The NCR Act which was enacted by Parliament mandated the Authority to compulsorily register both citizens and non-citizens alike resident in Sierra Leone including Adoption which is also classified as a vital event. Section 53/54 of the NCR Acts makes provision for the Authority to register citizens and non-citizens falling under the adoption category. After granting of the Court Order from the High Court of Sierra Leone, the Order will then be taken to the Authority’s office for Registration.
The Registration Officer will then request for the following documents:
- Court Order
- Birth Certificates of the juvenile verified from Births and Deaths Office
- Letter of intention to Adopt the Minor to the Court and Ministry of Gender and Children’s Affairs
- Approval letter from the Ministry of Gender and Children’s Affairs which includes status report of the child, Parent or Guardian and the Adopted Parents and Parental consent letter
- National Identification of the Adopting parents and Certification of Registration of the parents or guardian
The Registration Officer checks on the Civil Register for the registration of the child. if not in the system the Officer conducts the registration of the child to obtain the NIN. The Officer drafts a letter of verification to the Master and Registrar’s office to verify the Court Order.
After the verification of the Court Order which is signed and stamped by the Master and Registrar, the Registration officer will then fill the Adoption form and process the Certificates of Registration with the Court Order to be signed by the Director General. The Registration officer do call the Clerk to collect the Court Order and the Registration of Adoption Certificates. The cost of the registration is Two hundred thousand Leones (SLL200,000) per child of citizen of adopted parent and Three hundred thousand (SLL300,000) for non-citizens.