Chapter 14 Annex 3 - Inter-country adoption

Appendix 3a
Only adoption made by order of a court in the United Kingdom or Islands or in one of the countries or territories listed below are recognised under United Kingdom statutory law.

Commonwealth countries

Anguilla	Malaysia
Australia	Malta
Bahamas	Mauritius
Barbados	Montserrat
Belize	Namibia
Bermuda	New Zealand
Botswana	Nigeria
British Virgin Islands	Pitcairn Island
Canada	St. Christopher and Nevis
Cayman Islands	St. Vincent
Cyprus	Seychelles
Dominica	Singapore
Fiji	South Africa
Ghana	Sri Lanka
Gibraltar	Swaziland
Guyana	Tanzania
Hong Kong	Tonga
Jamaica	Trinidad and Tobago
Kenya	Uganda
Lesotho	Zambia
Malawi	Zimbabwe

Foreign countries

Austria	Luxembourg
Belgium	The Netherlands
China	(including the Antilles)
Denmark (including Greenland	Norway
and the Faroes)	Portugal (including the
Finland	Azores and Madeira)
France (including Reunion,	Spain (including the
Martinique, Guadeloupe and	Balearics and Canary
French Guyana)	Islands)
Germany	Surinam
Greece	Sweden
Iceland	Switzerland
Ireland	Turkey
Israel	United States of America
Italy

Appendix 3b - List of countries that have Ratified or Aceeded to the Hague Convention on Adoption
As of 10 January 2006, the countries listed in the two tables below had ratified or acceeded to the Hague Convention on Adoption. You should note that the United Kingdom will not recognise all adoptions, be they domestic or inter-country, made in these contracting states. Only adoptions made and certified between two contracting states under the terms of the Hague Convention will be recognised as legally valid. You must also note that the lists below are simply an initial guide and subject to change as additional countries sign up and ratify or acceed to the Convention or there are other changes. We therefore strongly suggest that you visit the Hague Convention website to obtain a most up to date list.

When looking at the lists on the Hague website, the most important column to note is that showing 'EIF' (Entry into Force). If there is no date in this column, the country will not be eligible to make Adoption Orders under the terms of the Convention. 9At the time of writing, the Republic of Ireland, the Russian Federation and the United States are on the list but have not yet brought the Convention into force and so cannot make Hague Convention Adoption Orders.)

The following states have ratified the Convention:

	Ratification date	Entry into force:
Mexico	14 September 1994	1 May 1995
Romania	28 December 1994	1 May 1995
Sri Lanka	23 January 1995	1 May 1995
Cyprus	20 February 1995	1 June 1995
Poland	12 June 1995	1 October 1995
Spain	11 July 1995	1 November 1995
Ecuador	7 September 1995	1 January 1996
Peru	14 September 1995	1 January 1996
Costa Rica	30 October 1995	1 February 1996
Burkina Faso	11 January 1996	1 May 1996
Philippines	2 July 1996	1 November 1996
Canada	19 December 1996	1 April 1997
Venezuela	10 January 1997	1 May 1997
Finland	27 March 1997	1 July 1997
Sweden	28 May 1997	1 September 1997
Denmark	2 July 1997	1 November 1997
Norway	25 September 1997	1 January 1998
Netherlands	26 June 1998	1 October 1998
France	30 June 1998	1 October 1998
Colombia	13 July 1998	1 November 1998
Australia	25 August 1998	1 December 1998
El Salvador	17 November 1998	1 March 1999
Israel	3 February 1999	1 June 1999
Brazil	10 March 1999	1 July 1999
Austria	19 May 1999	1 September 1999
Chile	13 July 1999	1 November 1999
Panama	29 September 1999	1 January 2000
Italy	18 January 2000	1 May 2000
Czech Republic	11 February 2000	1 June 2000
Albania	12 September 2000	1 January 2001
Slovakia	6 June 2001	1 October 2001
Germany	22 November 2001	1 March 2002
Slovenia	24 January 2002	1 May 2002
Bolivia	12 March 2002	1 July 2002
Bulgaria	15 May 2002	1 September 2002
Luxembourg	5 July 2002	1 November 2002
Latvia	9 August 2002	1 December 2002
Switzerland	24 September 2002	1 January 2003
United Kingdom (extension to the Isle of Man)	27 February 2003 (1 July 2003)	1 June 2003 1 November 2003
India	6 June 2003	1 October 2003
Belarus	17 July 2003	1 November 2003
Belgium	26 May 2005	1 November 2005
China	16 September 2005	1 January 2006
Hungary	6 April 2005	1 August 2005
Portugal	19 March 2004	1 July 2004
Turkey	27 May 2004	1 September 1994
Uruguay	3 December 2003	1 April 2004
Madagascar	12 May 2004	1 September 2004
Thailand	29 April 2004	1 August 2004

