Adopting

[tim1uk]

hi im looking for any help on how to adopt my thai step son who is 6yrs old,me and my thai wife have been married 3 years and been together for 5yrs. my stepson never met his natural father and thinks im his dad.we also have a 2yr old son together who has both thai and uk passports.my wife and sons live in thailand and all visited the uk last year on family visit visas . my step son natural father is named on his birth cert but my wife change his surname to her old family name before we married. the natural father has never been seen or visited and we dont no where he lives. i would like to adopt my step son so he has the same family name as us and to bring my whole family to the uk to live. cheers

[Boo]

a proper international adoption starts with the social services department of your home country. they do the relevant checks & studies into you & your wife/family, once they have granted permission then you can approach the thai side.

If the main reason is for him to be able to move to the UK, it should have no bearing, he will apply as part of your wifes settlement visa & after the required time in UK have the right to apply for citizenship. I believe your wife can also change his family name in the same way she did before (but am not 100% sure of this due to hi age) others will surely come along & provide more information..

[Mario2008]

Not sure if he can change his name to yours, as it must be a Thai name. In case of a foreign parent it is allowed, but officially you are not a parent. It will depend on the amphur if they will allow it.

As Boo said, you need an international adoption as only an international adoption will be recognized by the UK. An international adoption means that the adoption procedure must comply both with Thai and in this case UK law and starts in the UK.

Benefits are that the child will be your legal child and could get your nationality (depending on Uk law) on adoption.

In this case it should be straight forward, but might never the less take some time and money. Ask a visa lawyer if it would complicate things to settle now in the UK, before the adoption has been completed.

On the Thai side, you will need to contact the childs natural father, to get his permission. If he refuses, a Thai court can still give permission if they think adoption is in the best interest of the child.

More on adoption: http://thailawonline.com/en/family/children/adoption.html

[tim1uk]

thank you boo and mario for you comments .will be contacting my local adoption agency and see what we need to do cheers

[NotEinstein]

Hi tim1uk,

I adopted my then step-daughter 5 years ago (she is now 13) in Thailand directly here:

Thailand's Adoption Authority

225 Ratchawithi Road

Bangkok 10400

Tel: (66) (2) 354-7515

Email: [email protected]

We initially contacted the office in Chiang Mai, but were referred to Bangkok.

It is a 'free' service, but you will have to chase them, otherwise it will drag on (it took us nearly 2 years).

My wife had previously obtained a document from the Amphur office stating that she was the sole parent, with no contact with the natural father.

It was not necessary to trace the father for the process.

We haven't bothered with UK adoption as we have no intention of doing more than visiting.

If you would like more info. I'm happy to help.

Good luck