Adopting A Thai Child

[mandee]

I don't doubt that this topic is extensively discussed but here goes.

My wish is to secure a British Passport for the child, so that he may be able to exploit the capabilities of his intelligence when he is old enough, Thailand not being a meritocracy and he only has a very poor very low-so background.

He is now six years old and I'm due for pushing up the daisies quite soon, (4 years by the actuarial tables).

If I married his mother, would this be a route ?

I can present a legion of reputable people who can attest to how I have been caring for him since birth, if that might be of any help.

Of course he would not be able to use the passport until his seniority, and maybe not need it at all.

I am providing funds for his education after I die (out of reach from his "family")

.

[Mario2008]

You are looking for an international adoption, accepted by both the UK and Thailand. That is a lengthy process, and you would need to be married for that.

You could give it a go at the amphur with both mother and child declaring you are the father of the child.

[p_brownstone]

You are looking for an international adoption, accepted by both the UK and Thailand. That is a lengthy process, and you would need to be married for that.

You could give it a go at the amphur with both mother and child declaring you are the father of the child.

From the OP's Post I do not believe he is the biological father of the child.

Also I believe there are restrictions as to the age of the prospective adoptive parent/s relative to the age of the child and the OP would seem to be outside the required range.

Patrick

[Mario2008]

Not sure that being the biological parent is required for legitimization at the amphur.

[Torrens54]

Hi "mandee", Good for you and I hope this may be of some help.

Both my Thai Wife have previously been married. We both have "Adult Children" but we also have a Thai Child....rapidly becoming a Young Lady, who my wife adopted after we were married. She had known the child since birth and we had been looking after her, along with the child's "birth Aunty" who was not and still is not in good health.

My wife suggested , after talking with officials at CNX City Hall, that it would be simpler for her to apply for the adoption than it would be if we did it jointly. It took about 12 months to go through, during which time both my wife and I had moved to Australia (I had a Job offer, too good to refuse) and my wife had to make a few trips back to Thailand for interviews regarding the adoption.

End result: Adoption was approved, I applied to bring the child to Australia as my Wife's Adopted Daughter. All happened within a few months without any problems. After the prescribed TWO Years of them living in Australia, they were both given Permanent Residency Status.

We have since returned to Thailand as I have retired, but Aus. Citizenship would have been available to them after living in the country for a total of 5 years.

Don't knows but would assume there would be similar arrangements regarding the UK.

Best of luck!!!

[robertthebruce]

What a lovely gesture for you to even think about, all the best and hope you can do the process.

Hats off to you...

[p_brownstone]

Not sure that being the biological parent is required for legitimization at the amphur.

So how can he "declare he is the father of the child"?

That said, unless he can prove he is the biological father, I believe the major sticking point is going to be the age of the Adoptive, unrelated, "father" with reference to the age of the child.

Patrick

[Godders]

The UK is no cakewalk when it comes to obtaining dual nationality for an adopted foreign child. You will have no chance of succeeding unless you first marry the mother.

All adoptions from Thailand now have to be pursued in through the dreaded Thai Adoption Centre in Bangkok, in accordance with the the Hague Convention on Adoption, the terms of which you can Google. Likewise, there are UK government websites which give details on obtaining British citizenship and a British passport for a successfully adopted foreign stepchild.

You will discover that it is an extremely arduous, complex and costly process, not for the fainthearted, which can literally take years to complete.

One crucial hurdle you will need to surmount is for all adoptive UK parents foreign stepchildren to be "habitually resident" in the UK (tricky if you have been living in Thailand! See the Hague Convention on Adoption for an explanation of what "habitually resident" means for the purpose sof adoption )) and to be resident there when the application is made.

After investing considerable time, energy and money (the Adoption Centre services are free, but the lawyers, psychiatrists etc they will refer you to are

anything but!) I actually abandoned ship on a bid to adopt my teenage Thai stepdaughter. Quite apart from any other considerations, I just couldn't see us completing the adoption process before the run-out date of her 18th birthday. Your time constraints seem more predicated on your age than that of the child you are so generously trying to help.

If you care to message me, I will be happy to pass on what I learned.

Good luck. You will need it!

[Mario2008]

Thailand doesn't have an age restriction for the person to be adopted.

Regarding the age restriction on the person adopting, the rule is that the person must be at least 25 years old and at least 15 year older than the person being adopted. There is no other age restriction, an 80 years old can still adopt. (But will be questioned on how he expect to take care of a baby).

[Mario2008]

Not sure that being the biological parent is required for legitimization at the amphur.

So how can he "declare he is the father of the child"?

That said, unless he can prove he is the biological father, I believe the major sticking point is going to be the age of the Adoptive, unrelated, "father" with reference to the age of the child.

Patrick

In some countries preference is given that a child has two legal parents and it doesn't matter if you are the biological parent or not. If you are willing to become the legal parent that is preferred above the child being "illegitimate"

I am not sure what Thai law stance is on this, so they notion that you want to become the legal father might be enough. As might be the marrying the mother.

[Jip66]

Not sure that being the biological parent is required for legitimization at the amphur.

So how can he "declare he is the father of the child"?

That said, unless he can prove he is the biological father, I believe the major sticking point is going to be the age of the Adoptive, unrelated, "father" with reference to the age of the child.

Patrick

You really are a sad little man, trying to pi$$ on someone else's party, get a life <deleted>....

.

[greenchair]

Well done.

[mandee]

The UK is no cakewalk when it comes to obtaining dual nationality for an adopted foreign child. You will have no chance of succeeding unless you first marry the mother.

All adoptions from Thailand now have to be pursued in through the dreaded Thai Adoption Centre in Bangkok, in accordance with the the Hague Convention on Adoption, the terms of which you can Google. Likewise, there are UK government websites which give details on obtaining British citizenship and a British passport for a successfully adopted foreign stepchild.

You will discover that it is an extremely arduous, complex and costly process, not for the fainthearted, which can literally take years to complete.

One crucial hurdle you will need to surmount is for all adoptive UK parents foreign stepchildren to be "habitually resident" in the UK (tricky if you have been living in Thailand! See the Hague Convention on Adoption for an explanation of what "habitually resident" means for the purpose sof adoption )) and to be resident there when the application is made.

After investing considerable time, energy and money (the Adoption Centre services are free, but the lawyers, psychiatrists etc they will refer you to are

anything but!) I actually abandoned ship on a bid to adopt my teenage Thai stepdaughter. Quite apart from any other considerations, I just couldn't see us completing the adoption process before the run-out date of her 18th birthday. Your time constraints seem more predicated on your age than that of the child you are so generously trying to help.

If you care to message me, I will be happy to pass on what I learned.

Good luck. You will need it!

It is encouraging to see that occasionally responses to serious questions hit the nail squarely on the head.

This is definitive for me.

Thanks so much to all who responded.

[Jaggg88]

Not sure that being the biological parent is required for legitimization at the amphur.

So how can he "declare he is the father of the child"?

That said, unless he can prove he is the biological father, I believe the major sticking point is going to be the age of the Adoptive, unrelated, "father" with reference to the age of the child.

Patrick

I think Mario is correct. Declaring you are the father means you assume all legal responsibility for the child (which is what the OP wants) and biological proof is not a requirement here in Thailand.