Adoption is a legal process whereby a person permanently assumes the parental rights and responsibilities for a child from his or her biological parents. Legal guardianship is a legal process whereby a person is appointed by court to take care of a child.
Uganda has the second-youngest population in the world, with about 70 percent of the population being under the age of 15. Some of these are orphaned or abandoned due to illness, poverty and instabilities with in their families. Many children come from disadvantaged homes and may be living with community members or relatives who are unable to take care of them causing a great need for child-aid. Only children who are declared legally orphaned or abandoned by a judge at the end of the referral process are available for adoption.
In Uganda, the Ministry of Gender, Labor and Social Development is Uganda’s central adoption authority. This Ministry oversees the Probation and Social Welfare Officers assigned to magistrate courts. Prospective parents adopting in Uganda will work with these officers in the region where the child resides.
The Department of Youth and Child Affairs in the Ministry of Gender, Labour, and Social Development is the body charged with overseeing inter-country adoptions. Legal guardianship or adoption orders can only be granted by the High Court while Uganda’s Children Act is the legislation governing all aspects of the fostering, legal guardianship, and the adoption process.
Uganda adoption requirements
Citizenship: One adoptive parent must be a legal citizen of the country of origin.
Age: Applicants must be at least 25 years old and 21 years older than the child they plan to adopt. In the case of a married couple, it is sufficient for one spouse to meet these requirements.
Marriage Status: Married couples are eligible to adopt regardless of length of marriage. Singles may only adopt a child of their same gender save for exceptional circumstances. Any person of 25 years of age and above can adopt. However, the prospective adoptive parent must be at least 21 years older than the child. A couple must adopt jointly.
State of Adoptive parents: The prospective adoptive parents must be of good physical and mental health as determined by a medical examination.
Foreign citizens: Prospective adoptive parents should been approved by their country of nationality to adopt from Uganda. Prove that their country of origin will respect and recognize the Ugandan adoption Order and must meet the requirements for adoption. Prospective adoptive parents must have fostered the child for at least 36 months under the super vision of probation officer save for exceptional cases.
Previous Children: There are no strict requirements on the maximum number of previous children in the home, however strong preference is given to families with less than five children. For families with five or more children, they cannot all be adopted.
Religion: No country requirements. If adopting from specific orphanages, some may give preference to prospective adoptive parents who are practicing Christians.
Income: There is no minimum income required. However, you must meet the income requirements provided by the country from which the adoptive parent comes from for the child to immigrate.
Criminal History: Applicants with any criminal history are not eligible to adopt.
The process
The process for adopting a child from Uganda generally includes the following steps:
- Choose an adoption service provider
- Apply to be found eligible to adopt
- Be matched with a child
- Adopt or obtain custody of the child in Uganda
- Apply for the child to be found eligible for orphan status
- Bring your child home
1. Choose an adoption service provider
The first step in adopting a child from Uganda is to decide whether or not to use a licensed adoption service provider that can help you with your adoption. Adoption service providers must be licensed by the government/state in which they operate. For the US, the Department of State provides information on selecting an adoption service provider on its website.
It should be noted that Uganda does not authorize specific adoption service providers (ASPs) for the purposes of inter country adoption. U.S. ASPs are able to operate in Uganda without formal approval by the Government of Uganda. Adoptive parents should be advised however that very few have permanent staff in country rather they partner with one or more local orphanages and/or lawyers.
2. Apply for Adoption Eligibility
You will then need to meet the eligibility requirements of the Government of Uganda and state law for foreign adopters. You must submit an application to be found eligible to adopt, as part of the petition filed for adoption with the High Court of Uganda. The eligibility of prospective adoptive parents is appraised as part of the adoption process through the High Court of Uganda.
Important to note is that Ugandan regulations require prospective adoptive parents to present evidence of approval by their country of nationality to adopt as part of their petition to adopt with the High Court. This calls for prospective adoptive parents ensure they have received their approval notice before filing with the High Court in Uganda.
