Apply for an adoption permit from the Adoption Board
The main rule is that you must apply for a permit from the Adoption Board when you want to adopt a child under the age of 18 from Finland or abroad. There are only a few exceptions to this main rule. Apply for an adoption permit after you have received adoption counselling and, in the case of intercountry adoptions, intercountry adoption services from the service provider.
Adoption requires a permit
You need a permit from the Adoption Board if you intend to adopt
- a child under the age of 18 from Finland
- a child under the age of 18 from abroad to Finland through an intercountry adoption service provider
- a child under the age of 18 from abroad to Finland without a service provider
- a child under the age of 18 residing in Finland to a foreign country
- after the child has lived in another country for less than a year and you are arriving in Finland with the child.
Domestic adoption refers to a starting situation in which the adoptee and you both actually live in Finland. Intercountry adoption refers to a starting situation in which the adoptee and you actually live in different countries. Intrafamily adoption can also be intercountry adoption if you and the adoptee live in different countries.
However, you do not need an adoption permit for the adoption of an adult over the age of 18 or for domestic intrafamily adoption. For intercountry adoption of a child under the age of 18, you always need a permit from the Adoption Board if you live in Finland or have lived in Finland during the last year before the adoption and you are returning to Finland with the child.
The obligation to apply for an adoption permit is based on your country of residence. The child’s citizenship or your citizenship do not affect the matter or constitute grounds for not applying for an adoption permit in Finland. If you live in Finland or have lived in Finland immediately before (at least one year before) the adoption, you must apply for a permit from the Adoption Board. If you live permanently outside Finland, please contact the adoption authority of your country of residence.
An adoption permit secures the child’s best interests
In Finland, the adoption of a child under the age of 18 is subject to a permit. Adoption must be in the best interests of the child and necessary from the child’s point of view. Permits are used to ensure that the family’s circumstances provide good growth, development and stability conditions for the child.
If you do not have an adoption permit, you are not allowed to take a child with you for adoption purposes. The adoption counsellor may not place a child with you for adoption purposes, nor may the intercountry adoption service provider transfer the child to you unless you have an adoption permit.
Adoption carried out abroad cannot be recognised as valid in Finland if the adoption requires a permit in Finland in accordance with the Adoption Act. Therefore, it is important that you check with the Adoption Board whether the adoption you are considering is one for which you should first apply for an adoption permit in Finland.
Prerequisites for obtaining an adoption permit
The Adoption Board can grant you an adoption permit if you have received adoption counselling and, in the case of intercountry adoption, intercountry adoption services, and if the following prerequisites for adoption concerning the best interests of the child, age limits and spouses are fulfilled. In all situations, the Adoption Board must ensure that the best interests of the child are realised in the adoption.
- It has been ensured that adoption is in the best interests of the child and that the child will receive good care and upbringing.
- The child’s wishes and opinions have been taken into account according to the child’s age and development level.
- In intercountry adoptions, the child’s possibility of adoption in their home country has first been investigated, and intercountry adoption was only resorted to when no family was found for the child in their home country.
- The age difference between the prospective adopter and the child is at least 18 years and no more than 45 years, or it is a situation within the meaning of the Adoption Act in which the age limit can be deviated from.
- The prospective adopter must be at least 25 years of age and no more than 50 years of age, or the age limit can be deviated from if it is a situation referred to in the Adoption Act.
- The spouses can only apply for a permit together. A married person can adopt a child alone only if the spouse is adopting a child of their spouse or their own child who has previously been given for adoption.
- Unmarried couples cannot adopt together.
Applying for an adoption permit
You can apply for an adoption permit once your adoption counselling has ended. Your social worker will provide you with guidance on applying for an adoption permit. Read the instructions on applying for an adoption permit, fill in the application for an adoption permit and send it to the Adoption Board.
Once your application for an adoption permit has been initiated in the Adoption Board, the adoption counsellor will provide the Board with a report on your circumstances and that you have received adoption counselling (Report on the provision of adoption counselling document).
If you are adopting internationally, the adoption counselling service will first send the report to the adoption service provider. The service provider sends the report and the appendices to the application to the Adoption Board. If you are adopting from a country where it is not possible to use a service provider for the adoption, you are responsible for submitting the appendices yourself. If necessary, appendices can be submitted even after the application has been submitted, but the processing of the application can only begin when all appendices have been delivered to the Adoption Board.
Applying for an adoption permit is free of charge.
