December 19, 2007

Since May 2007, the Guatemalan Solicitor General’s office (PGN) has requested that notaries notify the office within 10 days of initiating a new adoption case.  This notification is a 42-field information form called an “Aviso,” and it is filed together with a copy of the notary’s initial legal document linking the adoptive parents, the child to be adopted, the and relinquishing birth mother.  While failure to submit the notification does not legally jeopardize the adoption, it can slow down case processing if not submitted before the case is formally filed with the PGN. 

The adoption law passed by Guatemala’s congress on December 11, 2007 permits adoption cases initiated before its effective date of December 31, 2007 to be completed under the current notarial process, if those cases are “registered” with the new Central Authority for adoptions within 30 business days after the effective date of the law.  At this time, the Government of Guatemala has not formally defined what will be required to “register” a pending adoption case.  U.S. Embassy Guatemala has learned that the Government of Guatemala may consider the filing of the notification (“Aviso”) with the PGN as the “registration” required by the law.  The Embassy, therefore, recommends that prospective adoptive parents confirm with their Guatemalan legal representatives that this “Aviso” has been filed with the PGN for their adoption case.  Prospective adoptive parents, however, should be aware that other definitions of “registered case” are under consideration and should remain in direct contact with their adoption service providers to ensure that any requirements set forth by the Government of Guatemala are being met.