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STEP 1: Contact the
Secrétariat à l’adoption internationale
for information on international adoption, the conditions
and requirements of countries of origin as well as the procedures
involved in the adoption process. Your family will then need
to choose the country from which you plan on adopting (ensure
you meet the minimum age, civil or marital status, family
situation required by the country) as well as the certified
body (adoption agency) that will facilitate the adoption.
STEP 2: Signing a Contract
with the licensed adoption agency. Before the adoption
process can proceed, you must sign a contract with the adoption
agency. This contract will detail the services offered to
your family and a breakdown of the estimated fees.
STEP 3: Open an Adoption
File with the Secrétariat à l'adoption internationale.
Your agency will request that you complete the Adoption File
request form which is then sent to the SAI with the required
documents. The SAI then verifies whether your family meets
Québec’s requirements for adoption. If verified,
the SAI will send you a letter confirming that an adoption
file as been opened with the SAI. * Keep this letter as you
will need to show it your social worker at your first meeting
for the psychosocial assessment.
STEP 4: The Psychosocial
Assessment (a.k.a. The Home study Report) is a key
part of the adoption process as it determines whether or not
an applicant family is able to meet the physical, psychological
and social needs of a child adopted from another country.
A social worker from either the Ordre des psychologues du
Québec or the Ordre professionnel des travailleurs
sociaux du Québec will be assigned to your family and
he/she will conduct your assessment. Your worker will visit
your home and interview you and your family so that he/she
can gather enough information so that he/she can write an
accurate report. You and your social worker will discuss your
motivations for adoption, your socioeconomic and cultural
situation, personal histories, views on adoption and your
strategies for parenting.
Once your worker has gathered
enough information, he/she will produce the report with a
recommendation regarding the prospective adoption. In order
for the adoption to proceed, the recommendation must be positive.
STEP 5: Preparing your
adoption file! With the guidance of the adoption
agency, you will now be required to prepare an adoption file.
This involves the collection, translation and authentication
of documents. Once assembled, these documents are submitted
to the office of the foreign country's representative in Canada
for certification. Once certified, the file is then returned
to your adoption agency to continue with the process.
Hague Convention Adoptions:
If you're adopting a child from a country where the Hague
Convention is in effect, the SAI, as a central authority,
must prepare and transmit a report on the adoptive parent
to the central authority in the child’s country of origin.
The psychosocial assessment constitutes this report. Through
this document, the SAI fulfils its obligation to the foreign
authorities.
Non-Hague Convention
Adoptions: During this step, the SAI issues a letter
for the foreign authorities to attest that the adoptive parent
has undergone a psychosocial assessment to establish that
the adoptive parent is qualified and suited to adopt.
STEP 6: Send your adoption
file to the authorities in the child's country. Once
your file is complete, your adoption agency will send your
file of documents to the authorities in the child's country.
Your agency will follow up on the file's progress and ensure
that procedures are carried out.
STEP 7: The Citizenship
and Immigration Processes. You, as the adoptive parent(s),
are responsible for your child's admission into Canada.
The first part of this process
is to confirm that you are a Canadian citizen. You can complete
this part of the citizenship application and send it to Citizenship
and Immigration Canada before even knowing your child's identity.
If you're eligible, you will receive a letter indicating the
next steps to follow to complete the second part of the application
which concerns the child to be adopted, once his/her identity
is known.
As with the Citizenship Process,
you can complete the first part of the immigration process
prior to knowing your child's identity. The adoptive parent
must first sponsor the child under the family class immigration
category in order to obtain permanent residence. By doing
so, the adoptive family makes a commitment to immigration
authorities that they will provide for the child's basic needs.
If the application is approved, the applicant family receives
a letter with the instructions detailing the steps to follow
to complete the second part of the application which involves
the permanent residence of the child.
This occurs when the authorities
in the child's country of origin do not render an adoption
decision and entrust the child to the adoptive parent so that
the adoption can be granted in Québec. In this situation,
the adoptive parent must follow the immigration process for
the child.
STEP 8: Waiting and
more waiting! The waiting period is often the most
difficult part for adoptive parents. How long you wait for
a proposal of a child depends on a number of factors including
how many other files have been submitted to the country and
most importantly, whether or not there are any children that
match your family. International adoptions are also subject
to national and/or international situations that may delay
or put and end to the proposed adoption.
STEP 9: Proposal of
a child! In most cases, the adoption authorities
in the child's country match your family with a child based
on the recommendations in your psychosocial assessment as
well as the current availability of adoptable children. Once
your agency receives the proposal from the foreign authorities,
they will submit the proposal of a child to your family along
with a photograph of the child and his/her information. You
must review and carefully assess all of the information in
the child's file. Many families take the child's information
to their family doctors for review if there are any concerns.
