FRIAS FRIAS and ASSOCIATES LAW OFFICE

attorneys-at-law
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Unit E, No. 31, Aguirre Ave., BF Homes, Paranaque City, Philippines
du. No.: (632) 659.3252
To:
In re: Request for Inter-country Adoption Procedure

Greetings!

We refer to your request for our opinion regarding the matter of your intended adoption
in the Philippines. The governing law on inter-country adoption is Republic Act No.
8043 or the Inter-Country Adoption Act of 1995. Under the law, the procedure for
adopting a Filipino child by a foreigner is as follows:

1. Application. Foreigners intending to undertake local adoption may

file an application for inter-country adoption with the Inter-Country
Adoption Board through a foreign adoption agency in the country
where the applicant resides.

The schedule of fees is as follows:

a) Application Fee - US$200.00

b) Processing Fee – US$2,000.00
c) Pre-adoptive placement costs – Cost of child’s travel, medical
and psychological evaluation and other related expenses

The application may also be filed with the Philippine Regional Trial
Court which shall be subject to the appropriate filing fees. If the
court finds that the applicant has all the qualifications and none of
the disqualifications, the Court shall include the applicant, upon
payment of the application fee and processing fee (same as previously
mentioned), in the Inter-Country Adoption Board’s Roster of
Applicants.

The Inter-Country Adoption Board shall act on each application in

the Roster of Applications within one (1) month from receipt.

2. Matching Conference. A matching conference will be carried out

where the children available for adoption will be paired with the
applicants. Once matching is approved, the matching shall be sent
to the concerned foreign adoption agency within five (5) days from
the date of approval.

3. Trial Custody. After matching, there will be trial custody where the
child will be physically transferred to the adopters upon issuance of
the placement authority. The adopting parents or any one of them
shall personally fetch the child in the Philippines once all travel
documents are ready. The adopting parents shall shoulder the
expenses incidental to the pre-adoptive placement of the child.

4. Period of Trial Custody. The period of the trial custody shall be six
(6) months from the time of placement. The adopting parents shall
exercise substitute parental authority over the child and shall also
be mandated to submit a progress report of the child.
 5. Supervision of Trial Custody. The Central Authority or the Foreign
Adoption Agency of the State to which the child is under trial
custody shall supervise and monitor the placement of the child with
the applicants.

6. Termination of Trial Custody. After the period of trial custody and

it is determined that a satisfactory relationship is formed between
the adopting parents and the child, the Inter-Country Adoption
Board shall transmit the written consent to the adoption executed
by the DSWD to the Foreign Adoption Agency within thirty (30) days
after the receipt of the request for the written consent.

7. Filing of Petition. Within six (6) months after the completion of the
trial custody period, the applicant shall file the petition for the
adoption of the child with the proper court in the country where the
applicant resides.

Upon termination of the proceedings, a copy of the final decree of adoption

shall be issued including the certificate of citizenship/naturalization
whenever applicable, within one (1) month by the foreign adoption agency
to the Inter-Country Adoption Board within one (1) month after its
issuance.

Should you have questions regarding the above matters discussed, we will
be pleased to respond to them.

Prepared by:

Atty. Jia Frias