HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam - Angelina Jolie was expected to arrive in Vietnam late Wednesday night to adopt a 3-year-old boy, adoption officials said.

Angelina Jolie, right, with her daughter Zahara, and Brad Pitt, left, with Jolie's son Maddox, walk near the Gateway of India, unseen, in Mumbai, India, on Nov. 12, 2006. [AP]

Jolie was expected to attend an adoption ceremony with Vietnamese officials in Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday morning, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the matter.

After she receives the child, Jolie will meet with US consular officials, who must review the adoption before a passport can be issued for the boy.

If all goes according to plan, Jolie could bring the child home by the weekend, officials said.

The boy has been living at the Tam Binh orphanage on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City since he was abandoned at a hospital as an infant, according to adoption officials.

Shortly after he arrived at the orphanage, the Tam Binh staff tried unsuccessfully to locate the boy's birth parents.

The boy is healthy, friendly and a little bit shy, they said. He gets along well with other children and loves to play soccer.

Jolie filed adoption papers as a single parent, because she and her superstar partner Brad Pitt are not married.

The couple have three children: 5-year-old Maddox, adopted from Cambodia; 2-year-old Zahara, adopted from Ethiopia; and another daughter, Shiloh, who was born to the couple in May.

The pair made a surprise visit to the Tam Binh orphanage at Thanksgiving, when they were spotted cruising around Ho Chi Minh City on a motorbike.