Adoption in India follows two separate routes -- the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956 for Hindus, and the secular route under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 through the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) for everyone else, including NRIs, OCI cardholders, and foreign nationals adopting an Indian child, who must register on CARA's CARINGS portal.
Two routes to adoption
Hindus (including Buddhists, Jains, and Sikhs) can adopt under the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act,
1956, a comparatively simpler civil-law route, though case law increasingly expects documentation and
registration formalities to be followed. Everyone else -- including Muslims, Christians, and Parsis, who have
no adoption statute of their own under personal law -- must use the secular route under the Juvenile Justice
(Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, administered by the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA).
This secular route is also the mandatory one for inter-country adoptions, including by NRIs, OCI cardholders,
and foreign nationals.
The CARA process for NRIs and OCI cardholders
The CARA Adoption Regulations, 2022 are the current operative framework, governing eligibility, home study
requirements, and procedure for NRI and OCI prospective adoptive parents. Applicants register on CARA’s
CARINGS portal and typically go through a Home Study Report conducted via an authorized adoption agency in
their country of residence, before being matched with a child registered as legally free for adoption.
Choosing between the personal-law and secular routes
A Hindu prospective adoptive parent can, in principle, use either route depending on the circumstances, but
the CARA/Juvenile Justice Act route is the only one available for inter-country adoption and is generally the
route used when the child does not already have a personal-law connection permitting adoption directly between
the families involved. Given the cross-border element in most NRI adoption cases, the CARA route is the one
that will typically apply. NRIs should budget realistic timelines for a CARA-route adoption -- the Home Study
Report, matching process, and subsequent legal formalities including court confirmation in India commonly take
well over a year from initial registration to the adoption being legally finalized, and prospective parents
should treat published average timelines as indicative rather than guaranteed given the variability in
individual cases.
Can an NRI couple adopt a child in India while living abroad?
Yes -- NRIs are eligible to adopt through CARA’s process under the CARA Adoption Regulations, 2022,
typically involving registration on the CARINGS portal and a Home Study Report conducted through an authorized
adoption agency in their country of residence, as part of the inter-country adoption procedure.
Do Muslims and Christians in India have their own personal-law adoption route?
No -- Muslim, Christian, and Parsi personal law does not include a formal adoption statute equivalent to
the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956, so members of these communities use the secular route under the
Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 through CARA to adopt.
What is CARA and why does it matter for an NRI adoption?
CARA (the Central Adoption Resource Authority) is the statutory body that regulates adoption under the
Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, and is the mandatory gateway for inter-country adoptions -- an NRI or OCI
cardholder adopting a child from India must go through CARA’s process rather than a private or
informal arrangement.
