Information
on international adoptions from
the Republic of Kazakhstan
Currently the adoption legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan is based on the Constitution of Kazakhstan, Convention on Children's Rights (Kazakhstan joint this convention in 1994), the Marriage and Family Law of Kazakhstan as well as other laws and regulations.
According to the current laws of Kazakhstan, Kazakh children are available for adoption by foreigners if the citizens of Kazakhstan, who permanently reside in Kazakhstan, do not take care of them, if relatives of these children do not adopt them, regardless of their citizenship or place of living.
In order to regulate the process of international adoption and according to the article 209 of the Marriage and Family Law of Kazakhstan, remedial legislation made by the Government of Kazakhstan on the 12th of November 2002 #1197, the Rules of adoption of children - citizens of Kazakhstan - by foreigners were approved.
The children can be adopted by citizens of Kazakhstan who do not reside on the territory of Kazakhstan, by foreigners, who are not relatives of the children, in 3 months after putting the children on the centralized registry at the Ministry of Education and Science of Kazakhstan.
In compliance with the current system of adoption, foreign citizens who wish to adopt in Kazakhstan need to turn to respctive institutions in Kazakhstan through diplomatic and consular institutions of Kazakhstan and prepare a dossier according to the following instructions. After the completion of the dossier, it should be delivered to the Consular Section of the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Washington, DC with a cover letter.
Afterwards, the adoption dossier is submitted to the Ministry of Education and Science of Kazakhstan for consideration by respective institutions.
The registration of foreigners who wish to adopt children from Kazakhstan is carried out by diplomatic and consulate institutions of Kazakhstan.
The Ministry of Education and Science of Kazakhstan and regional Educational Departments have the right to issue invitations to Kazakhstan for foreign prospective adoptive parents.
Registration of foreigners as candidates for adoption and issuance of a Kazakh visa do not mean aiutomatic permission to adopt, because final adoption decisions in Kazakhstan are made by judicial authorities only.
In case of a positive court order, respective institutions of Kazakhstan issue a certificate for adoption, birth certificate and national passport where it is registered that a child heads for a permanent place of residence of his/her adoptive parents.
According to the Law of Kazakhstan on changes and additions to the Law of Kazakhstan on Kazakh citizenship of May 17, 2002 #322-11, the child who is a citizen of Kazakhstan and is adopted by foreigners maintains his/her citizenship until the age of consent. The child can become the citizen of another country only after coming of age and according to his/her free will. This requirement was introduced to protect the rights of adopted children.
