Adoption allowances

The adoption allowance is a tax-free, non-recurrent payment that varies from country to country. In all the Nordic countries, it is a requirement that potential adoptive parents are approved by official public-sector agencies.

In all the Nordic countries, the number of adoptions from abroad for which adoption allowance was paid has been decreasing in recent years.

A subsidy is granted for a child adopted from another country through one of the approved organisations if the parents are permanent residents of Denmark.

The High Commissioner (Rigsombudsmanden) is responsible for adoption cases. The Faroese social administration pays the adoption allowance once the adoption has been documented. The allowance is payable only to people residing in the Faroe Islands.

Adoptive parents may apply for a subsidy when an international adoption institute has selected a child aged under 18 years for placement and the adoption board has approved the adoption. To obtain the subsidy, the adoptive parents must be resident in Finland.

It is a precondition that a child adopted from abroad was born to citizens of another country who are not resident in Iceland at the time of adoption. The adoptive parents must be resident in Iceland and must not be related to the child.

The parents must be approved by the authorities before they can adopt a child from another country. This approval, known as prior consent, is given for a period of three years, with the possibility of extension by up to two years. Prior consent is only given for children up to five years old. An expert committee evaluates the adoption of children over five.

It is a precondition that a child adopted from abroad is under 10 and was born to citizens of another country who are not resident in Sweden at the time of adoption.