to the Adoption Center at the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (27 Taras Shevchenko Blvd., Kyiv, Ukraine, 01032; tel.: (044) 246-54-32, 246-54-49, 246-54-37). The declaration must be accompanied by the following documents, each of which must be issued and or certified by the appropriate federal or provincial authority, as established by Canada's pertinent federal and/or provincial legislation:

1. Income Statement issued and/or certified by the relevant provincial or federal authority.

2. A copy of the Marriage Certificate, if the applicants are married.

3. A Health Certificate for each applicant issued and/or certified by the relevant federal or provincial authority.*

4. If only one partner of a married couple is applying for the adoption, a notarized written consent for the adoption from the second partner in the marriage;

5. A certificate issued by the relevant provincial or federal authority regarding each applicant's criminal history or lack of one.

6. A Report issued by the competent provincial or federal authority or agency, which has the authority to certify the applicant's qualifications to be an adoptive parent, including the (a) familial living arrangements, (b) biographical data, (c) family composition, (d) any other children in the family, and any other information, which the relevant authority deems necessary or obligated to provide with regard to the adoption. issue. The final Report must be accompanied by a copy of the agency's license.

7. A permit issued by the appropriate Canadian authorities, which would allow the adopted child to enter Canada for permanent residence.

8. A copy of each applicant's passport for travel abroad or other document which verifies his or her identity.

9. The applicants' written agreement: (a) to register the adopted child within one month after arrival to Canada or other country of permanent residence with the relevant consular or diplomatic representation of Ukraine**, (b) to provide to the relevant consular or diplomatic representation of Ukraine *** at least once a year a report regarding the child's living conditions and upbringing, in accordance with the prescribed form, which can be found as attachment No. 5 (click here to open) to the Procedure for adoptions adopted by the Cabinet of Minister's by Decree No. 1377 on August 28, 2003, and (n) to allow a representative of the consular or diplomatic representation of Ukraine to communicate with the child.

* This Certificate must be prepared in compliance with the form found at attachment number 4 (click here to open) to the Procedure for Adoptions adopted by the Cabinet of Minister's by Decree No. 1377 on August 28, 2003.

** In Canada, these are the Embassy of Ukraine located in Ottawa, whose consular area includes the territory of the National Capital Region, Provinces of Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, and the Consulate General of Ukraine in Toronto, whose consular area includes Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories, Yukon Territories and Nunavut. Accordingly, depending upon where the child and its adoptive parents will reside, either the Embassy of Ukraine in Ottawa or the Consulate General of Ukraine in Toronto needs to be specifically referenced in the written agreement.

*** In Canada this will be the Embassy of Ukraine or the Consulate General of Ukraine in Toronto, depending on consular area that the child and its adoptive parents will be residing at the time of the submission of the report.

Except for copies of national passports or other documents that verify the applicant's identity, all other documents listed above, if originated in Canada, must be legalized by the relevant Ukrainian diplomatic representation prior to submission to the Adoption Center, together with their translations into Ukrainian.

* Each individual document from the set of documents that are required by Ukrainian authorities in connection with the adoption of a child from Ukraine must be legalized separately* by the Consular Section of the Embassy of Ukraine in Canada (331 Metcalfe Street, Ottawa, Ontario K2P 1S3; tel. (613) 230-8015; fax (613) 230-2655) or by the Consulate General of Ukraine in Toronto (2120 Bloor Street, West, Toronto, Ontario M6S 1M8: tel. (416) 763-3114; fax. (416) 763-2323). The legalization of the documents must be done after they are authenticated by the Authentication and Service of Documents Section of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of Canada (JLAC/DFAIT) located at 125 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0G2, and whose telephone is (613) 992-6602**. The nonreimbursable fee for legalization by the consular office of Ukraine in Canada of each such document is $115.00. The nonreimbursable fee for the verification by the Ukrainian consular office of the accuracy of the translation from English into Ukrainian of each such document done by a certified translator is $80.00.

If the documents are to be returned by mail or a courier service, the Consulate must be provided with a pre-paid self-addressed return envelope or a courier service waybill together with the courier service's envelope. If none is provided, the documents will be held by the Consulate gratis pending: (a) their pick up in person by their owner or designee, or (b) such time as a pre-paid self-addressed envelope or a courier service waybill together with the courier service's envelope is provided for their return. The Consulate disclaims any responsibility for any mail that is lost, damaged, misdirected or delivered late.

