ellen1

I am in a dilema! looks like things are cool on a future positive visa application (skilled designated family sponsor route) - oz -
BUT i need to get consent from the 2 fathers of my 2 children to leave country, one in principle say's he will do it, the other say's no chance even though he has not had any contact with our 14 year old daughter for 3yrs (both their choices)

Does anyone have any experience in dealing with this? will i have to go to court? will it be expensive? how long does it take?

would appreciate any help
regards
Ellen

WannabeWallaby

I don't know if this will help......

My husband has two kids by his first wife and the Embassy wanted Medical and Criminal records for them even though he has not seen them for 13 yrs and they are NOT coming with us to Oz (as stated on the application). However, we forwarded them a copy of the divorce settlement which, despite not actually stating that the ex-wife got custody, came with an accompanying letter from the solicitor pointing out that although the divorce settlement does not state that she got full custody of the kids but that as my husband has been out of the UK for all those years quite clearly she DID have physical custody of them. We had an email from DIMA stating that they accepted the divorce and acknowledged that it would be "a hardship" for him to provide medical and criminal records for them.

Good luck.

shelljen

Ellen,

I'm in a similar situation although father of children not seen eldest now for 11 years. He doesn't know if it's such a great idea!! (the nerve)

Legal advice sought and because son is 16 the courts would allow him to make the decision for himself over here and the other one is 13 and as far as the courts are concerned here, has a mind of his own. I don't know whether DIMIA would see it the same way though I haven't asked yet!. You could email them with your predicament.

I can't answer your question directly but the ages of the children definately come into play in the english courts so my advice would be speak to a "free 15 minutes" solicitor in family law for advice and if you have a partner who could adopt your children perhaps that route would be worth looking at. (takes a bit of time though)

Sorry I can't answer directly but good luck and you're not alone!
Michelle

kkyliecuteass

kkyliecuteass

hi,
i am in the same position!!!
i have a 7 year old boy and i would be very interested to know how much it is going to cost me to go to court!!!!
just seems so unfair that someone who pays no maintence and doesn't bother to see his son can make it hard for me to chase my dreams!!!!!!!!!!

Englishmum

Sorry I'm a lurker on this board (as I'm a Brit in the US).

Anyway I have an idea.

On the website for the women's section - "Femail" of the British newspaper the "Daily Mail" there is a free legal advice board. You send your questions in to their lawyer and she answers them on the forum for you. I haven't looked but I wouldn't be suprised if there isn't already a similar enquiry posted in the archives.

You will probably need to register to post on the boards, but here's the really informative website (it has lots of messageboards too):

http://www.femail.co.uk

Also, have you tried contacting the Citizens Advice Bureau? Perhaps they can advise as well.

Good Luck!

shelljen

Englishmum,

Just spoke to a friend and she had the same idea. Worth a look.

Great minds and all that!!

Michelle

cresta57

We had a similar situation, our daughter had not seen her biological father ever as he did a runner before she was born. We had no maintenance from him ever yet as his name was on the birth certificate he had to legally agree to her moving abroad with us. By a chance meeting on the way home from work one night recently we managed to enter into the first dialogue for 16 years with him and he now wants to get to know his long lost daughter they have met a couple of times in public and spoken on the telephone. She explained about our move and he agreed to give his consent by way of an affidavit [our agent sent us a draught copy via email] We're waiting to see if it actually happens but he's matured a lot in 16yrs and seemed genuinely pleased for her to go.
Sean
PS Her first impression of him was "god mum how could you have gone out with him?" followed by frantic attempts to work out what 17yrs pocket money would come to. Teenagers humph........................

Mandyisere

My kids are 12 and 13 and haven't seen their dad in 8 years, I'm applying to the court direct for an order giving me permission to take them out of the country. I don't know where he is so i can't ask his permission. I'm taking the form to my local court in the morning so hopefully i'll find out then when i can go in front of the judge.
I can understand protecting kids from being kidnapped by one parent but its the poor parents who are trying to the best on their own for their kids that suffer.

shelljen

Well said

ellen1

thanks alot for your advice michelle. i have heard the DIMIA are very strict about parental consent. Apparently if your child is under 18 you will need either a signed afradavid from the absent parent or a court order giving you permission (regardless of the age of the child) but like you said the UK courts will take acount of the child's age and understanding, so the older the child the better. it really angers me that like you one of my children has had no contact with their father almost since birth (he's now 11) but i need his permission to take our son out of the country. i was briefly married to him and have never recieved maintainance!! any way best of luck to you to

ellen

Mandyisere

I've been to my local court now and lodged the necessary form, its cost me £90 in court costs but hopefully when i get to say my bit at the hearing the judge will look favourably on another abandoned mother!!!
To think i thought i was going to spend the rest of my life with that a***hole, i should have listened to my mother

ellen1

well done mandyisere, please keep us updated. Do you know how long it will take to get to court?

Birdey

Friend in a similiar position, sought afa david (cant spell it, but solictors witness) telling of breakdown in relationship with daughter and so far Adelaide seem to have accepted it.

Sazzle

Hi,

My children are 7 and 12, I was married to their Dad when the eldest was born but divorced when the second was born - another story! Does this make a difference to needing permission from him to take them abroad to live? he has irregular contact - a weekend every 6 - 8 weeks, is not habitually resident in the uk, apparently, and not obliged to pay maintenance.

Also, if we have to go through the court for permission, does anyone know if we really need to show details of a rented house in NZ, a job offer and details of places at a particular school for the children? My partner is a NZ citizen and we are moving over with $600,000. The logistics of sorting out these practicalities and then coming back to sort out the visa and court permission etc are ludicrious, but this is what my solicitor has told me!

Thanks for any help!!