Severe backlog in Adoption Board permission administration 

The permission administration of the Adoption Board has a backlog which will increase the processing times of new adoption permission applications in particular. The start of processing new permission applications is estimated to be delayed until at least January.

The Adoption Board processes applications on an urgency basis. Under the Adoption Act, notifications of changes in circumstances and applications for an extension of adoption permission must be dealt with as matters of particular urgency. After those, the applications for which hearings have been completed and further clarifications received will be processed. New applications are processed as allowed by the resources available to the Adoption Board.

The Adoption Board will announce their adoption permission decisions as before. For domestic adoptions, the notification and adoption permission are delivered to the adoption counsellor, while for intercountry adoptions, the notification and adoption permission are delivered via the service provider. Adoption applicants are informed of the decision by mail.

In Finland, the Adoption Board is the central authority referred to in the Hague Adoption Convention, responsible for the processing and supervision of licenses for intercountry adoption service providers operating in Finland. During the remainder of the present year, the Adoption Board will prioritise applications for extending the licenses of service providers, in order to safeguard the completion of currently pending adoption processes.

Adoption Board migrated to Finnish Supervisory Agency

The Adoption Board migrated to the new Finnish Supervisory Agency at the New Year. This change will affect application processing times. We anticipate that the backlog caused by the move will continue at least until January 2026.

The Adoption Board regrets any inconvenience caused by the resulting delays.

Enquiries

Irene Pärssinen-Hentula, Manager, Chair of the Finnish Adoption Board, tel. +358 (0) 295255136, [email protected]