Optional Grouping: Procedure for Adoption

Follow the steps given below to adopt a child from a foreign country as an Indian citizen.¹ 

Step 1: Necessary formalities for adoption of a child from a foreign country will be completed in that country, as per their law. 

Step 2: The relevant authority, depending on the laws of the country, shall issue approval of adoption, only on receiving the required documents (please ask the authority for more details on the same), and the following reports:

• Home Study Report 
• Child Study Report 
• Medical Examination Report of the child 

Step 3: A foreign child adopted by Indian citizens and having a foreign passport, will need an Indian visa to come to India. For obtaining this visa, you can apply for it to the Indian Mission in that country. 

Step 4: The immigration clearance for the child adopted shall be obtained from the Central Government in the Foreigners’ Division, Ministry of Home Affairs, through the Indian Diplomatic Mission to that country.

1. Regulation 22, Adoption Regulations, 2017.[↩]

As a resident Indian, you may opt for in-country adoption i.e., adoption within India. Your application for adoption will go through various stages, as mentioned below:¹

 

Step 1: You may apply for adopting a child by registering on the website of Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), here. It will redirect you to Child Adoption Resource Information and Guidance System (CARINGS) where you can fill your application details such as  your personal details, employment details, etc. 

 

Step 2: After registration, you will be required to submit relevant documents as part of your application. Please see here to understand which documents you will have to submit. After you fill out the application, you will be given an acknowledgement slip.

 

Step 3: Once you have filled the application with the relevant details and documents, you can track the status of your application with the registration number provided to you on the acknowledgement slip.

 

Step 4: A home study will be conducted by CARA or Specialized Adoption Agency (SAA), to determine whether you are eligible to adopt a child.

 

Step 5: Your application may be accepted or rejected. In case your application is rejected, the reasons will be posted on CARINGS, and you may appeal against that decision to the Children’s Court. Please see here for the procedure for appeal. 

 

Step 6: If your application is accepted, on the basis of your seniority, three children will be referred to you by the SAA through the CARINGS. You can choose one child for possible adoption within 48 hours, and a meeting will be fixed to assess suitability. This process will be completed within twenty days, and if you do not accept the child you have chosen, your name will be moved to the bottom of the seniority list. 

 

Step 7: Within ten days of your selection of a child, you will have to take the child in pre-adoption foster care, which makes you the child’s foster parents. This happens while the adoption approval order is pending from the Court. You should sign this undertaking before taking the child in. 

 

Step 8: The SAA (or other relevant authority) will file an application with the relevant Court to obtain an adoption order. If the SAA is not available in your town, the relevant authority will do this. The Court proceedings will be held in-camera, and your application will be disposed of within two months from when you filed the adoption application. Thereafter, the SAA will obtain the birth certificate of the child within three working days with your name. 

 

Step 9: The SAA which conducted the home study will prepare the post-adoption follow-up report every six months for two years after the adoption. In case of any issues, counselling will be provided, and if there is an issue after adopting the child, the child  may be taken back and declared as legally free for adoption again for other prospective adoptive parents.

 

For more information on the procedure, please see here. 

1. Regulations 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13, Adoption Regulations, 2017.[↩]

As a relative of a child, following the non-religious law to adopt, you can adopt both within India and also do inter-country adoptions.

Adoption within India (In-Country Adoption)

Follow the steps given below for adopting a child through in-country relative adoption i.e. adoption within India.¹ 

Step 1: You should determine if you can adopt the child. You must be related to the child in any of the following ways:² 

• You must be his/her paternal uncle or aunt,
• You must be his/her maternal uncle or aunt, 
• You must be his/her paternal grandparent, 
• You must be his/her maternal grandparent.

You must also be³ either a Resident Indian or Non-Resident Indian (NRI) or an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) residing in India for at least one year.

