Vietnam issues decree on new child adoption fees

By Pham Van, Vuong Anh   July 22, 2016 | 02:09 am PT
Paying for a baby: Foreigners wishing to adopt a Vietnamese child will be subject to new charges.

Under a new decree on child adoption issued by the Vietnamese government, foreigners with resident status in Vietnam will have to pay a registration fee of 4.5 million VND (US$204) to adopt a Vietnamese child.

The same amount will be applied for foreigners who reside in border areas of Vietnam’s neighboring countries and wish to adopt a Vietnamese child.

The adoption fee for overseas Vietnamese and foreigners who want to adopt a Vietnamese child will be VND9 million ($403) a case, based on the new decree. Meanwhile,Vietnam's representative agencies in foreign countries will charge $150 for each adoption registration they receive.

The licensing fee for a foreign adoption agency will be VND65 million ($2914) for first-time registration and VND35 million ($1569) for a renewal.

The following cases of child adoption will be exempt from the fees: stepfather or stepmother adopts their spouse's children; aunt or uncle adopt their biological niece/nephew; people who adopt children with disabilities, HIV/AIDS or suffering from dangerous diseases; people who made honorable contributions to the state during wartime. Similar cases for adopting a foreign child will only be subject to half of the fees.

Unlike the 2011 decree on child adoption registation, the 2016 version has been amended to resolve previous issues specifying which state agencies are responsible for collecting adoption fees.

The decree specifies that the commune-level People's Committees will be responsible for collecting registration fees for domestic adoptions.

Provincial departments of justice will collect registration fees from foreigners living in Vietnam who adopt Vietnamese children. The Department of Adoption under the Ministry of Justice will collect registration fees from those who adopt foreign children.

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