The following States have acceded to the Convention:

	Accession	Entry into force	Expiry date under Article 44(3):*
Andorra	3 Jan 1997	1 May 1997	1 Aug 1997
Moldova	10 Apr 1998	1 Aug 1998	1 Nov 1998
Lithuania	29 Apr 1998	1 Aug 1998	1 Dec 1998
Paraguay	13 May 1998	1 Sept 1998	1 Dec 1998
New Zealand	18 Sept 1998	1 Jan 1999	15 Apr 1999
Mauritius	28 Sept 1998	1 Jan 1999	15 May 1999
Burundi	15 Oct 1998	1 Feb 1999	15 May 1999
Georgia	9 Apr 1999	1 Aug 1999	1 Nov 1999
Monaco	29 Jun 1999	1 Oct 1999	15 Jan 2000
Iceland	17 Jan 2000	1 May 2000	15 Aug 2000
Mongolia	25 Apr 2000	1 Aug 2000	30 Nov 2000
Estonia	22 Feb 2002	1 Jun 2002	1 Oct 2002
Guatemala (1 - see note)	26 Nov 2002	1 Mar 2003	31 Jul 2003
South Africa	21 Aug 2003	1 Dec 2003
Malta	13 Oct 2004	1 Feb 2005
Azerbaijan	22 Jun 2004	1 Oct 2004
Guinea	21 Oct 2003	1 Feb 2004
San Marino	6 Oct 2004	1 Feb 2005

* In accordance with Article 44(3) of the Convention, the accession has effect only as regards the relations between the acceding State and those Contracting States which have not raised an objection to its accession in the six months following the date on which the depositary gave notice of the accession. The date specified here is the expiry date of that six-month period.

(1) By Note dated 18 July 2003, the Federal Republic of Germany raised an objection to the accession of Guatemala under Article 44(3) of the Convention; however, Germany reserves the right to withdraw the objection.
By a letter dated 18 July 2003, the Netherlands raised an objection to the accession of Guatemala under Article 44(3) of the Convention.
By Note dated 23 July 2003, Canada raised an objection to the accession of Guatemala under Article 44(3) of the Convention.
By Note dated 23 July 2003, Spain raised an objection to the accession of Guatemala under Article 44(3) of the Convention.
By Note dated 23 July 2003, the United Kingdom raised an objection to the accession of Guatemala under Article44(3) of the Convention.

The effect of the above objections is that Guatemala is treated as a non-Convention country as far as the United Kingdom is concerned and the central Authorities in the United Kingdom will not enter into individual Adoption Arrangements with Guatemala.

The Convention entered into force on 1 May 1995

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Temporary suspension of all adoptions from Cambodia On Tuesday 22 June 2004, the then Minister for Children Margaret Hodge, announced that the United Kingdom had introduced a temporary suspension of adoptions of Cambodian children by ALL UK residents. The temporary suspension has been introduced in response to concerns raised by officials from the department for education and Skills, who visited Cambodia to investigate concerns raised by the British Embassy in Cambodia and, separately, by other stakeholders about the inter-country adoption process in Cambodia. The suspension will remain in force until further notice.

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