Adoption in Cyprus happens only by court order, under the Adoption Law of 1995 (Law 19(I)/1995), last amended in 2020. To apply, at least one applicant must be permanently resident in Cyprus or have lived there for the two years before the application, and at least one must be 25 or older (21 if you are a relative of the child). Before the order is made, the child has to have lived with you for at least three consecutive months, and the Social Welfare Services must have reported that you are suitable.
A replacement law has been working its way through parliament since 2025, so check whether it has passed before you start. Everything below describes the 1995 Law as it stands on CyLaw in October 2026.
Who can adopt
Section 3 of the Law sets the gateway conditions. One applicant must be a permanent resident of Cyprus, or have been living in Cyprus for the two years immediately before the application, and the child must also be living in Cyprus when the application is filed. A child adopted abroad by qualifying applicants is treated as living in Cyprus for this purpose.
The age rule has two tiers:
- at least one applicant must be 25 or over, and the court must be satisfied that the age gap between adopter and child carries no risk and that the adoption is in the child's interests;
- a relative of the child (a grandparent, sibling, uncle or aunt, including half-blood and in-law relatives) can apply from 21.
Neither age rule applies when a parent is adopting their own child, and the age-gap test is switched off when someone adopts their spouse's child.
The Law expects married couples to apply together. The people who can file are both spouses jointly, a natural parent with their spouse, a step-parent alone, the spouse of a parent who has died or abandoned the children, and (since 2020) someone who fostered a person with an intellectual disability for at least two years while the Director of Social Welfare held parental responsibility. A single unmarried person can adopt under section 7, but only if the court is satisfied that there are special reasons.
Same-sex couples are not covered. A civil cohabitation under Law 184(I)/2015 carries most of the legal effects of marriage, but joint adoption is expressly left out. Our guide to getting married in Cyprus covers civil partnerships in more detail.
Whose consent you need
Section 4 requires the consent of:
- 1the child's parents or guardian;
- 2the applicant's spouse, if the applicant is married;
- 3the child, where their age and understanding allow it.
A mother cannot give valid consent until the child is at least three months old. Consent is given in a prescribed form before a Family Court judge or, if the parent is abroad, before a Cypriot consulate. Consent given in foreign adoption proceedings counts. It can be withdrawn at any time before the order if the court considers that reasonable, but a parent who consented without knowing who the adopters were cannot later withdraw on that ground alone.
The court can dispense with consent where a parent or guardian has abandoned, neglected or seriously abused the child, has persistently failed to maintain them without good reason, cannot be found, or is unreasonably refusing. It can only do so on an application in which that person has a chance to be heard. The questions overlap with those courts ask in child custody cases.
The Social Welfare Services assessment
The Social Welfare Services are involved at every stage. If you have not yet identified a child, section 14 lets you ask the welfare officer for your area to assess whether you are suitable to adopt. The officer must serve a reasoned report on you within six months. If the report goes against you, you can apply to the court to review it.
Where a child has been identified, anyone planning a placement must notify the welfare officer. For a direct placement (one arranged privately between the birth family and the adopters, rather than through the Social Welfare Services), the proposed carer and the birth parents must give written notice at least three months before the child moves in, with the child's details and everyone's names and addresses. The officer then investigates and must serve a report within three months. The court can allow an earlier placement in special circumstances.
Expect home visits: under section 17 the welfare officer inspects the home and sees the child, and refusing entry is an offence.
Once a child is placed, there is a 12-month limit: if no application has been filed within 12 months, or you tell the Social Welfare Services you will not go ahead, the child must be returned within seven days.
The court application
The application is made in the prescribed form. Under the 1995 Law it goes to the Family Court for the district where the applicants live if they belong to the Greek community, and to the District Court in any other case. The court structure has changed since 1995, so let your lawyer confirm the right court; our explainer on the Cyprus court system sets out the current structure.
Under section 5 the court makes the order only if it is satisfied that:
- 1every consent was given with full understanding of what adoption means;
- 2the adoption is in the child's interests, taking account of the child's own wishes where their age allows;
- 3the child has lived with the applicant, in their care, for at least three consecutive months before the order;
- 4no money or reward has been paid, promised or received for the adoption;
- 5the Social Welfare Services report confirms the carer is suitable.
The court can attach conditions, including a requirement to make financial provision for the child. If it is not ready to decide, section 6 lets it make an interim order giving you custody for a trial period of up to six months. An interim order is not an adoption.
The Law sets no overall timescale. Allow for the notice period, the welfare report, three months' care and the court's listing time; contested consent cases take far longer.
Money, adverts and private arrangements
Paying or receiving anything for an adoption, or for arranging a placement, is a criminal offence under section 27, carrying up to a year in prison. The court can approve genuine expenses. Section 28 makes it an offence to publish any advert suggesting a parent wants a child adopted, that someone wants to adopt, or that someone will arrange an adoption. Fines in the Law are still expressed in Cyprus pounds, which tells you how long it has been since anyone revised this part.
Direct placements are still lawful under the 1995 Law, but they are exactly what the pending reform targets.
What the order changes
Under sections 22 and 23, the adoption order transfers all parental rights and duties to the adopters. The child is treated in every respect as the adopters' legitimate child and as no one else's. Earlier maintenance orders and agreements for the child end. The only exceptions concern marriage and incest: the blood relationship still counts for those purposes, and an adopter can never marry the adopted child.
Because the adopted child is a legitimate child of the adopters, they take a full share of the estate under the forced heirship rules. Our guide to wills and inheritance in Cyprus explains how the reserved portion works.
The order is entered in the Register of Adopted Persons kept by the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court, and the birth register entry is marked "adopted". At 18, an adopted person can apply to the court for permission to learn about their origins through a welfare officer and obtain a certified copy of their entry. The court hears the Social Welfare Services before it decides.
Working adopters can take adoption leave. For a first or second child under 12 the entitlement is 20 consecutive weeks; see maternity, paternity and parental leave in Cyprus.
Adopting from abroad
Cyprus is a party to the 1993 Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption and has told the Hague Conference that it acts only as a receiving state. Its designated Central Authority is the Ministry of Labour and Social Insurance, with the Director of Social Welfare Services named as the authority competent to certify adoptions. Residents adopting from another Hague country therefore start with the Social Welfare Services. Foreign documents such as birth certificates and consents usually need an apostille and a certified Greek translation; see our note on the apostille in Cyprus.
The reform bill
The Council of Ministers approved a new Adoption Law in February 2025 and sent it to the House. The Legal Affairs Committee was still examining it in January 2026. As published, the bill would ban direct placements and payments, route every adoption through the Social Welfare Services, lower the minimum adopter age to 21, require permanent and lawful residence and a clean criminal record, combine domestic and intercountry adoption in one law, and introduce a "simple adoption" order allowing continued contact with the birth family where that suits the child. We could find no record of a final plenary vote by October 2026. If your adoption is starting now, ask a lawyer which law will apply.
Thinking about adopting in Cyprus? Browse family law lawyers or search the directory for an advocate who handles adoption applications, and confirm the current law before you file.