The Legal Framework for Intercountry Adoption — the 1993 Hague Convention and Georgian Law
Adoption of a child from Georgia by a foreign national is governed by the Georgian Law on Adoption and Foster Care, which applies directly to foreign citizens who wish to adopt a minor. At the same time, Georgia is a party to the 1993 Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption: Georgia acceded to the Convention on 9 April 1999 and it has been in force for Georgia since 1 August 1999, without declarations or reservations. The Georgian law itself names this Convention and designates the Agency as the competent authority in intercountry adoption matters, which — in accordance with the requirements of the Convention — communicates with the analogous services of contracting states and exchanges information with them.
The Convention creates the framework for co-operation: liaison between central authorities, home studies, verification of consents and post-placement reporting. The concrete procedure, however, is defined by Georgian legislation and by ministerial acts. This page describes that Georgian procedure in detail — every stage a foreign adopter actually passes through, from registration to the court decision and beyond.