Adoption of Bulgarian children by Bulgarians living abroad would be facilitated under amendments to the Family Code, adopted at first reading by the Bulgarian Parliament on Thursday.

According to the current code, the procedure is the same for Bulgarians living abroad and for foreigners living in Bulgaria – they need a permission from the Bulgarian Justice Minister, for which they have to pay BGN 50.

However, the Bulgarians living abroad have protested against the procedure, which is more complicated for them, and have demanded changes to the Family Code.

The amendments envision that people would not need a permission from the Justice Minister in order to be able to adopt a child from Bulgaria.

If adopted, the changes would be efficient with a backdate as of October 1, 2009 and would effect about 200 people.

The amendments also aim at changing some technical gaps in the Family Code, adopted in the end of the mandate of the previous cabinet, which exclude the possibility for spouses to have a common properties, acquired during the time of marriage.

According to the current rules, if the property is bought with the salary of one of the spouses, then it is "personally his/hers." The new rules, adopted on first reading, envision that "personal" would only be properties that are donated or inherited.

There will also be amendments to the part of the code, which defines dealing with the disposition of common properties.

The Co-Chair of the Parliamentary Group of the ruling GERB party, Iskra Fidosova, has announced that the text of the Family Code will be discussed and changed again before its final voting in the plenary hall.

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