How long will it take and what are the costs involved?

These guidelines depend on whether you are interested in adopting or permanent fostering.

Adoption

The recommended length of time from your formal application to be assessed, to your adoption panel meeting, is approximately eight months, according to guidance for England under the Adoption and Children Act 2002. For Scotland, the recommended time scale is seven months. In some cases, it can take longer, but your agency should keep you informed during every stage of the process. Don’t be afraid to contact your agency if you have any questions or concerns.

There is no charge for being assessed by a UK adoption agency, unless you are being assessed to adopt a child from abroad, when you will usually have to pay all related costs yourself.

When an adoption application is made to court, there is a one-off court fee. This is currently £140 in England and Wales. This fee applies to sibling groups too, however large, though you will have to fill in separate application forms for each child. The fee is £79 in Northern Ireland and £60 in Scotland, but this is per child if you are adopting a sibling group.

The local authority looking after the child may cover some, or all, of any additional legal fees or court costs. This will all be clarified and agreed upon quite early on in the process, and certainly before the hearing.

You may also want to:

• Look at our adoption timeline
• Get more information about the adoption process
• Find out more about the recommended standards that agencies work to in our section on legal and financial matters in adoption
• Check out our features on the adoption process, to see what experiences other adopters have had

Permanent fostering

The length of time from your formal application to be assessed to your fostering panel meeting is approximately six months. In some cases it can take longer, but your agency should keep you informed during every stage of the process. Don’t be afraid to contact your agency if you have any questions or concerns.

There is no charge for being assessed by a UK fostering agency.

You may also want to:

• Get more information about the fostering process
• Find out more about the recommended standards that agencies work to in our section on legal and financial matters in fostering
• Check out our features on the fostering process, to see what experiences other foster carers have had

Last updated: 26 April 10

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