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Step 5: Submitting Adoption Application to Court

How to Adopt a Child in Singapore

  1. Prospective adopters adopting a child (foreign or Singaporean) must submit an application to the Family Justice Courts via your lawyer or through Crimson Logic if you are a litigant-in-person.  Do ensure that you have completed the payment of the GIA fees to MSF before filing the adoption application with the Family Justice Courts. 

  2. Prospective adopters adopting a foreign child should file an application to the Family Justice Court within 3 weeks of DP issuance. Applicants who fail to do so may have the DP terminated.

  3. Prior to filing your application, you are to pay a GIA fee of $250 per Child, in order to proceed. If you have not paid for the GIA fees, please submit this GIA Fee Payment form to MSF and instructions will be given on the GIA fee payment. (The GIA fees are GST-taxable with effect from 1 Oct 2024. The GST will be absorbed for adoption applicants until the end of 2025.) 

  4.  Please see the required documents to file your application to Court.

  5. Once the Court has accepted your application, an MSF officer will contact you and advise you on the next steps pertaining to the GIA's social investigation as required by the Court. 

  6. Follow-up interviews, home visits and calls will be made based on the contact information detailed in your ASA.

  7. Upon the completion of the GIA's social investigation, the GIA's affidavit will be submitted to the Family Justice Court. Should there be complexities identified in your application, this process may take longer than 9 months.

  8. When GIA's social investigations have been concluded, the GIA's affidavit will be submitted to Court. Your lawyer will apply for a hearing date. 

  9. The GIA will send the report to your lawyer. if you are a litigant-in-person, the GIA's affidavit will be sent to you. You or your lawyer are required to submit the GIA's affidavit to the Family Court within 2 weeks and apply for a hearing date thereafter.


Note:

  • From 1 October 2024 onwards, you will no longer need to apply for Guardian-in-Adoption's (GIA) "consent" with MSF. 
  • If you wish to declare any material changes to the GIA, please inform the MSF officer in charge of your case.