ascouser

Hello - newbie here, been lurking for a while reading all the useful information.

Rec'd my student permit and partners work permit for the next two years this week. Plan to fly out end of Aug for me to start college Sept. Will temporarily live in Hamilton till we sus out best location for rental / schools etc.

Getting a little anxious about loads of stuff - perhaps someone will give me their experience / knowledge. I have one biggish question.

When we step off the plan in Toronto I believe we will be taken of to be questioned by an immigration officer. My partner and I are not married we have one 'joint' child 5yrs and there's my eldest 13yrs who's father is no longer in the picture and hasn't been for the last 8yrs. We were married when she was born and he is on her birth cert. We are no longer in touch and to re-establish a connection to ask his 'permission' to leave for two years would ignite hostility and a big bag of hassle. She has my surname (maiden name) on her passport.
We do not have a custody / residence agreement. She was not part of the divorce settlement. Nothing is in writing or agreed by a judge.

Biggish question - will her parentage be a question by the immigration officer? Will I have to prove anything - supply birth certificate?
To clarify our surnames on passports -
Mine & 13yr old - My maiden name
Partner - his name
5yr old - a combination of his and mine

MrsFychan

from my understanding if his name is on the birth certificate and you have not had parental responsibility removed by a court order you would need to get his permission to leave the country with her. If he somehow finds out he can say you have abducted her. From what I have read on other sites, from a quick search, Canada an USA are mentioned as countries that will ask for written permission.
You can apply to court to allow you to take her and mention the fact that no contact has been ongoing for the last 8yrs and you will more than likely be granted the right to take her

MrsFychan

Prepare for arrival—Visit Canada

this states you would need written confirmation from the parent not travelling.
I think you would need to seek legal advise as soon as possible as you may not be granted entry and could get into quite a bit of trouble.

ascouser

Thanks for the reply.
I know what I'm supposed to do legally.. but I was more looking for knowledge or experience specific to canada.
we have travelled many times and this issue has never be raised but this is a longer period and I wondered to what extent would the officers look into her parentage

Jerseygirl

Welcome to BE.

If you know what to do legally...then that is what you must do. If you are hoping for the child to move in 5/6 weeks time...then you need to get the wheels in motion pronto. Good luck.

Aviator

There is a high likelihood that you will be asked for a letter of permission (or court order) when entering Canada. If you know what you are required to do legally, are you prepared to try and do it illegally and risk being refused entry to Canada?

christmasoompa

If you search the forums, you'll see that Canada is far stricter on kids entering than most countries, and that lots of forum members have been asked for letters.

I agree with the others, you need to get cracking on this asap as there's a high chance you'll be asked. Plus if you plan to stay longer term then you'll need it for any PR app anyway.

Good luck.

MrsFychan

as I stated in my reply on a quick search of the internet a lot of people state that Canada is fairly strict on this. '
Personally if it was me I would want to adhere to all the legal requirements to gain access to a country and stick within their laws whilst there, but then I have always been one to not cut corners and make sure anything I do is within the law. the knock on effect for myself and others around if caught out may be long running.

JAJ

Except that there's a vast difference (in terms of legalities) between traveling to a country on vacation, and seeking to settle there. And as others have observed, Canada is generally stricter than most other countries.

As it appears that your former husband still has parental responsibility, and you do not have evidence that a court has given you exclusive custody/access rights, it's not clear what alternative you have to getting a court order.

LorraineG

I am not sure how long the process takes currently, I went through this almost 8 years ago when we moved here. But yes, all the legal paperwork had to be in place and the immigration officers checked it VERY carefully when we arrived.
My ex also had little to do with my two eldest, but he contested our move regardless and the whole process took us 18 months of legal wrangling/court appearances and cost a significant amount.
I think you need to get this particular house in order. If you are refused entry this would present you with a real challenge if you decided to try again afterwards!
Just my thoughts/experience for what it is worth! Good luck with it all anyway!

ascouser

thank you LorraineG. Experience is what I was after.

Aviator

Went through the same thing many years ago, it cost thousands in legal fees and took 18 months if I recall correctly.

On one occasion, my OH and children came in on a flight with me from London, immigration would not let her through without a letter and gave her a real hard time. It did not seem necessary to have a letter as I was the driver. We had to go though different immigration channels, I then had to go and bail her out.

JAJ

Although they cannot refuse entry to a Canadian citizen or permanent resident.

JGK

They take things like that very seriously. I know divorced couples who can't even move between provinces with kids witout the former spouses agreement.

comet555

I'm Canadian with a husband and two Canadian kids. We moved to Australia for 3 years and then returned to Canada, me and the kids first and then my husband followed two months later.

when I left Australia I don't really remember any issues or questions about the kids. I'm sure I would've volunteered the story if asked though. I remember thinking it was incredibly easy to take the kids out of Australia without any issues, and we all had Australian citizenship.

Entering Canada was entirely different. When we went through customs the officer asked a lot of questions about why I was travelling alone with the kids and if I had any documentation to show that the father was aware and was allowing the kids to enter Canada without him. Thankfully I had written a permission letter with all the specifics on our travel and the kids info and had it notarized before leaving Australia. I can only guess what would've happened if I didn't have the permission letter, but judging by the tone of the interview and how serious the officer was taking it I'm pretty sure there would've been a huge hassle. I think ultimately it would've been resolved though as I was still happily married to my husband and he was also returning home a bit later.

In the case of the OP she has no letter and the father's name is on the birth certificate so I don't think the chances are good as it stands right now.

Remember, I was a Canadian born citizen with kids also Canadian born and I was still scrutinized over the fact that their father wasn't travelling with me. Thought it was a bit odd though since the father was also Canadian and if he wanted to come collect them he could freely enter the country as well.

Not complaining though, in fact I think all countries should be the same. If anything ever happened in my marriage or if a stranger somehow got the kids it's rules like these that are there to protect them. So I'll put up with the minor inconvenience of getting a permission letter every time.