Philippines Program – New Requirements Reported by Australian Central Authority

According to an August 2012 statement by the Australian Central Authority, the Philippine Central Authority, ICAB, has announced the following changes in the adoption process effective August 1, 2012:

Philippines Program – New Requirements – August 2012

Key Points:
The Intercountry Adoption Board of the Philippines (ICAB) has introduced new requirements of interest to prospective adoptive parents (PAPs). The requirements are relevant to:

• PAPs who have an approved file in the Philippines, and
• intercountry relative adoptions

PAPs who have an approved file in the Philippines
Until now, if experiencing a change of circumstances, PAPs could request that their approved file be placed ‘on-hold’ indefinitely (subject to their State or Territory guidelines). Relevant circumstances include medical reasons, birth of a biological child, or financial issues.
Due to an increasing number of requests from PAPs to put their approved files ‘on-hold’, ICAB have advised all partner countries of the following:

• PAPs who request to put their approved file ‘on-hold’ due to a change in circumstances may now do so for a maximum of six months at a time.
• Before the six month period ends, the relevant State or Territory Central Authority must submit an update about the PAPs to ICAB.
• If an update is not provided within those six months, ICAB will remove the PAPs from the list of approved files.

PAPs should also be aware that ICAB’s ‘nurturance policy’ where they require a two year gap between placements of children, applies both adopted and biological children. In circumstances where PAPs have requested their file be placed on hold due to the birth of a biological child:

• An update about the PAPs from the relevant State or Territory Central Authority must be provided to ICAB within six months of the end of the nurturance period.
• If an update is not provided within those six months, ICAB will remove the PAPs from the list of approved files.

These changes apply to all PAPs from 1 August 2012, including those who already have an approved file in the Philippines.
If you have any queries about your file, you should contact your State or Territory Central Authority.
Intercountry relative adoptions
From 1 August 2012, ICAB requires that all intercountry relative adoption applications will now include a duly notarised undertaking stating that:

• all information provided to ICAB as part of the proposed adoption is complete and accurate, and
• there has been no immigration application previously filed or pending on behalf of the relevant child.

Both the PAPs and the child’s guardian are required to submit the undertaking. The PAPs’ undertaking must be submitted to ICAB by the PAPs’ State or Territory Central Authority. The child’s guardian is to submit their undertaking to ICAB directly. Each undertaking will then form part of the file to be considered by ICAB.
This new requirement applies to all intercountry relative adoption applications from 1 August 2012, including pending applications.
Please contact your State or Territory Central Authority if you have any questions about the new requirements.
A copy of the Australian Government’s Intercountry Relative and Known Child Adoptions Policy is available on the Attorney-General Department’s website.
http://www.ag.gov.au/Intercountryadoption/Whatsnew/Pages/default.aspx#New

It is noted that the US DOS, Office of Children's Issues has not updated their Philippine adoption information page since January 2011. The page still reflects a temporary moratorium on new applications despite the fact that ICAB lifted the moratorium in June 2012.

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