Irregular Philippines Adoption

“A WA couple who adopted an abandoned baby from the Philippines say they are devastated after being told they cannot keep the child.

The parents, who do not wish to be named, legally adopted the child in 2009 but because neither parent lived overseas for 12 months when the adoption took place, their child has been refused the right to live in Australia permanently.

This is despite the fact she has been living here for the past three years.

“I am devastated,” the child’s mum told The Sunday Times.

“Our child is getting the best care, love and attention from us.”

While staying at a Manila hotel on a visit to the Philippines, the woman found the abandoned child outside her room.

A search for the baby’s mother led to an unmarried, jobless teenager.

The woman said she could not leave the child without proper care and started the adoption process.

The couple were told the child had to remain in Manila while they applied for a visa on “compelling and compassionate circumstances” because neither the woman nor her husband had been living overseas for more than 12 months when the adoption took place.

About 12 months later the child came to Perth on a bridging visa. Last month the couple were told their application for a permanent family visa had been denied by the Migration Review Tribunal.

The child’s bridging visa runs out on Tuesday.

The couple said they had written to Immigration Minister Brendan O’Connor for help and were continuing to apply for bridging visas on their child’s behalf.

The said they would even leave Australia in the worst case scenario.

The tribunal found that while some of the woman’s claims about not inquiring about the adoption process in Australia to be “problematic”, it accepted the woman lawfully adopted the child and there appeared to be a “genuine emotional bond between the two parties”.

But it said there were no “compelling or compassionate circumstances” to override the 12-month overseas residence rule.”

Family’s adoption anguish over adopted Philippines child [Courier Mail 3/16/13 by Emily Moulton, The Sunday Times]

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