Adoption Information: Democratic Republic of the Congo
Intercountry adoptions from the DRC are not legally possible, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo continues to suspend adoptions.
On Sept. 27, 2013, the Congolese Ministry of the Interior and Security, General Direction of Migration (Direction Generale de Migration, referred to as DGM) informed the U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa that effective Sept. 25, 2013, the DGM was no longer issuing exit permits to adopted Congolese children seeking to depart the country with their adoptive parents, and we understand the suspension remains firmly in place. These exit permits, along with U.S. immigrant visas, are required for adopted children traveling to the United States from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The Department of State’s Adoption Alert, updated on May 4, 2020, states that adoptions are not legally possible at this time and continues to strongly recommend against initiation of new adoptions in the DRC at this time.
The DRC is not party to the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (Hague Adoption Convention). If you are a U.S. citizen prospective adoptive parent and you wish to learn more about the non-Hague process, you may see our Orphan Process webpage.
For further information, please see the Department of State’s website adoption.state.gov, and search for or select the Democratic Republic of the Congo from the country list. Please pay attention to the alerts that are posted on the DRC page.