Intercountry adoption: Scotland's guide for international adoption
This guidance offers detailed information about Intercountry Adoption processes for adoption practitioners and prospective adopters in Scotland. The document should be used as guidance only. It is strongly recommended that users seek independent legal advice on adoption law and processes.
7. Fees and timescales
This section gives an overview of the fees and timescales involved in the ICA process.
7.1 Fees
It is likely that prospective adopters seeking to adopt from abroad will incur a number of substantial financial costs. The Scottish Government applies a charge of £1,675 for case management of ICA applications.
This fee is means tested as follows:
- Household incomes below £25,000 a year - exempt from the charge
- Household incomes between £25,001 to £45,000 - 50% of the fee
- Household incomes over £45,001 - 100% of the fee
Local authority adoption teams will also charge for their assessment of prospective adopters as suitable to adopt, and the fee is a matter for each local authority to determine.
There will also be other additional costs incurred by the prospective adopters, such as legal and notarisation fees, translation services, immigration costs and travel to the child’s State of Origin.
It is important to note, authorities in the chosen country may ask for further documentation at any time throughout the process, which may be at a cost to the prospective adopters. These additional costs cannot be recovered if an adoption application is not accepted.
7.2 Timescales
Due to the complexity of the laws involved and the need to safeguard children, the ICA process can take from a few months to a number of years to complete. This can be shaped by various factors that influence the duration of the adoption process, including:
- the number of children awaiting adoption in the country of origin
- the volume of applications that the country of origin has already received
- the age and specific needs of the child/children for whom adoption approval have been granted
- the time taken by the country of origin to assess and process the application
Waiting times vary from country to country but are often lengthy and, in some cases, prospective adopters wait a number of years before being successfully matched. The Scottish Government is unable to give estimates as to how long the process may take for each country and is unable to influence the time taken by the country of origin to assess and process the application.