Bulgaria is a party to the Hague Legalization Convention. The international adoptions must meet the regulations of the Convention. During the last years more and more prospective parents are interested in adopting Bulgarian children.

U.S. citizen parents interested in adopting a Bulgarian orphan should first contact the U.S. CIS and satisfy the U.S. pre-adoption requirements. The next step is to identify an orphan available for adoption. Changes in Bulgarian adoption law in July 2003 require prospective adoptive parents to deposit their applications directly at the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) using the services of an American adoption agency licensed in Bulgaria or a Bulgarian agency accredited by the MOJ. The names of all prospective adoptive parents will be entered into a register. Another register will keep track of all Bulgarian children available for foreign adoptions. A council consisting of representatives of the Ministries of Justice, Health, Education, Social Services will review each application. The Council will offer a child to a prospective adoptive family. The MOJ will provide photographs of the child and information about his/her medical condition. If the family declines to adopt a specific child, the Council should be informed within two months and a new child will be offered for adoption.

Prospective adoptive parents may be married or single. Adoptive parents must be at least fifteen years older than their adoptive children, but no more than forty-five years older. There are no Bulgarian age minimums or maximums; prospective adoptive parents are expected to comply with their home government’s age requirements (For the U.S. prospective adoptive parents must be at least 25 years old; there are no age maximums).

There are no residency requirements to complete an international adoption in Bulgaria. However, prospective adoptive parents are expected to spend 5 days with their adoptive child before the orphanage director will release the child.

It normally takes at least several months to complete an intercountry adoption in Bulgaria; however, some adoptions have taken over a year to complete.

Prospective adoptive parents must use a Bulgarian licensed U.S. adoption agency or a Bulgarian adoption agency accredited by the Bulgarian Ministry of Justice. The Ministry of Justice is currently reviewing license applications for several U.S. based adoption agencies. All U.S. documents submitted to the Bulgarian government/court must be authenticated.

As soon as prospective adopting parents arrive in Bulgaria, they should contact the Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy in order to register their presence in Bulgaria and schedule a visa appointment for their adopted child.