A foreign couple finalises their adoption at a ceremony held by the Provincial Department of Justice in the southern province of Lâm Đồng, July 2025. — Photo lamdong.gov.vn

HÀ NỘI — The Government has approved a framework to revamp the adoption law, targeting stricter child protections, expanded social services and a streamlined bureaucracy, as the 15-year-old legal framework has shown signs of strain, officials have said.

Three broad policy directions for amending the Law on Adoption have been endorsed in Resolution 123 issued on May 6, which tasks the Ministry of Justice with drafting a revised law for Government review by June. Deputy Prime Minister Lê Tiến Châu will oversee the process.

The original law, enacted by the National Assembly on June 17, 2010 and in force since January 1, 2011, has facilitated the adoption of 44,642 children in special circumstances through June 30, 2025.

The vast majority, 39,889, or about 89 per cent, were placed with families in Việt Nam, while 4,753 children, or roughly 11 per cent, were adopted abroad. Domestic placements outpaced international ones by a ratio of eight to one.

Officials acknowledged the law has built a solid legal foundation for adoption in Việt Nam, but said gaps that require attention have emerged in practice.

Under the first policy direction, the Government would overhaul eligibility rules for prospective adoptive parents and children, spell out which authorities are empowered to certify that those conditions are met and establish clearer guidelines for referring children to families within Việt Nam.

The Government would also add new grounds for terminating an adoption arrangement and allow adoption documents to be revoked or annulled in defined circumstances, ensuring that every placement serves the child's best interests.

Another policy direction would bring civil servants, public employees and social workers within State agencies and public institutions more formally into the adoption process, deploying them to assist with casework and monitor children's development after placement.

The third policy direction targets bureaucratic overhaul. Provincial-level People's Committees would take over from the Ministry of Justice the authority to certify that Vietnamese citizens residing in the country are eligible to adopt foreign children. Prospective parents would also be free to file domestic adoption applications at any office nationwide, regardless of where they are registered as residents.

Agencies handling adoption cases would be required to retrieve existing Government records themselves rather than asking applicants to submit duplicate paperwork. The draft law would also mandate the use of information technology across the adoption administration.

The Ministry of Justice was directed to incorporate Government members' feedback, assess the policies' impact on legal consistency and ensure compatibility with international treaties to which Việt Nam is a party, before submitting a finalised draft to the Government in June. — VNS