Foreign Adoptions in Scotland
Navigating all the bureaucratic procedures surrounding foreign adoptions can be difficult and frustrating. By working alongside you to ensure that all of the correct legal procedures are followed, we make the process much less stressful.

We advise on all immigration aspects of adopting a child that is not a British citizen.

Pre-adoption immigration and nationality planning

Proper immigration planning is vital to ensuring the immigration and nationality status of your child. If the child is overseas and not currently British, you will need to obtain the correct immigration permission for the child to enter the UK for the purposes of adoption. Our team of immigration experts can advise you on all of the visa requirements before you embark on your journey. This type of strategic planning is key to avoiding stress further down the line. And we strongly recommend that, before engaging with us, you contact your local authority council about the adoption process.

Foreign adoptions in the Scottish courts

Our team has worked with adoptions of children from around the globe, including Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Palestine, South Africa, Kenya, and the USA. These types of adoption normally require the child to have entered the UK on a specific visa for the purposes of adoption.

Foreign step-child adoptions by British citizens

If a step-child is already in the UK and holds a different type of visa, such as a dependant visa, adopting the child through a UK court could confer British citizenship on the child. This would eliminate the need for future visa applications and secure the child’s nationality status. Our team has extensive experience of foreign step-child adoptions in Scotland.

Registering an adopted child as British

Children adopted abroad are unlikely to automatically be British. This means that when you decide to relocate to the UK, you will need to secure either a visa or British citizenship for the child. If you are British and have already adopted a non-British child abroad, you can apply to register the child as a British citizen at the discretion of the Home Secretary. Registering a child as a British citizen is a necessary step towards securing a British passport for the child. This type of application requires a great deal of evidence, so attention to detail is essential. We have made a number of successful applications of this type, and can help you through the process from start to finish.

To arrange a fixed-fee consultation to discuss British citizenship, email John Vassiliou with details of the issues you would like advice on. Or fill in the form below.

Meet our key contacts