sas-lou

If possible could you please give me a little advice.
You have been recommemded to me from another member.
I'm married to a Canadian, he's been in England with me since 2002. I have 2 children aged 10 and 12 (boys). My husband is not their biological father, bio father hasnt seen the kids in 4-5 years. We are hoping to move to Canada this year and have our medicals booked for Feb 15th.
Now the kids, bio father has no parental responsibility as kids born before 2001, although his name is on their birth certificates.
I emailed a lawyer who sent me the response below, i have also called the CSA as i have been on their records for the last 10.5 yrs, they are going to send me a letter stating that i have been on their records that long and that they havent received any payments from the bio father. I have also written to the Principal Registry of the family Division who keeps records of Parental responsibilty Agreements, and they have written back saying that for a fee of £40 they will do a search for me. There isnt an agreement but the documentation will hopefully look good for immigration.
So thats all i have. I dont know where bio father is and dont want to get in touch with him. English law says i can take kids out of country but Canadian law is different and this is where i have a problem according to people and their brilliant and informative info on this site.
Can you please message me and tell me if the evidence i can supply at immigration is enough to satisfy the canadian authorities or will i require more?
Thank you ever so much for your time, it is much appriciated.
Yours kindly.
sarah

Dear Mrs ,
Your e-mail has been passed to myself to respond.
Where parents of children are unmarried then removal of a child from the UK by the mother , when he is habitually resident here, is wrongful if:
the father has parental responsibility
there is a court order preventing the removal
there are pending court proceedings
where the father is the primary carer
Otherwise there needs to be an application to the court for permission.
Your children's father will have parental responsibility only if he was granted it by a court order or by a written agreement registered in the court in London.
I trust that this helps.
If you require any further advice then please do not hesitate to make an appointment.
Yours sincerely

JAJ

If the High Court can confirm that there is no parental responsibilty agreement or parental responsibility order in place, plus a letter from solicitor explaining English law, that should be more than enough for CIC.

If they still try to cause trouble your husband can appeal, or alternatively contact his MP in Canada to complain direct to the Minister.

Entirely separately, your husband should make a point of becoming a British citizen before he leaves the U.K. if he has not already done so.

Surrey Expat

As has been mentioned before, if you plan on traveling in and out of Canada and into the US you might find it helpful having some documentation showing permission for the children to travel with you. If the children's passports are in the same last name as you and your husband this is could be less complicated, however if their last name is different, you could experience hold ups at the border, both ways without such documents.

JAJ

But there's no-one available to give any "permission".

Greenhill

Allegedly.

The processes enforced by CIC and the border control of any country should not be trivialised - they're in place for all sides of the story, not just one.

JAJ

If this is the "Canadian attitude" towards single parents then maybe it's not the right country for them to move to.

BristolUK

I don't think it's common to just Canada. It's common in any country where children have been taken across borders - KIDNAPPED - without proper checks.

Just because a traveller presents himself or herself alone does not guarantee they are a lone parent. The extra checks are as a result of what's been happening.

ill_only_miss_eastenders

I travelled from UK to Australia without my childrens father, or anything giving his permission for them to leave the country. There were no questions asked at all even though all the children are in there Fathers name (being different to mine as we were never married) Were going to Canada for two weeks at the end of this month and have got a letter from their father to carry with me incase its needed but if i hadnt been a Expats member and had not read the advise here i would never have even thought about getting his permission

Linda P

I was travelling with my two children alone. I was questioned at Gatwick and again at Calgary airport. I was advised in future to carry a letter with the fathers contact details. At the time I was quite shocked and explained that we were not divorced, I was just taking the children to visit family in Tenerife. I also found it strange that I was only questioned on my return journey??? No one said a word when I peeled my daughter crying from her daddy's arms on the outward journey (as soon as he was out of sight she was all smiles again!).

Even if you have a letter with contact details on, who's to say that the person is the father. The guy at the gate said it didn't need to be an official solicitors letter, just a letter with contact details on.

Linda

Surrey Expat

It is not an attitude to single parents as you suggest, it is an attitude to child abduction. As you have seen in previous threads, this is enforced with equal rigor in the US as well other countries that are concerned about this problem.

The rules are in place for child protection. Are you advocating they should be relaxed?

Documentation to say that a parent has permission is easy to get, a notarized letter giving the adults name and child's name would likely suffice with adequate identification in the absence of a parental letter.

This issue does exist, both my OH & I have been asked at the border for such a letter. A Vancouver mother was stopped at a US POE because she did not have this documentation. The US immigration did a search and during this search turned up a conviction from years ago and so would not admit her to the US and turned her back. She was not even staying in the US but transiting to another country.

Child security is a big concern and as a parent am very thankful it is in place.

JAJ

In the situation in question just what "documentation" is a sole parent expected to obtain? There is no other parent with any legal standing to give permission, so barring getting some kind of document from the English court register saying that, life in Canada for them looks like being unpleasant in the extreme.

And no there is no evidence that the Canadian attitude of treating every lone parent guilty until proven innocent is replicated elsewhere.

Surrey Expat

As I said in the previous post, a notarized letter giving the child and parents name should suffice. Spelling it out, the letter might likely state that the adult has sole parental responsibility for the child. To avoid problems at the border anyone in such a situation they may be advised to speak to immigration and ask what information would be required.

As asked previously are you advocating such rules should be relaxed?

JAJ

Which precise rules are we talking about? Act of Parliament, Regulations etc?

Surrey Expat

I am not getting into a debate over this. It is how it is.

Without documentation a parent traveling alone with children may have problems, act of parliament or not. Debating the finer points of English law or whether an individual agrees with it or not with a Canadian border officer is a no win situation.

We choose not to and support the way it works here.

JAJ

It's all very well to say "it's the law" but do you know what the law in Canada really is? If you do, why not share it with us. And share real references, not hearsay or anecdotes.

There is some discussion of this if you care to look up CIC policy manuals. They cannot refuse entry to Canada to a Canadian citizen or permanent resident. They can contact law enforcement if they believe a crime has been committed.