Step 2: You must register on the website of Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), here. It will redirect you to Child Adoption Resource Information and Guidance System (CARINGS). You should submit the required documents,⁴ which are:

• Proof of residence 
• Consent of the child, if the child is aged more than 5 years
• Consent of the biological parents in this format , or permission from the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) to the legal guardian of the child to surrender the child and give him/her up for adoption in this format 
• Adoption order from court, as described in step 3. 
• Affidavit in support of you and your spouse’s relationship, and your financial and social status in this format

Step 3: Thereafter, you must file an adoption application with the relevant Court, in this format. Once obtained, you must upload it on Child Adoption Resource Information and Guidance System (CARINGS).

For more information on the procedure, please see here.

Adoption across Countries (Inter-Country Adoption)

Follow the steps given below for adopting a child through inter-country relative adoption.⁵ 

Step 1: You should determine if you can adopt a child. You may adopt a relative’s child if you are a Non-Resident Indian or an Overseas Citizen of India. 

Step 2: You should approach the relevant authority i.e. the Authorized Foreign Adoption Agency or the Central Authority in your country of residence. In case there is no Authorized Foreign Adoption Agency or Central Authority in your country of residence, then you should approach the relevant Government department or Indian diplomatic mission (in cases of Indian citizens) in that country. They will guide you on the home study that will be conducted and once that is done, the registration process.

Step 3: You should submit the required documents.  Please ask the authority you have approached for more details on this. 

Step 4: Once your documents have been submitted, the authority will forward your application to the District Child Protection Unit (DCPU) for a family background report ( this might be chargeable). See here for more details on the report. This report will be forwarded to the receiving country and the relevant authority. 

Step  5: You should file an application for adoption to Court in the district where the child resides in this format, with a consent form from the biological parents and all the other documents, which are:

• Consent of the child, if the child is more than 5 years old
• Permission of the receiving country
• Your relationship with the child (family tree)
• Recent family photographs of you, the child and the biological parents
• Consent of the biological parents in this format or permission from the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) to the legal guardian of the child to surrender the child and give him/her up for adoption in this format 
• Family background report 

Thereafter, you should furnish a certified copy of the adoption order to the DCPU. 

Step 6: The relevant authority will provide a No Objection Certificate (NOC) in favor of the adoption within ten days of receiving the adoption order from the DCPU. 

For more information, please see here. 

1. Regulation 51, Adoption Regulations, 2017.[↩]
2. Section 2(52), Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.[↩]
3. Ministry of Women and Child Development, Central Adoption Resource Authority, Relative Adoption (In-country), http://164.100.158.243/carings/family/famhome.aspx.[↩]
4. Schedule VI, Adoption Regulations, 2017.[↩]
5. Regulation 53, Adoption Regulations, 2017.[↩]

As a step-parent of the child you want to adopt, you can follow the procedure given below.¹

Step 1: You and your spouse (the biological parent of the child) must register on the website of Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), here. It will redirect you to Child Adoption Resource Information and Guidance System (CARINGS), where you can fill your application details such as  your personal details, employment details, etc.

Step 2: You must then upload the relevant documents, which are: ²

• Proof of residence of you and your spouse
• Proof of the parties mentioned above being legally wedded. 
• Death Certificate of the biological parent in case he/she is not alive. 
• Attested photographs of the child to be adopted, the biological parent(s), spouse adopting the child and the witnesses. 
• Form from Child Welfare Committee (CWC) granting you permission, as described in step 3. 
• Adoption order from court, as described in step 4.

Step 3: You must be granted permission from the CWC to adopt the child. You must fill up this form, which also provides  your and your spouse’s consent.  In case children are being relinquished/surrendered by both spouses from their respective earlier marriages for adoption, separate consent forms shall be filled up.

Step 4: You along with your spouse must file an application in the Family/District/City Civil Court in this format. Thereafter, you should obtain a certified copy of the adoption order from the court and submit a copy of it online through CARINGS.

For more information, please see here. 

1. Regulation 52, Adoption Regulations, 2017.[↩]
2. Schedules XX and VI, Adoption Regulations, 2017.[↩]