In general, the adoption process is regulated by the rules formulated in the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 275 of March 29, 2000: “Rules for the transfer of children for adoption and for monitoring the conditions of their life and upbringing in the families of adoptive parents on the territory of the Russian Federation”. These rules should be carefully read.
A married couple can adopt a child, as well as a man or woman who are not married.
What are the restrictions for candidates for adoptive parents:
– persons recognized by the court as incompetent or with limited legal capacity;
– spouses, one of whom is recognized by the court as incompetent or with limited legal capacity;
– persons deprived of their parental rights by a court or restricted by a court in their parental rights;
– persons removed from the duties of a guardian (trustee) for improper performance of the duties assigned to him by law;
– former adoptive parents, if the adoption was canceled by the court due to their fault;
– persons who, at the time of establishing the adoption, do not have an income that provides the adopted child with a living wage in the region of residence of the adopter
– persons who do not have a permanent place of residence;
– persons who have or have had a criminal record, are subject to or have been subjected to criminal prosecution (except for persons whose criminal prosecution has been terminated on rehabilitative grounds) for crimes against life and health, freedom, honor and dignity of the individual (except for illegal placement in a psychiatric hospital, slander and insults), sexual inviolability and sexual freedom of the individual, against the family and minors, public health and public morals, as well as against public safety;
– persons who have an outstanding or outstanding criminal record for serious or particularly serious crimes;
– persons living in residential premises that do not meet sanitary and technical rules and regulations;
– persons who have not been trained (except for close relatives of the child, as well as persons who are or were adoptive parents and in respect of whom the adoption was not canceled);
– persons who, for health reasons, cannot exercise parental rights;
– persons who are in a same-sex marriage.
Contrary to popular belief, there are no such restrictions as: lack of housing in the property; if the adoptive parent is not married; non-working candidate, and others. Many such questions, including controversial ones, are discussed in the section “Questions and answers”.
In order to adopt a child, you should submit an application to the guardianship and guardianship authority at your place of residence. The application must contain a request: to give an opinion on the possibility of being an adoptive parent, since certain and fairly high requirements are imposed on adoptive parents.
The application must be accompanied by documents that tell about you, about your financial and other opportunities. There are quite a lot of such documents, but it is necessary to collect them:
1. Brief autobiography.
It is written in free form, can be written by hand, on a typewriter, or typed on a computer.
2. A certificate from the place of work indicating the position and salary, or a copy of the income declaration.
The meaning of this document is to show that the applicant’s income is higher than the subsistence minimum for each family member, taking into account the adopted person.
The certificate is drawn up in a free form, on the company’s letterhead and assumes the accountant’s signature, seal, data for the last 3 months (in some regions, you may be asked for data for a longer period). As an alternative (for example, for entrepreneurs) – a copy of the income declaration from the tax inspectorate is prepared, and for pensioners-a certificate of pension accrual, a bank account statement or other certificates confirming income.
Also, the candidate for adoptive parents has the right to submit-instead of their own income certificate — a certificate of income of the spouse (s).
3. A copy of the financial personal account. The procedure for issuing it is described here.
Form No. 9, received in the EIRC (Unified Information Settlement Centers at the DEZ), or the housing cooperative, the management of the HOA (Homeowners ‘ Association).
4. An extract from the house (apartment-by-apartment) book, if the housing is municipal.
Standard form approved by the district (city) administration, housing cooperative, Homeowners ‘ Association (HOA). It is usually issued in the passport office of the PRUE, HOA, etc.
If the housing is privatized or purchased and is privately owned, then documents confirming the ownership of the residential premises must be submitted: A contract of sale, a certificate of registration of ownership, a notarized copy of the contract, a state-issued registration certificate (also — a certified copy).
5. Certificate of the internal affairs bodies on the absence of a criminal record for a deliberate crime against the life or health of citizens. We are not talking about a certificate of no criminal record at all, but rather about the absence of a criminal record for certain crimes. The scope of such crimes is established by the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, Chapter 16.
The procedure for issuing such certificates is regulated by the “Administrative Regulations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation on the provision of state services for issuing certificates of the presence (absence) of a criminal record and(or) the fact of criminal prosecution or termination of criminal prosecution”. To obtain such a certificate, you will need a copy of your passport, and in some cases, other documents.
This document is generally issued by the district police officer at the applicant’s place of residence. You can also contact the Police Department of Internal Affairs (ATC) or directly to the GIAC of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In Moscow, in 2013, this document was issued almost exclusively in the police Department. The certificate must be printed on a special numbered form.
6. A medical report of a state or municipal medical and preventive institution on the state of health of a person wishing to adopt a child, issued in the prescribed form.
Form No. 164/u-96 was introduced by Order of the Ministry of Health No. 332 of September 10, 1996. The restrictions were introduced by Government Decree No. 542 of May 1, 1996.
To obtain such a conclusion, it is necessary to pass blood tests (general and for infectious diseases-hepatitis B/ C, AIDS, syphilis), make an ECG and a fluorogram, get the conclusions of specialists-a narcologist, a psychiatrist, a dermatovenerologist, an oncologist, a neurologist, an infectious disease specialist, a therapist. Next, the chief physician of the medical institution must certify the conclusions of the specialists with his signature and a round seal.
7. A copy of the marriage certificate. If the adoptive parent is not married, a copy of his birth certificate must be provided.
8. When adopting a child, only one of the spouses submits an application expressing the consent of the other spouse for adoption. If the spouses have actually terminated the family relationship, a document is required confirming that they have not lived together for more than a year and the place of residence of the other spouse is unknown (if it is impossible to attach the relevant document to the application, the application must contain evidence confirming these facts).
9. Certificate of completion of the “School of Foster Parents” (SPR) — a new document that has become mandatory since 2013.
On September 1, 2012, Federal Law No. 351-FZ of November 30, 2011 “On Amendments to Articles 127 and 146 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation and Article 271 of the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation”came into force. In this regard, the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of April 25, 2012 No. 391 introduced a mandatory requirement for citizens to submit to the guardianship and guardianship authority a document on the passage of candidates for foster parents of special training.
It should be borne in mind that in different regions, the guardianship and guardianship authorities treat certificates (certificates) that are issued by the so-called “remote” SPR, working, for example, via the Internet. In some regions, as those who want to become foster parents tell us, the queue for registration in the SPR stretches for six months, and the distant SPR is simply unknown to the employees of the guardianship authorities.
However, many remote SPRS issue state-approved certificates.
9. A copy of the pension certificate, a certificate from the territorial body of the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation or another body that provides pension provision.
The documents listed in sub-paragraphs 2-4 are valid for one year from the date of their issuance, and the medical report on the state of health is valid for 6 months.
A person applying for adoption must present a passport, and in special cases, another identity document.
To prepare an opinion on the possibility of being adoptive parents, the guardianship and guardianship authority draws up an act based on the results of a survey of the living conditions of persons wishing to adopt a child. Such a survey must be conducted within 7 days after the application of the candidates for adoptive parents to the guardianship and guardianship authorities. A sample of the act can be downloaded here.
On the basis of the application and the documents attached to it, as well as the act of examining the living conditions of people who wish to adopt a child, the guardianship and guardianship authority prepares a conclusion on their possibility to be adoptive parents within 15 working days from the date of submitting the application.
This conclusion is the basis for registration as candidates for adoptive parents.
If for some reason a negative conclusion is accepted and the applicants are denied registration, the guardianship and guardianship authority must inform the applicants about this within 5 days. At the same time, all documents are returned to the applicant, and the procedure for appealing the decision is explained.