You will be given a certain period of time to either accept
or refuse the proposal. Your decision is then relayed to the
foreign authorities.
STEP 10: Authorization
by the SAI. The SAI will verify the documents ensuring
that the child can be adopted, all consents for the adoption
are valid and that the child meets the recommendations of
the adoptive family's psychosocial assessment. A letter of
no objection is issued stating that the SAI has no grounds
to oppose the adoption.
STEP 11: Administrative
and legal procedures in the child's country of origin. Administrative
and legal procedures may vary greatly depending on the child's
country and whether or not it's part of the Hague Convention.
In all cases, the adoptive parent must receive a decision
in the country of origin that entrusts the child to the adoptive
parent. This may consist in:
1. an adoption decision rendered by an
administrative or legal authority;
2. a placement decision in favour of the adoptive parent
(pre-adoption placement).
If the country is a part of the Hague Convention,
you must obtain the certificate of compliance, or a document
in lieu thereof, issued by the central authority of the child's
country, that you will have to submit to the SAI later.
Once everything is in order with administrative
and legal procedures, your adoption agency will inform you
that the time has come to go and pick up your child in his/her
country. Depending on the child's country, one adoptive parent
may travel, or you can go as a couple or in a group with other
adoptive parents. Some adoption agencies offer escorts who
will accompany you to the country as well as translation services.
In some countries, your adoption agency or the adoption authorities
from the child's country will designate a person to bring
your child to Québec. In that case you would meet your child
at the airport, however, most countries and agencies prefer
you travel to the country to pick up the child. This gives
you an opportunity to see where your child has been living
as well as to learn about his/her culture and traditions.
Your length of stay in the child's country
will vary greatly as some countries require adoptive families
to stay anywhere from a few days to several weeks or months.
If you've chosen the citizenship
process, it's recommended that your child have a
medical exam. Also, the SAI must state in writing that the
adoption complies with Québec's adoption legislation so that
your child can obtain Canadian Citizenship and enter Canada.
In order to issue this statement as quickly as possible, the
documents concerning the adoption decision rendered by the
authorities in the country of origin must be sent to the SAI
as soon as they are received, in accordance with the agreement
concluded with the certified body. All documents written in
a language other than French or English must be submitted
with a translation.
Following receipt and review of the documents,
the SAI sends the Canadian visa office in the country of origin
the Déclaration en vertu de la Loi sur la citoyenneté,
in which it states that the adoption complies with Québec’s
adoption legislation. Citizenship officers may only grant
the child Canadian citizenship once this letter has been received.
Once citizenship has been granted, your child may enter Canada.
If you've chosen, or you're required
to follow the immigration process, your child must
have a medical examination in a clinic or hospital designated
by the Canadian embassy. You will then apply for a visa for
your child from the Canadian visa office in the child's country.
Once you've received the visa, your child may enter Canada.
STEP 12: Your child's arrival in
Québec. You must confirm the date your child is entrusted
to you and the child of his/her arrival into Canada with your
adoption agency. They will then notify the SAI. Once you bring
your child home, you can contact your local community service
centre (CLSC) to schedule an appointment with a health profession.
This visit is part of a number of services offered by the
CLSC in the 14 days following your child's arrival in Québec.
The purpose is to establish initial contact with the child
and to offer appropriate advice and care to your family.
STEP 13: Administrative and legal
procedures in Québec. In order for the adoption
to be valid, the procedures must continue in Québec and will
vary depending on the type of adoption decision made in the
child's country and whether or not the country is part of
the Hague Convention.
If you're
adopting a child from a country that is part of the Hague
Convention, the adoption authorities there will issue a certificate
of compliance confirming that the adoption decision has been
rendered.
As a result of the adoption decision being
made in accordance with procedure, the decision doesn't have
to be recognized by a Québec court to have effect in
Québec. As the adoptive parent, you will submit the
certificate of compliance to the SAI within 60 days of its
issue by the central authority in the child's country with
a translation. You will then complete and send the Declaration
of attribution to the SAI. This document has the name you've
chosen for your child.
If all of your documents are in order, the
SAI notifies the Directeur de l’état civil of
both the certificate of compliance, or the document in lieu
thereof, and the DEC-10 form. The SAI returns the original
document and its translation to the adoptive parent marked
“Transmis au Directeur de l’état civil”.
