Quicker, easier for Australian couples to adopt children while living overseas Australian couple Terri and Allan Gortan with their adopted children Jess and Tom in Fiji. Picture: Angela Saurine Source: News Limited AUSTRALIAN couples who live overseas are adopting children in a fraction of the time it takes at home - and saving thousands of dollars in the process. It can take several years and be very expensive to adopt a child through inter-country adoption in Australia, and is almost impossible to adopt a local child unless you are a relative or foster carer. But expats who adopt children in countries including Fiji, Thailand and South Africa are finding it quick and easy to adopt children there. While she wasn't aware of any who couples who had moved overseas specifically to do so, National Adoption Awareness Week CEO Sheri Shenker said it often sealed the deal and influenced their decision to stay. "I think it definitely comes into play for a lot of couples," she said. If they are debating whether or not to live overseas and adoption is high on their agenda it certainly could be a tipping factor. It's a huge decision to uproot and try to make a life in another country but there are families who have been transferred because of their career who may make the decision to move because adoption is in the equation. There are lots of expats who live overseas and don't have any plans to return to Australia who have adopted children from the countries they live in. But Ms Shenker warned it can be difficult to bring the child back to Australia to live. "If the authorities feel you are working outside the system they would not issue a visa," she said. Allan and Terri Gortan, from Queensland, took just three months to adopt their first child in Fiji and four months to adopt their second child. The couple filled out five forms and paid less than $1000 in lawyer's fees per child. "It was really easy - there was no stress," Mr Gortan said. When we asked what we needed we were told just to be in the country legally and have enough love for the child. In Australia they told us there was an 18 month waiting period just for your application of interest and after that there was a five to six year wait. Mr and Mrs Gortan, who run Paradise Taveuni Resort, also had to show their work permits, passports and bank statements. The couple underwent IVF for two years on and off in Australia after they were told by authorities they were too old for an Australian-born baby. They had previously worked at another resort in Fiji and had investigated adoption options there, and decided to return. The pair has helped another Australian couple also living on Taveuni Island to adopt a child. Mr Gortan said people adopting children in Fiji needed to live there for six months under a work permit, which takes seven working days to obtain, or residency. Their children can visit Australia for holidays with Fijian passports. Australia has inter-country adoption programs with 13 countries, but the program with Fiji is on hold while it amends its adoption to The Hague Convention. The Attorney General's office states that because expatriate adoptions occur without the involvement of state and territory adoption authorities, the only circumstance where a visa may be granted is where the adoptive parents have been living overseas for more than a year at the time of the migration application. The adoptive parent must show that their residence overseas was not contrived to deliberately bypass any requirements concerning the entry of adopted children into Australia, and they have lawfully acquired full and permanent parental rights by the child's adoption. This means that the adoption order must sever the legal relationship between the child and his/her biological parents. A Department of Immigration and Citizenship spokesman said to be eligible for an adoption visa the adoption has to be arranged through the inter-country adoption authority in the prospective adoptive parents' state or territory, or the child must meet expatriate adoption requirements. "This includes requirements the adoptive parent must have lived overseas for 12 months or more before the adoption visa application is lodged," he said. To acquire Australian citizenship, an adopted child must apply for and be granted a permanent resident visa and enter Australia on that visa. After entry into Australia they may be eligible for Australian citizenship by conferral or automatically acquire Australian citizenship if their adoption is finalised under state or territory law in Australia and at least one of the adoptive parents was an Australian citizen at that time. Follow Angela Saurine on Twitter @angela - saurine