The first draft of a law on child adoption has been recently posted on the Ministry of Justice’s portal www.moj.gov.vn for public comment before it is submitted to the Government.
The draft law, with 57 articles arranged in six chapters, governs adoption among Vietnamese citizens, between Vietnamese citizens and foreigners and among foreigners permanently residing in Vietnam.
Child adoption, under the draft law, may be incomplete or complete. In both cases, the rights and obligations that, by the law, exist between parents and children would be established between the adopting persons and the adopted child. The difference between these two forms lays in the consequence that the legal rights and obligations between the adopted child and his/her natural parents would be terminated following complete adoption but still exist in instances of incomplete adoption. Child adoption among Vietnamese citizens may take either form while adoption involving foreign elements must be complete.
According to the draft law, adopting persons must be married different-sex couples or individuals holding Vietnamese or foreign citizenship. The adoption of a Vietnamese child by foreign nationals can only be carried out if it is in the best interest of the child and if the child cannot be adopted in Vietnam.
Adopting persons must be those who have full civil act capacity; are at least 20 years older than the adopted child, possess good moral quality and is neither deprived of certain rights of parents toward minor children nor convicted for such crimes as deliberately infringing upon others’ life, health, dignity or honor; trafficking in, exchanging or appropriating children; maltreating or persecuting their grandparents, parents or children; enticing and forcing juveniles to commit law violations; or other sex crimes against children.
Adoptable children are orphans and abandoned children aged full 15 or younger living in foster homes. Children who are living with their families may also be adopted if their natural parents so agree.
To adopt a Vietnamese child, foreign nationals would submit to the central child adoption agency a dossier, including copies of their passports or substitute papers, the written certification of their health conditions and financial capabilities, the judicial record, a copy of the marriage certificate, for applicants being couples, or written commitment that they are not homosexuals, for single applicants. Within 30 days after receiving the central child adoption agency’s notification of the adoptable child, the applicants would make a written reply to inform the agency if they will adopt the child or not. If the applicants agree to adopt the child, the child adoption agency would send their written reply, together with their dossiers, to the Justice Service of province or centrally run city where the to-be-adopted child resides for submission to the provincial-level People’s Committee for decision. The hand over of the adopted child and the registration of child adoption would be carried out by the provincial-level Justice Service within five days after the provincial-level People’s Committee issues a decision to approve the adoption of the child. In case the applicants refuse to adopt the child without any plausible reasons, they must wait for 12 months to be introduced with another child.