Children at an orphanage. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The People's Committee at the commune level will conduct a review every six months to assess whether children without any obvious family can be considered for adoption.

The directive is being brought in for cases involving abandoned, orphaned or homeless children who are temporarily under the care of individuals, families or organisations, in accordance with the law.

If a Vietnamese citizen residing in the country wishes to adopt a child, the local People's Committee will consider the case and either resolve or guide the adoption process in accordance with the law.

The content was regulated in Decree No. 06/2025/NĐ-CP, which amends and supplements several existing provisions for the adoption process, specifically those related to the review and search for adoptive parents for children.

The Decree No. 06/2025/NĐ-CP revises and adds to the Decree No. 19/2011/NĐ-CP and Decree No. 24/2019/NĐ-CP, concerning the review and search for adoptive parents.

If no Vietnamese citizens residing in the country wish to adopt the child, the People's Committee at the commune level will send a written request along with the child's documentation to the Department of Justice to help find an adoptive parent, while simultaneously reporting to the district-level People's Committee.

In cases where the child is living in an institutional care facility, the facility must evaluate whether the child should be put up for adoption, prepare the necessary documentation in accordance with Clause 1, Article 18 of the Adoption Law, and seek the opinion of the Department of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs for institutions under provincial management, or the district-level People's Committee for institutions under district management.

Within five working days of receiving the full documentation, the Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs or the district-level People's Committee must provide their opinion and forward the case to the Department of Justice along with the child's documentation, notifying them of the search for adoptive parents.

International aspect of adoptions

The decree specifies that upon receiving the child's documentation, if a Vietnamese citizen residing in the country has registered their desire to adopt under the provisions of Article 16 of the Adoption Law, the Department of Justice will verify the eligibility of the prospective adoptive parent before sending one set of the child’s documents to them and introducing them to the appropriate commune-level People's Committee to review and proceed with the adoption process according to the law.

If no Vietnamese citizens residing in the country have registered to adopt, the Department of Justice will announce the search for adoptive parents according to the method and timeframe stipulated in Clause 2, Point c of Article 15 of the Adoption Law.

Within the provincial scope of this announcement, if a Vietnamese citizen residing in the country expresses a desire to adopt in accordance with Article 16 of the Adoption Law, the Department of Justice will proceed as stipulated.

After the announcement period ends, if no Vietnamese citizen residing in the country has come forward to adopt, the Department of Justice will send a list of children to the Ministry of Justice for national notification of the search for adoptive parents according to the method and timeframe set out in Clause 2, Point d of Article 15 of the Adoption Law.

During the nationwide notification period, if a Vietnamese citizen residing in the country expresses the desire and meets the eligibility criteria to adopt, they should contact the Department of Justice to proceed according to the regulations.

If, at the end of the nationwide notification period, no Vietnamese citizen residing in the country comes forward to adopt, for children in care facilities, the Ministry of Justice will notify the Department of Justice to verify the eligibility of the child for international adoption.

For children currently in temporary foster care, if no Vietnamese citizen residing in the country comes forward to adopt, the Ministry of Justice will notify the Department of Justice to request the commune-level People's Committee to establish a case file to place the child in an institutional care facility, if no other form of appropriate alternative care is provided according to the law.

The content of the adoption notification must ensure the child’s privacy, personal and family confidentiality rights as stipulated by law. — VNS