Each document submitted to the Consulate for legalization must also be accompanied by a photocopy of the entire original. When submitting any documents having any pages with overlapping attachments, a photocopy ;of each such page, both with and without the attachment, must be provided. In doing so, care must be taken not to remove any staples. Photocopies of multi-page documents must be in exact sequential order as the original, collated and attached to the original document with a clip. Failure to comply will result in the return of the documents unprocessed.

Prior to having JLAC/DFAIT authenticate any documents to be used in the process for adopting a Ukrainian child, all such documents must first be certified, signed and sealed by a Canadian notary. When sending the documents to JLAC/DFAIT, please request that after the documents are authenticated, that they then be forwarded to the Embassy of Ukraine in Canada or to the Consulate General of Ukraine in Toronto located at 2120 Bloor Street, West, Toronto, Ontario M6S 1M8, and whose telephone is (416) 763-3114, and fax is (416) 763-23-23.

There is a 20 working day period during which the Adoption Center processes and reviews the written declaration of intent. If a positive decision is made, the Adoption Center then registers the applicants as candidates for adoptive parents, and places their data into the registry book of candidates for adoptive parents. A date of arrival of the candidates for adoptive parents is agreed upon with the Adoption Center, at which time they will have an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the information contained in the centralized data bank of children who may be adopted.

If the Adoption Center declines an application, it will send a written response with the basis for its decision, together with the return of the documents provided with the original declaration submitted by the applicants.

All requisite documents in the adoption procedure will be deemed valid for one year from the date of their issuance, or for such shorter period as may be provided by the legislature of the country in which they were issued.

The Adoption Center provides foreign applicants for adoption with information about a child who has been on the centralized registry for more than one year, unless otherwise stipulated by legislation, and issues a prescribed directive to the relevant regional or municipal administration in order to introduce and organize the initial contact with the child. The prescribed directive is effective for a period of ten working days. The prescribed directive, together with the forwarded adoption documents, are sewn together, stamped and certified with the signature of the Director of the Adoption Center, bearing the number under which they are registered, and given to the foreign applicants. The relevant administrative body will inform the Adoption Center in the event that for whatever reason the applicant fails to establish contact with the specific child. Applicants who were not able to establish contact with the child, may request the Adoption Center for a subsequent referral.

Once the applicant has established contact with the child, the potential adoptive parents then contact the Department of Education, which has jurisdiction over the area in which the child is located, with a statement regarding their desire to adopt the child. The statement, which must be prepared in Ukrainian, must include each applicant's full name and residential address, and the child's full name, age and address where he or she resides or is located. In response, the Department of Education, then contacts the director of the establishment where the child resides or is located, or the person having custody of the child, who then provides the following documents:

1. the child's birth certificate;

2. death certificate(s) of the child's parents, or a copy of a court decree stating that they were stripped of their parental rights or were found incompetent; or

3. a notarized surrender or consent of the child's parents, custodian or legal guardian for the adoption of the child; or

4. the consent of the establishment where the child resides or is located for the adoption of the child;

5. documents that confirm that the child did not reside with its parents for more than 6 months for other than justifiable reasons, that the parents of the child do not demonstrate the necessary parental care of the child, do not appropriately raise the child and do not provide the child with the required physical and financial support;

6. a medical certificate regarding the state of the child's physical and mental health and development;

7. a statement from the director of the establishment where the child resides or is located, or the person having custody of the child, confirming the fact that the child and the adoptive parent candidates had contact and were introduced to one another.

Based upon the adoptive parent candidates' statement and the above referenced documents, the Department of Education, which has jurisdiction over the area where the child is located, within a period of ten days will then prepare its conclusion about the advisability of the adoption and its appropriateness to the interests of the child ("Conclusion"). This Conclusion is prepared for submission to the Adoption Center in order to acquire its permission for the adoption.

The Conclusion is certified by the head or deputy head of the relevant local state or municipal administration, which has jurisdiction over the area where the child is located. The Conclusion must list the name of the country where the adoptive parent candidates reside, the name and address of the entity that issued the Conclusion regarding the candidates' ability to be adoptive parents, the number under which the adoptive parent candidates are registered at the Adoption Center and the legal basis for the adoption of the child. At the request of the Adoption Center, copies of documents must be attached to the Conclusion.

