International-Country Adoption

Inter-Country adoption in Thailand is made available exclusively for foreigners who would want to adopt a Thai child with the intention to bring and raise the child in another country.

Applicants who wish to adopt a Thai child need to contact the authorized agencies in their country of domicile in order to initiate the process of inter-country adoption in Thailand, including obtaining application form, preparing required documents, and conducting home study.

Once the home study is completed, the authorized agency will forward the following documents to the Child Adoption Center in Thailand for the Child Adoption Board (CAB) to review:

• An adoption application form for Child Adoption in Thailand
• A home study report made by the authorized agency concerning about physical and mental health, and family status, and financial standing of the applicants
• A statement of approval made by the authorized agency confirming that the applicants are qualified to be the adoptive parents
• A statement made by the authorized agency agreeing to supervise the pre-adoption placement of a child for three bi-monthly progress reports to DSDW
• Medical certificates
• Birth Certificates
• Marriage Certificate
• Proof of termination of previous marriage (if applicable)
• Proof of occupation and income
• Complete financial statement
• Recommendations from two responsible persons
• Current license of foreign adoption agency
• Photographs of applicants (in a prescribed format)
• Statement from the relevant authority permitting the immigration of the child

(All of the above documents related to the Thai adoption need to be certified by the Royal Thai Embassy or Consulate in the country where the applicants reside and those documents which are not in English language must be attached with English or Thai translations and translated and certified by the authorized translator.)

If the adopted child is a relative child or a step child of the applicant, the application and all of required documents will be forwarded to the CAB to review and approve the adoption. The decision of the CAB will be informed to the applicant through the governmental agency in the applicant's country.

In case the adopted child is a non-relative child of the applicant, prior to forwarding the application to CAB to review, DSDW will arrange the matching of the prospective adoptive parents with a child who is legally available for Inter-Country adoption in Thailand.

After Matching and with the CAB's approval, photographs and information related to the background and health condition of the child will be sent to the prospective adoptive parents for consideration.

If the prospective adoptive parents accept the child, the case will be further submitted to the CAB and the Director General of the DSDW for approval of pre-adoption placement. However, in case the prospective adoptive parents are living aboard and wish to bring the child out of Thailand for the pre-adoption placement, the case must be accordingly submitted to the Minister of the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security of Thailand for permission.

Upon the pre-adoption placement is approved, both of prospective adoptive parents are required to travel to Thailand to be interviewed by the Board and bring the child to their country for pre-adoption placement for at least six months.

When returning to the country, the prospective adoptive parents are requested to report to the authorized agency in their country in order for the supervision of the pre-adoption placement. The authorized agency is in charge of submitting a three bi-monthly report on the pre-adoption placement to the CAB for approval of finalization of such adoption.

With the final approval of adoption from the CAB, the prospective adoptive parents must register the adoption under Thai law within the period of six months after acknowledging such notification. The registration can be carried out at the Royal Thai Embassy or Consular where the adoptive parents have domicile, and once the registration is completed, the adoption is then finalized under Thai law. The legalization of the adoption under the concerned law of the adoptive parents shall be carried out then, and the authorized agency will inform DSDW of the final outcome of the adoption.

If you have questions related to inter-country adoption in Thailand, please feel free to contact us.