Kazakhstan Adoption Factsheet

Disclaimer: The following is intended as a very general guide to assist U.S. citizens who plan to adopt a child in Kazakhstan and apply for an immigrant visa for the child to come to the United States. Two sets of laws are particularly relevant: 1) the laws of Kazakhstan govern all activity in Kazakhstan including the adoptability of individual children as well as the adoption of children in country. 2) U.S. Federal immigration law governs the immigration of the child to the United States. The information in this flier relating to the legal requirements of specific foreign countries is based on public sources and our current understanding. It does not necessarily reflect the actual state of the laws of Kazakhstan and is provided for general information only. Moreover, U.S. immigration law, including regulations and interpretation, changes from time to time. This flyer reflects our current understanding of the law as of this date and is not legally authoritative. Questions involving foreign and U.S. immigration laws and legal interpretation should be addressed respectively to qualified foreign or U.S. legal counsel.

PLEASE NOTE : Immigrant visas for Kazakhstan residents, including adoptive children, are administered at the U.S. Embassy in Almaty. Since August 1, 2003, immigrant visas for residents of the Kyrgyz Republic, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan, including adoptive children, are also processed at the U.S. Embassy in Almaty.

Kazakhstani law requires that orphans be registered with the Ministry of Education’s Committee of Guardianship and Care for at least six months before they are eligible for adoption. Starting in January 2003, it became considerably more difficult for foreigners to adopt two or more biologically unrelated children at the same time. Since this development resulted from a change in Ministry of Education procedures rather than a change in Kazakhstani law, however, it is still theoretically possible to adopt two or more non-siblings during the same trip. Prospective adoptive parents wishing to adopt two or more non-siblings on the same trip are urged to question their adoption agencies carefully prior to visiting the children to ascertain whether this is possible in the planned city of adoption.

In mid-2005, the Government of Kazakhstan reinstituted procedures for expedited passport issuance. Expedited processing typically takes 5 days and costs $79 (KZT 10930). The fee for the standard issuance passport is $29 (KZT 3890)

Credits: U.S. Department of State, 2005