You can now request a birth certificate for
the child from the Directeur de l’état civil
by following the standard procedure.
If you've chosen the citizenship process,
you must complete the Canadian citizenship preparation (CIT-0480)
form and send it to Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
If the adoptive parent chose or is required
to follow the immigration process
If you've chosen or
you're required to follow the immigration process, your child
doesn't automatically become a Canadian citizen even though
he/she has permanent resident status when entering Canada.
You must officially submit an application to Citizenship and
Immigration Canada.
If you're adopting a child from
a country where the Hague Convention is not in effect or from
a country where the Hague Convention is in effect but which
does not issue a certificate of compliance or a document in
lieu thereof:
Recognition of the foreign adoption decision
by an adoption judgment in Québec (the country of origin
renders an adoption decision). To have effect in Québec, the
adoption judgment made by the foreign court, must be recognized
by the Youth Division of the Court of Québec. This step is
mandatory for the child to be given legal status in Québec
and to obtain Canadian citizenship in the case where you have
chosen the immigration process. At this point, you will also
declare the name to be given to your child.
The SAI prepares a certificate for the
court once they've received notification of your child's arrival
and the necessary documents. This document confirms that the
SAI followed adoption procedures and that the child's country
make the adoption decision. You will be given the certificate
along with a letter. You will then need to prepare the motion
for recognition of the foreign adoption decision and submit
it with the certificate.You may retain the services of a legal
advisor to draft and present the motion.
Upon recognition of the foreign judgment,
the clerk of the Youth Division of the Court of Québec
sends a copy of the judgment to the Directeur de l’état
civil, so that the child can automatically be registered.
You can then obtain the child’s birth certificate from
the Directeur de l’état civil by following the
standard procedure.
You are required to send the SAI a copy
of the judgment of the Youth Division of the Court of Québec.
If you've chosen the citizenship process,
you must complete the form entitled Canadian citizenship preparation
(CIT-0480) and send it to Citizenship and Immigration Canada
to obtain a certificate for your child.
If you've chosen, or you're required to
follow the immigration process, you must officially submit
an application to Citizenship and Immigration Canada once
the adoption judgment (recognition of the decision) has been
obtained from the Youth Division of the Court of Québec.Your
child doesn't automatically become a Canadian citizen upon
entering Canada even though he/she has permanent resident
status.
Placement Order Required by a
Judge in Québec:
In some countries, the foreign authorities do not render an
adoption decision and instead, they entrust the child to the
adoptive parents so that the adoption can be granted in Québec.
There are two steps in this process:
1. If you find yourself in this situation,
you must first apply to the Youth Division of the Court of
Québec to obtain a placement order. The SAI then prepares
the certificate for the court that confirms adoption procedures
were followed by the SAI and that the adoption is authorized
by your child's country of origin. You will then have to prepare
a motion for a placement order which is submitted with the
certificate. You can retain the services of a legal advisor
to draft and present the motion.
2.Once the placement period that
was outlined in the order has expired, you will then have
to apply to the court again to obtain an adoption judgment
in Québec.This step is mandatory for the foreign decision
to be valid for your child to be granted legal status in Québec.
It's also necessary in order to get a birth certificate and
to obtain Canadian citizenship. At this time, you will also
have to indicate the chosen name for your child. You must
send the SAI a copy of the judgment of the Youth Division
of the Court of Québec.
Step 14: Sending reports on the
child's progress. As part of the contract with your
adoption agency, you will be required to submit reports on
your child's progress to the authorities in the child's country
of origin. The form, frequency and number of reports as well
as how long this will be required of you, will vary depending
on the country. Your agency will send the reports to the child's
country of origin. Completing these reports is crucial and
failure to do so may have serious consequences. Countries
of origin closely monitor the receipt of reports and sanctions
imposed in the past have included fully closing the country
to adoptive parents of the host country in which the parents
failed to submit the required reports.
Step 15: The adoption finalization!
Your international adoption is finalized when:
- the Directeur de l'état civil
is notified or an adoption judgment is rendered;
- the Directeur de l'état civil
issues a birth certificate;
- your child is granted Canadian citizenship;
- your progress reports are submitted
and sent to the country of origin;
- where applicable, the other administrative
procedures after adoption are carried out with the authorities
of the country or origin.
Under Québec legislation, files
pertaining to a child’s adoption are confidential and
the information contained therein may only be disclosed where
permitted by law. Once the adoption procedure has been completed,
the SAI closes the adoption files. They are then archived
and digitalized and may be used to prepare a summary of the
child’s history should the SAI receive a request for
the child’s biological history or a request for a reunion.
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