oneday

Has anybody got any experience on emergrating with stepchildren , what are the legal requirements etc.

johanne

Hi i am going through the same hing but the children are mine and not stepchildren...I married afew years ago and had a daughter she is 7 now, we divorced and i got custody of my daughter, i have recently re-married and we are going to oz within 2 months ( hopefully ) my kids have got dual nationality from me because im australian and they are travelling on australian passports...my ex-husband doesnt have contact and pays no maintenance but he refuses to let her leave the country, i now have to wait for a court date to remove her. You will need his consent to leave the country with the kids and if he as any contact with them on a permanent basis.
He may or may not consent to the kids going but you would be better off seeking legal advice on the situation, it also depends on if you have work to go to, if you have looked at schools in the area and were you will live...hope any of this helps if not have a look at ask jeeves.co.uk
good luck anyway:PARTY:

Graham & Kath

Just read your post re-stepchildren.

My daughter is frm my first marriage and she is 13 now. You definately have to get a statutory declaration from your ex-husband/ex wife to allow the child to be removed from this country. I have been to see a solicitor and basically was told over the age of 12 it is up to the child and if the ex does not agree to you going you have to go to court to get an order to remove the child and this can take 6 months at least!, so if you are hoping to go soon unless you can agree amicably I would suggest going to a solicitor and see if you can rush it through or if the child is older as in our case try and get the ex to see it from the childs point of view i.e. letting them have a once in a lifetime chance etc, maybe the child can talk to the parent. We did this an although we are still trying to get the letter of agreement from my ex husband are hoping it doesn't have to go to court. Our solicitor advised us on the following so I hope this bit of info is also helpful, just in case you do have to go to court. He said they never really stop the child from being taken out of the country especially if the child in question has lived with that parent all his/her life and they do ask the child as well.

1. Look up schools etc on internet and print off some copies (even if you dont know exactly were you going to eventually stay).

2. Do this with houses to rent/buy.

3. Also what job you will be taking up, try and get your name registered with an agency.

My solicitor said it all helps if you go to court, its just to show your not going out on a whim and have a bit of factual information.

Hope this helps you if I can can help further please e-mail me.

Kath

cresta57

My daughter is travelling with us and we had to get her biological father to sign an affidavit/statutory declaration giving his consent to her leaving the country. There have been a few good threads on the topic recently try a search on the topic
Sean

oneday

thanks for the info we thought this would be the case and have already asked my stepson's father for conscent told me no problem upto the boy to decide now has changed his mind court here we come

johanne

Hi
the response from kath was right about work, school etc, my solicitor told me axactly the same so i have made a photo album with a letter from a school that had vacancies for my kids and rental houses, also pictures of family we have out there. I thought i was the only one on here who was having this problem obviously not so dont worry i know what you are going through...keep in touch

oneday

spoke to solicitor today he informed that it would cost £50+vat for the letter and if we went to court anything from £1500-3000 is this good or a rip off

Graham & Kath

Hiya

Re: Solicitors Costs

Cor all I gotta say is NO WAY that is a disgusting amount of money for that my solicitor tolds us tops £800!!! Either way, think about doing it yourself I got the paper work and phoned the courts myself £60 to lodge it thats all. In mine opinion youd be better off doing it yourself the paper work is quite straight forward and I can't see how they could get a better result. Just remember all the tips you were given about schools, housing etc and get the child to write a letter explaining why they wanna go (if they are old enough) and also the court judge will probably ask for welfare to get involved,Just to talk to the child in question but I'd go for it and stand your ground dont let the buggers beat you!!!

Best of luck - keep us informed!!!

Kath

johanne

Hi kath...i didnt know that you could do this yourself i could have been in court by now seeing as this has been going on for some time. I had to wait for my funding certificate to come through before my solicitor could start proceedings for court. Anyway good luck... oneday....hope it goes ok, but i think that the costs you have been quoted is too much,
keep in touch

tinaj

We were told around £3000 to go to court as well. I must say though you can do it yourself quite easily. The last time my ex took me to court I was so sick of paying solicitors that I represented myself - and I won!

You can get the court order online and it costs about £80 to lodge it. Get all of the information together that you have gathered about schools, houses etc and write yourself some notes on why you want to go and the positives you think it will have on your family.

Don't be too daunted. The hearing will be in a family court which consists of a small room with a desk which the magistrate / Judge sits behind and a few chairs for you and your ex.
You basically will just have to talk about why you want to go and the logistics of it all.

Before it goes to court think about a package you could offer your ex as a compromise. If you can afford it offer to pay for a flight each year etc for him to come out and visit. Also unlimited telephone calls and emails etc.
We offered my ex a package and he agreed on it without going to court.

If he loses is he aware that there is no international court order so he will actually have no rights to see the child at all? This may Persuade him to try and come to an agreement- after all who wants animosity when you are 10 000 miles away!! If you do get permission from the court and he gets in your bad books he stands little chance of seeing your child again.

Best of luck with it all, there are lots of us here who have gone through the same process. I am sure it will come good in the end.

oneday

if i can get the father to sign a declaration at what part of the process do i have to use it

oneday

what is the web address just in case i need the court order

Graham & Kath

Hiya is Kath here again!!!


Right that declaration has to be sent with your main Visa application or you can send it off at a later date as lond as its not to later - our agent said that its ok to do that you just have to put a letter with it

tinaj

We got him to sign it after we had lodged the application. We then sent off the declaration to Adelaide about 4 months later. You can wait until nearer the end and then they will request it before they will proceed further, but this might slow the process down so if you can avoid it I would.

oneday

thanks for all the info i have had sleepless nights over this , these situations are always a pain