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| We, Mr. Enda Francis Scott, Irish Citizen, Spanish
Resident since 1989 and Ms. Catherine Boardman, British Citizen, Spanish
Resident since 1989, were married in Spain, in Seville on the 21/12/92. We have
the corresponding "Libro de Familia" issued by the Spanish Department of
Justice. We began the paperwork for an international adoption on 15/04/02,
having being told by both the Agency we had chosen to facilitate an
international adoption in Colombia and the corresponding local Government
Social Services (Junta de Andalucia, Consejería de Asuntos Sociales)
that being foreign nationals living in Spain would pose absolutely no problem:
indeed, the Spanish, British and Irish authorities have all informed us that,
in order to adopt Internationally, the home study and all additional paperwork
must be done through the country of residence, in our case, Spain. On 28/03/2003 we were approved by the corresponding department of Social Services in local Government, Junta de Andalucia, Consejería de Asuntos Sociales, to adopt in Colombia and on 02/04/2004 we were accepted on a waiting list for international adoption in Colombia, for two brothers/sisters under 5 years of age. Normally the wait can take between 18 and 24 months but as we have been accepted for two brothers / sisters, we have been told that period could be much shorter. On 21/04/2004 we were informed by our Adoption Agency of a similar case of a British couple, also Spanish residents, who were in Colombia to adopt. Their children have been refused a visa to enter Spain, the country of residence of their adoptive parents, as those parents were non-Spanish nationals. We have been told that a temporary solution was offered by the British Consulate and these children were granted a visa to enter Britain. It appears that it is taking the good will of a local MP to speed up what could be the lengthy process of achieving British nationality for them. Only then, as EU citizens, will they be allowed to enter Spain, the country of residence of their parents, their home. It appears that they are the first foreign nationals who have attempted an international adoption while resident in Spain. Immediate telephone inquiries by us to the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and to The local Social Services office (Junta de Andalucia, Consejería de Asuntos Sociales) which has given us our clearance to adopt and assumed the responsibility for the supervising welfare these children once they are in Spain, confirmed that we too would face this problem. The local Social Services office said they were investigating the area but gave no guarantee whatsoever that there would necessarily be a solution, or interim solution, ready in time for our case. When asked what we should do they referred us to our consulates in Spain. The British consulate referred us to a lawyer who has made more phone calls on our behalf and wrote to us: "I have been trying to get as much information as possible about your case. I contacted the Junta de Andalucia without any good results. Also, I sent an e-mail to the Spanish Consulate in Colombia without any results. I am going to phone them this afternoon. Also, I have an appointment tomorrow morning with the British Consul in order to speak about your case and try to get a solution. The problem, as you know, is that the adoption has to be registered either at the Spanish Consulate or at the Central Registry in Madrid in order to be valid. If the Spanish Consulate register the adoption, automatically they have to give Spanish citizenship to the children and this is the problem because the Spanish Citizenship is given only to those whose parents are Spanish. I think this is why they told you to speak with your Consulates. Therefore, I am going to speak with the British Consul about the possibility of the British Authorities recognising the adoption that you are doing in Spain in order for you to have, at least, a temporal British passport for your children for coming back to Spain" Since that message she has confirmed that the British Consul can not offer any alternative. She now seems to believe that we will need to send letters to authorities and politicians searching for some help. The Irish Embassy in Madrid has been most sympathetic and has opened a file in our name. We have asked our adoption agency and lawyer to explain our in case in writing so that the Embassy have something more formal. We are also attempting to get the local Government Social Services Office, the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Spanish Ministry of Social Services to explain what we should do in writing. Our adoption agency has advised us to take out Spanish nationality. We have confirmed that once the required papers have been collected and given in ( a slow process in itself) that will take a minimum of a further eighteen months. There are thus, various avenues being explored but we are very frustrated by the lack of good will on behalf of the Spanish authorities to find both long term and immediate solutions to this problem. We feel that any pressure that may be put on the Spanish authorities to face the issue would be very helpful. At this moment, European Citizens resident in Spain must follow the Spanish adoption procedures, but as Spanish non-nationals there appears to be no mechanism in place to allow children adopted internationally back into Spain, to our mind a clear contravention of article 18 of the CONVENTION ON PROTECTION OF CHILDREN AND CO-OPERATION IN RESPECT OF INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTION which clearly states: "The Central Authorities of both States shall take all necessary steps to obtain permission for the child to leave the State of origin and to enter and reside permanently in the receiving State." Microsoft Word version of this document |
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