On May 20, 2016, the Ugandan president signed into law amendments to the Children Act that include changes to guardianship and adoption laws in Uganda. Among the many changes, the amendments limit applications for legal guardianships to citizens of Uganda who have lived in Uganda for at least three continuous months. The amendments state that intercountry adoption “shall be considered as the last option” available to children in need of permanency. They also shorten the required pre-adoption residency and fostering period for foreign prospective adoptive parents from three years to one, and state that those requirements may be waived in “exceptional circumstances.” The U.S. Embassy in Kampala continues to seek further information from the Government of Uganda on the amendments’ practical impact.

The U.S. Embassy in Kampala will continue to process all intercountry adoption cases in accordance with relevant U.S. and Ugandan laws. The Ministry of Gender, Labour, and Social Development, the ministry in Uganda that oversees adoptions, reports that it will publish the full text of the amendments to its website.

If you have questions about this notice, please contact the Department of State’s Office of Children’s Issues via email at adoption@state.gov. Please continue to monitor our website for updates on adoptions in Uganda.