Adopting five year old.

[Donnievino]

My Thai wife and I are taking care of a 5 year old boy that is half Thai and half Filipino. The parents are living in Lebanon and were never married and are no longer a couple. The mother is Filipino and the father is Thai. My wife, who worked in Lebanon and was friends with the parents brought the boy to Thailand at the parents request three years ago. The boy was born in Lebanon and has a Thai passport and Filipino passport and a Lebanese birth certificate. We would like to adopt the boy and the mother agrees and the father is less willing at this point but may come around for financial reasons as he also has other children he is supporting. I am living in Thailand on a retirement visa and have been here two years. My wife and I were married in the US nine months ago.

Questions:

Is adoption in Thailand difficult for an American and Thai wife?

Since the parents were never married does the mother have more say in the adoption process?

Once a legal Thai adoption is accomplished is it easy to get a residence visa to the US for the child?

Would the Thai father's agreement be critical?

Edited April 19, 2016 by Donnievino

[Torrens54]

Hope you don't get the same uncooperative rude woman my wife and I had to deal with at the Thai Adoptions Office in BKK.

Years ago we had been looking after a 5 Y.O girl on weekends who was in the care of a loving but unwell Aunt. The child is not a blood relative of my wife's. We decided we'd like to adopt her but as I was about to return to Australia to work, my wife (she is Thai) submitted the Adoption Papers in Chiang Mai, in her name only.

Nothing happened for a few months and in fact, by the time it did my wife had joined me in Australia. She was asked to attend a meeting in Chiang Mai so she came back, had the meeting and was told she'd be contacted later.

She made three trips back to CNX from Australia that year but the Adoption was approved and she was able to bring our little girl back with her to Australia.

Both my wife and our daughter have Permanent Residence Status in Australia but we moved back to Chiang Mai when I retired five years ago.

Our daughter is now 15 and last year we thought that it would be wise for me to Formally Adopt her, so in the future, if she wishes to return to Australia to live, study and/or work she can do so. The Thai authorities told my wife I would have to go to BKK to make the application.

We asked why it couldn't be done in Chiang Mai but were again told we'd have to apply in BKK. We had ALL the documentation you could possibly think of and so we went to BKK. The woman who saw us at the Children's Services Office didn't even acknowledge my existence, didn't reply when I spoke to her ... maybe she doesn't speak English but anyway she point- blank told my wife that the Ferang would not be permitted to adopt as he is too old and there is no need for him to adopt a 15 year old Thai child.

No reason other than age, she didn't even look at the documentation, let alone check my background... NOTHING, just waved us off!

We are going to take the matter up with the PM's Office, so who knows ?

As I said, hope you don't get the same treatment!

[johnatong]

Complex and difficult

Start by speaking to the Child Adoption Centre

http://www.adoption.dsdw.go.th/Inter-country.html