3. Be Matched with a Child
Once found eligible for adoption, and as soon as a child is identified based on your preferences for gender, age and health status, you will be matched. If the child is available for intercountry adoption, your adoption service provider, the central adoption authority or another authorized entity in Uganda will provide you a referral. You will receive a description of the child, including the child’s history and photos with your referral.
A private investigation will be conducted on all referrals to more fully vet the child’s social history and adopt-ability. Due to the lack of resources within the country of Uganda, the private investigation must be paid for by the adoptive parents at the time of matching. These care fees are paid up through the court appointment when the adoptive parents take custody of the child. Families may be matched before or after completing the database. After accepting a referral, families will pay monthly care fees to support the child’s care and well-being in-country. Each family must decide for itself whether or not it will be able to meet the needs of and provide a permanent home for a particular child.
4. Obtain Legal Custody of Child in Uganda
The process for obtaining legal custody in Uganda generally includes the following:
Adoption Application: Foreign citizens wishing to adopt a child in Uganda are required to file a petition with the High Court of Uganda after they have identified a child they wish to adopt. When filing the petition, prospective adoptive parents should ensure the petition states clearly their intention for the child to immigrate to nation of interest.
Prospective adoptive parents are required to appear in person, and the court requires that the local Probation and Social Welfare Officer overseeing the case submit a report with his/her recommendation. In certain cases, the court may also request that other individuals or authorities submit a report or affidavit(s) related to the adoption petition.
Time Frame: Court process takes, on average, one to three weeks from the initial court appearance to the execution of the adoption or legal guardianship decree, and to the issuance of a written court ruling. Ugandan immigration authorities generally require the court documents and clearance from the Ministry of Gender, Labor, and Social Development before adjudicating a passport application submitted on behalf of a child being adopted by foreign parents.
The average processing time for a Ugandan birth certificate and passport is about four weeks, and these processes can only begin after the court ruling has been issued. Once the passport is obtained, the child can have his/her medical exam with the panel physician. When this is completed, the prospective adoptive families can begin the U.S. Embassy process.
Adoption Fees: Court fees are less than $100.00 and may vary according to the number of documents that require notarization. Average attorney’s fees can range from $500 to $2,000. Uganda birth and death certificates cost $2 and Ugandan passports cost $32. The U.S. Embassy in Uganda discourages the payment of any fees that are not properly receipted, for example, “donations” or “expediting” fees. These may be requested from biological parents, children’s homes, or individuals offering to assist with procuring civil documents. Such fees may have the appearance of “buying” a baby and could put all future adoptions from Uganda at risk.
Authentication of Documents: You may be asked to provide proof that a document from the United States is authentic. If so, the Department of State, Authentications Office may be able to assist.
5. Apply for the Child to be Found Eligible for Orphan Status
After you have gained legal custody in Uganda, the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services must determine whether the child meets the definition of orphan under U.S. immigration law. You will need to file a Form I-600, Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative. In some cases prospective adoptive parents will file the petition in the United States and will only apply for the immigrant visa in Uganda.
For those who will file the I-600 petition with the U.S. Embassy in Kampala, in most cases, you will be able to schedule your appointment for the petition and the immigrant visa at the same time. For families who will do this, please read sections 5 and 6 in their entirety and ensure you have all required documents before scheduling an appointment.
Scheduling an Appointment
You will schedule two appointments: one to file the documents and a second for the visa interview. Beneficiaries of immediate relative petitions are interviewed by appointment only.
6. Bringing Your Child Home
Once your adoption is complete (or you have obtained legal custody of the child), you need to apply for several documents for your child before you can apply for a U.S. immigrant visa to bring your child home to the United States. Your child is not yet a U.S. citizen, so he/she will need a travel document or passport from Uganda. Ugandan passports can be obtained from the following office:
Necessary Consents:
A child whose parents are; known, alive, of sound mind and can be found must consent to the adoption of the child. In other words, the parents must consent to the adoption of their child.
Children of 14 years and above must also consent to the adoption. In some cases even when the child is below 14 years of age and understands what is going on, the judge may get the views of the child.
Either the child or the parents may withdraw their consent to adoption prior to adoption order being made.
In some cases, the child or his / her parents may challenge the adoption if their consent was not obtained legally.
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