Processing of an application for an adoption permit by the Adoption Board
When your application has arrived at the Adoption Board, the Adoption Board’s secretary prepares the matter for presentation to the Adoption Board’s Section for Adoption Permit Matters. The resolution of the matter requires that all necessary documents and reports have been submitted to the Board. The Section for Adoption Permit Matters can only process your case once all necessary documents and reports have been submitted. The Adoption Board may ask you for further clarification if it cannot resolve the matter based on the information in the application. If the Adoption Board considers rejecting your application, you have the right to provide additional information and express your opinion in writing. The Adoption Board takes the information into account before making a decision.
The Adoption Board grants a permit for a maximum of two years at a time. The Adoption Board may impose a special condition or restriction on adoption. You can appeal the decision of the Adoption Board by submitting an appeal with the Administrative Court.
Frequently asked questions about applying for an adoption permit
Your case will be brought before the Adoption Board on the day the Board receives your application. The processing of your application for an adoption permit by the Adoption Board takes approximately 2–6 months, depending on whether further clarifications are needed. The Section for Adoption Permit Matters meets approximately once a month in two compositions to process adoption applications. The Section for Adoption Permit Matters does not meet in July. Applications are processed in order of urgency and arrival:
- notifications of changes in circumstances
- applications for extension for an adoption permit
- applications requiring further clarification or hearing at the next possible meeting after the clarification has arrived at the Adoption Board and the referendary has reviewed the material
- new permit applications in order of arrival
It is usually known about one week before each meeting which applications will be discussed at that meeting. You can contact the secretary of the Board with any inquires about the processing stage of your permit application. See the contact information of the Adoption Board’s secretaries.
The Adoption Board will send you a certified copy of the decision by post to the address you provided in your permit application. The letter also contains instructions on where to lodge a complaint if you are not satisfied with the decision. The original copy of the permit decision is delivered either to the adoption counsellor, the adoption service provider or to you, depending on whether it is a domestic adoption, intercountry adoption through a service provider or intercountry adoption without a service provider.
The Adoption Board grants a permit for a maximum of two years at a time. However, a permit can be granted only up to the date on which you turn 50. Apply for an extension for the adoption permit from the Adoption Board by submitting the application for an extension of the adoption permit to the Adoption Board before the expiry of the permit.
Please note that you must apply for an extension yourself. No other person or authority can file an application with the Adoption Board on your behalf. Submit the application no earlier than three months before the expiry of the permit and no later than before the expiry of the validity period of the permit.
The granting of an adoption permit is based on your known circumstances at the time of applying for the permit. It is natural that your circumstances may change during the validity of the adoption permit. If you have been granted an adoption permit, you are obligated to report any changes in your circumstances to the Adoption Board without delay. The Adoption Board must urgently assess whether the change in circumstances affects the validity of the permit. If necessary, the Adoption Board changes the terms and conditions of the permit, cancels the permit or determines that the change has no effect on the validity of the permit.
Inform the Adoption Board if you wish to withdraw your application or suspend the adoption process. Submit the notification either by means of a Notification of change in circumstances or by email. Attach a signed notification to the message. If you applied for an adoption permit together with your spouse, you both must sign the submitted notification. When the Adoption Board receives a notification signed by both applicants, the Board does not need to hear you separately before the decision to revoke the adoption permit. If only one of the spouses submits the notification, the Adoption Board will hear you separately before revoking the permit.
Contact information
By email: [email protected]
Submit the data for your adoption permit application to the Finnish Adoption Board using the secure forms. The use of the secure form is the fastest way to submit data related to adoption applications to the Finnish Adoption Board.
By mail:
Finnish Adoption Board
P.O. Box 40
13035 LVV
Please note that when using a post office box address, there will be a delay as the post office box is located in the registry of the Finnish Supervisory Agency in Hämeenlinna, from where the mail is delivered by post to the Finnish Adoption Board in Helsinki.
The Finnish Adoption Board’s visiting address (visits must be agreed on separately):
Ratapihantie 9
00520 Helsinki
Irene Pärssinen-Hentula
Manager, Chair of the Adoption Board
[email protected]
+358 295 255 136
Taija Jokimaa-Frusti
Senior Officer, Deputy Chair of the Adoption Board
[email protected]
+358 295 254 791
Päivi Pietarila
Senior Officer, Secretary of the Adoption Board
[email protected]
+358 295 255 503
Louna Dunkel
Senior Officer, Secretary of the Adoption Board
[email protected]
+358 295 254 035