South Africa - Adopt a Child in a Convention Country

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Procedure

Apply In-Person:

1. To adopt a child in a convention country in person, the applicant should visit the office of the central authority in the country they live.
2. The contact and address links of central authorities in various countries can be found in the following link: Link
3. Visit the office and obtain the prescribed format of application to register your intention of adopting a child in a convention country.
4. Complete the prescribed format of application and submit it along with the required documents to the relevant authority at the office.
5. The central authority will direct you to an accredited adoption organisation in your country for assessment and screening to determine if you are suitable to adopt a child.
6. The organisation will compose a home study report and forward it to the South African Central Authority (SACA) which will further send it to the child protection organisation which has an adoption working agreement with the foreign agency.
7. The child protection organisation will make a report of the child available for adoption and forward it to the SACA for approval of inter-country adoption and also to the foreign agency.
8. After knowing the wish of the prospective parents, the Central authority in the country where the parents live will forward the adoption permission of the parents to the accredited child protection organisation in South Africa.
9. Then the applicant will be asked to visit South Africa for finalisation processes of adoption at the court. Reports from the court will be then forwarded to the SACA for verification and registration of the adoption.
10. On receipt of court documents, SACA will issue a Certificate of Conformity and adoption agency in the country where you live will provide you with after-care services for five years.

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Required Documents

• Completed application form (if any)
• Home study report of applicant
• Child study report
• Identity documents of parents
• Residential proof
• Proof of income
• Identity document of child
• Required fees
• Consent to adoption

Office Locations & Contacts

Department of Social Development,
134, Pretorius Street,
HSRC Building,
Pretoria.
Directions using Google map: Link
Customer Care Help line: 012 312 7727
E-Mail: [email protected]
Website: Link , Link

List of Department of Social Development Offices

Provincial Contact Numbers:
GAUTENG - (011) 355 7687 / 7977 / 7878
LIMPOPO - (015) 293 6004 / 6054 / 6011 / 6053
NORTH WEST - (018) 387 3434 / 0255 / 3497 / 0281
MPUMALANGA - (013) 766 3098 / 3253 / 3031
FREE STATE - (051) 400 0302 / 0304 / 0307
EASTERN CAPE - (043) 605 5000
KWAZULU-NATAL - (033) 264 5400
WESTERN CAPE - (021) 483 3858/ 3765 / 3158 / 5445
NORTHERN CAPE - (053) 807 5600

Eligibility

• Any foreigner, who lives in a country that has signed the Hague Convention and wants to adopt a South African child, can apply.
• The person willing to adopt must be proper and fit to look after and raise the child.

Fees

You must pay to an accredited child protection organisation in respect of an inter-country adoption.

Validity

Explain the time until which the certificate/document is valid.
e.g. Birth Certificate Valid Forever

Documents to Use

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Sample Documents

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Processing Time

It differs from one case to another.

Related Videos

Videos explaining the procedure or to fill the applications.
Attach videos using the following tag <&video type='website'>video ID|width|height<&/video&> from external websites.
Please remove the '&' inside the tags during implementation.
Website = allocine, blip, dailymotion, facebook, gametrailers, googlevideo, html5, metacafe, myspace, revver,
sevenload, viddler, vimeo, youku, youtube
width = 560, height = 340, Video ID = Can be obtained from the URL of webpage where the video is displayed.
e.g In the following url 'http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0US7oR_t3M' Video ID is 'Y0US7oR_t3M'.

Instructions

• You can only use this type of adoption if your country, like South Africa, has signed the Hague Convention.

• The Convention considers the best interest of the child and seeks to prevent the abduction, exploitation, sale and trafficking of children.

Required Information

• Particulars of the prospective parents
• Particulars of the child
• Identity document numbers
• Address information
• Contact details

Need for the Document

• If you are a foreigner interested in adopting a South African child, you must first find out if your country is a signatory to the Hague Convention. If yes, you can apply this method and adopt a child in a convention country.
• The convention dictates best inter-country adoption practice between participating countries.

Information which might help

Refer: Link

Other uses of the Document/Certificate

Please explain what are other uses of obtaining this document/certificate.
e.g. Birth Certificate can be used as proof of identity.

External Links

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Others

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