After receipt of the Conclusion about the advisability of the adoption and its appropriateness to the interests of the child, the applicants provide the Adoption Center with a written request for its consent to the adoption. Based upon the documents provided, the Adoption Center within five working days considers the issue as to whether to grant its consent to the adoption of the child. If its decision is in the affirmative, it prepares its conclusion and provides it to the adoptive parent candidates for submission to the court. If the Adoption Center declines to give its consent for the adoption, it will provide the adoptive parent applicants with a written statement, detailing the basis for its decision.

To obtain the Adoption Center's consent for the adoption of a child who is a citizen of Ukraine but who does not reside on its territory, foreigners must submit through the appropriate Ukrainian consular post or diplomatic representation or directly to the Adoption Center all of the documents in numbers 1 through 9 listed above, and the Conclusion of the appropriate Ukrainian consular post or diplomatic representation regarding the advisability of the adoption and its appropriateness to the interests of the child. In instances where one spouse wishes to adopt the other spouse's biological child, who is a Ukrainian citizen, the person wishing to adopt must apply to the Department of Educational that has jurisdiction over the area where the child resides with the appropriate declaration, which must be accompanied by the following:

1. documents listed above in numbers 5 through 7 and 10 through 12;

2. the child's birth certificate;

3. death certificate of one of the child's parents, or a copy of a court decree stating that one of the child's parents was stripped of his or her parental rights or was found incompetent;

4. a written consent of the applicant's spouse to the adoption.

The adoptive parent candidates have the right to familiarize themselves with the personal file of the child who may be adopted, and to have an additional medical examination of the child conducted in the state or communal medical facility in the presence of a representative of the establishment where the child is located.

Adoptions of children are conducted on the basis of a Court decree. Within 10 days of the effective date of the Court's decision on the child's adoption, the Court will forward a duly authenticated copy of its decision to the Adoption Center. The adoptive parent must personally get the child from where the child is located or resides upon presentment of a copy of the Court's decision on the adoption.

Adoptive parent candidates are removed from the Adoption Center's register in the following instances:

1. upon the successful adoption of the child;

2. after the expiration of the period of validity of documents required for an adoption; or

3. upon the submission by the adoptive parent candidates of a written request to be removed from the register.

Effectuating the supervision to preserve the rights of children adopted by foreigners.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine registers children who have been adopted by foreigners from Ukraine on the basis of a copy of the Court decision on the adoption submitted to the Ministry by the adoptive parents.

The registration of children adopted from Ukraine by foreigners who reside abroad, as well as the supervision to preserve these children's rights until they reach the age of 18 is conducted by the relevant Ukrainian consular post or diplomatic representation upon the instruction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

The relevant Ukrainian consular post or diplomatic representation conducts its supervisory obligations based upon instructions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and universally acknowledged principles and norms of international law applicable to the protection of rights of children. The Ukrainian consular post or diplomatic representation is obligated to provide information on the adopted children to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine annually for the first three years of the child's adoption, and then once every three years thereafter. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs then forwards the information to the Adoption Center.

The enabling acts of Ukraine which govern issues of adoption are:

1. Civil Code of Ukraine.

2. Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine.

3. Family Code of Ukraine.

4. Decree No. 1377 concerning, inter alia, foreign adoptions, adopted by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on August 28 2003, which became effective on January 1, 2004.

Interim Procedures for Foreign Adoptions

The Adoption Center at the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (27 Taras Shevchenko Blvd., Kyiv, Ukraine, 01032; tel.: (044) 246-54-32, 246-54-49, 246-54-37) has established the following interim procedures for foreign adoptions:

1. Foreign citizens will be received at the Adoption Center only after they have been registered as adoptive parent candidates, of which they will be informed in writing by the Director of the Centre.

2. Within after one month after being registered as adoptive parent candidates, they may propose possible dates for their arrival in Ukraine.

3. Within a one month period, adoptive parent candidates reach an agreement with the Centre on a date for their arrival in Ukraine for the purpose of familiarizing themselves with the data bank of orphaned children and children whose parents have been stripped of their parental rights, of which an appropriate notation is made in the Centre's visitation book and of which the adoptive parent candidates are notified.

4. Upon written confirmation to the foreign citizens of their date of arrival (via email, fax, etc.), a list of visitors to the Centre is compiled based upon the sequential dates of their registration, allowing for no more than ten visitors per day, which is communicated to the consular post of Ukraine, as well as to the adoptive parent candidates.