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Residency:
1. Any alien or a Filipino citizen permanently residing abroad may file an application for inter-
country adoption of a Filipino child.
2. Comes from a country with whom the Philippines has diplomatic relations and whose
government maintains a similarly authorized and accredited agency and that adoption is allowed
under his/her national laws.
Age Requirement
1. The applicant couple is at least twenty-seven (27) years old at the time of application.
2. The applicant couple has a minimum age gap of 16 years and/or a maximum of 47 years age gap.
Marital Status
1. The applicant couple should be legally married for a minimum of three (3) years.
2. If married, they should jointly file for the adoption.
3. If any one of the spouse applicant has a history of divorce, the second or current marriage should
have completed a minimum of five (5) years upon filing of the application.
Single applicants shall not be refused as prospective adoptive applicants. However, they shall be
informed that they have a lower priority in being matched with children unless matched with a special
needs child (older or sibling group)
The application shall be filed and officially endorsed to the INTER-COUNTRY ADOPTION BOARD (ICAB)
through the Receiving Country’s Central Authority on Inter-Country Adoption or an ICAB accredited
Foreign Adoption Agency in the place of residence of the applicant couple. Any applicant interested
in adopting a Filipino child/ren (either relative or non-relative) may contact the nearest Central
Authority on Inter-Country Adoption of their country (if Ratifier or State Party to The Hague
Convention) or any ICAB accredited Foreign Adoption Agency who is responsible in these Prospective
Adoptive Parents preparation and conduct of their Home Study Report.
Waiting period
The approximate waiting period for a child after the PAPs’ application has been approved by the Board
is a minimum of three (3) months to a maximum of one (1) year, depending on the child preference of
the adoption applicants.
All children have to be cleared for Inter-Country adoption by the Competent Authority –
Programs and Projects Bureau of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (PPB
DSWD)-Central Office.
Children of either sex are usually available but there may be longer waiting period for girls
because of the Filipino culture whereby families hold on to their daughters since they are
generally more submissive, less difficult to parent and can be relied upon to care for their family
of origin even until parental senescence occurs.
The allowable age of Filipino children for Inter-Country Adoption (ICA) is below 15 years old. A
child who is above 15 years old may be processed for ICA when the following circumstances
prevail:
1. If the application for adoption of a child was filed (in cases of relative adoption) before the child
reached the age of 15;
2. Special Home Finding was initiated before the child’s 15th birthday; and other situations where
the intent to adopt was manifested before the child reached 15.
3. The general ages of children cleared for Inter-Country adoption usually range from 6 months to
10 years old. Special Needs or Hard to Place children include older children (usually boys or girls
age 6 to 15 years old)
Documentary requirements
Procedure
Where to file application: Either in (a) Family Court having jurisdiction over the place where the
child resides or may be found, or (b) Inter-Country Adoption Board (ICAB) through an intermediate
agency, whether governmental or an authorized and accredited agency, in the country of the
prospective adoptive parents.
After filing:
a) if filed in the FC, court determines sufficiency of petition in respect to form and substance, after
which, petition is transmitted to ICAB;
b) if petition is already with ICAB, it conducts matching of the applicant with an adoptive child;
c) after matchmaking, the child is personally fetched by the applicant for the trial custody which
takes place outside of the Philippines.
Supervised Trial Custody:
a) This process takes place outside of the country and under the supervision of the foreign adoption
agency;
c) If unsuccessful, ICAB shall look for another prospective applicant. Repatriation of the child is to
be resorted only as a last resort;
d) If successful, ICAB transmits a written consent for the adoption to be executed by the DSWD, and
the applicant then files a petition for adoption in his/her country.
Consent Required
1) Written consent of biological or adopted children above 10 years of age, in the form of sworn
statement is required to be attached to the application to be filed with the FC or ICAB;
2) If a satisfactory pre-adoptive relationship is formed between the applicant and the child, the
written consent to the adoption executed by the DSWD is required.