INFORMATION ABOUT ADOPTING FROM COLOMBIA
Effective September 7, 2008
Introduction
The Colombian Family Welfare Institute
(Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar) (ICBF) is the Colombian government entity in charge of protecting children and guaranteeing their rights.
The adoption program of the ICBF intends to provide stable families for children. The ICBF assesses and studies applications of prospective adoptive parent(s). The adoption process requires administrative steps before the ICBF and judicial actions before a Family judge or by a judge having combined jurisdiction (Promiscuo de Familia).
Adopolis is accredited by the ICBF as a full service international agency for work with Colombia. Adopolis is responsible for assisting and preparing the family through the adoption process and providing post-adoption reports to Colombia.
Adopolis also works with Fundación Los Pisingos, Centro para el Reintegro y Atención del Niño (CRAN), and Casa de Maria y el Niño, three private organizations in Colombia. All three operate children's homes and have provided adoption services under authorization of the ICBF for many years.
The Children
Boys and girls, infants, toddlers and older children are in need of adoption. There are also sibling groups in need of families. The children have either been abandoned or relinquished to the ICBF. Children tend to have light brown skin, dark hair and eyes and can vary in age from 6 months to teen age. Most of the children are in good health.
Children with special medical needs are also in need of adoptive families.
Ask us about waiting children!
Requirements of Adoptive Parents
Prospective adoptive parents must be older than 25 years of age.
Parents must be fully competent to bear the responsibilities of raising children.
Couples must be married for at least three years. Couples married fewer years will be considered with documentation of infertility.
Parents over 40 years of age may not be able to adopt children under 3 years old. Exact age limits may vary with individual family circumstances.
Waiting time until referral
Families in which at least one parent holds Colombian citizenship have priority for a placement and the waiting time can vary between 6 to 12 months. The Adopolis application fee will also be waived in this case. You may be eligible to claim Colombian citizenship if one of your parents was a Colombian citizen. For other nationalities waiting time can be 30 months or longer for adoption of a healthy infant.
For special needs, older children and sibling groups the waiting time is shorter.
Waiting time from referral until travel
2 to 3 weeks.
Travel
Parents must obtain special visas before traveling to Colombia for purpose of adoption. Both parents must travel for an interview with the ICBF. One parent can return home after one week and the other must remain in Colombia for another 4 to 6 weeks until the completion of the adoption.
In-country Costs: $4,000
Includes translation of documents (English into Spanish), legal and administrative fees.
Humanitarian Aid Contribution: $1,000
(For families adopting through ICBF, adoptions through private orphanages may require a higher contribution, yet to be determined.)
We encourage families to support humanitarian projects to benefit children who are not adoptable due to medical condition, special needs or age.
Fees are subject to change.
