British passport for son born in Philippines
 

Hello All, I hope some people can help with my situation. I think it is slightly unusual so here goes.
I have a year old son born in the Philippines, the mother and I were planning to get married, but i recently learnt that she has been living with another Filipino man now for a few months. When i found out about this she blocked all communication from myself and her family and moved away with the man to start a family with him. She has left our son with the Grandma, who is not in good health and not able to look after him. The Grandma agrees that my son should come to the UK with me so i need to get him as passport as asap. But from what i gather getting a uk passport for him asap will not be very soon at all. I am on the birth certificate as the father.
I phoned and emailed the UK passport office to explain the situation and what documents i will need but i get a generic response to say that all the info is on their website, but it does not appear to be there and is very confusing. Also as the mother has blocked all communication getting any documents from her will be very difficult. In the lack of documents from the mother, i was thinking of getting a DNA test to prove fathership, will this be enough to get him a passport without the mothers documents?. They have threatened for him to be adopted which obviously scares the life out of me. Not just for his sake but for my daughter here in the UK who knows she has a brother and may not be able to trace him if that happens. I know they should need my permission to have him adopted but i think that is easily avoided by lying and saying i am not around. Also even on the gov passport website do i apply for an overseas passport application as if he was applying?, or as if i am applying from the UK? very confusing, any help greatly appreciated.

Re: British passport for son born in Philippines
 

speak to a family attorney to cover the Philippine side of things.

Sorry I am not at all familiar with Uk government requirements governing this position.

Re: British passport for son born in Philippines
 

I am on the way out but will post a couple of links later. You have many potential problems in the scenario you describe - maybe Brit in Paris will be along - he's our resident guru on these types of questions.

Re: British passport for son born in Philippines
 

You need to apply online.
https://www.gov.uk/apply-renew-passport

You will need details of you, the mother, and both sets of grandparents.

You will need a certificate of no marriage for the both of you, and probably at some point will need a DNA test to prove you are the biological father. I'm not sure if you can do the DNA test in Philippines. If not, you may need to fly over to Singapore or somewhere (in which case you may need a Filipino passport for the baby).

If the lady is already married that would complicate things. If she was unmarried at the time the baby was born/conceived then I think you just need to prove you are the father. You also will need to prove your relationship with the mother (photos, texts, emails, facebook chats etc).

You will have a hard time getting the baby out of the country without the mother's consent. The mother needs to give permission for the child to travel without her. So you need to reestablish contact with the mother. This could be through a third party (lawyer or mutual acquaintance).

I'm no expert on this so I apologise if anything I say is incorrect.

There are some threads on this forum where others have attained a passport so read those, although you should note that you can only apply online (others in this forum talk about applying at the embassy, but you can no longer do this and must apply online).

Good luck.

Re: British passport for son born in Philippines
 

I think you'll need this https://www.gov.uk/get-a-child-passp...child-passport
although your child is not in the UK , you are and are applying on his behalf. This will help confirm if he can claim British Citizenship by Descent https://www.gov.uk/check-british-citizen.
There is also this https://www.gov.uk/parental-rights-responsibilities

That's the easy part! It lists the various documents needed one of which is the original birth certificate............ If the mother refuses to co-operate then other than getting a court order I don't know how you'd overcome this. Maybe you could get an official copy from the National Records office in Manila.
Next problem ,assuming you eventually get him a UK passport - you need either the mothers written permission, or a court order allowing him to be taken out of the country , let alone be admitted to the UK. There are plenty of threads on this subject here - use the search function on the beige line at the top of the page.
Are you aware that here, the mother has an absolute right to custody until the child is 7 years old, UNLESS you can show a court that she is unfit - for example mentally, or has abandoned the child. Giving the child to Grandma to care for is accepted as normal here.
Re possible adoption -yes, they could lie and say you have abandoned the child as you are in the UK , not here. Do you send money for his upkeep on a regular basis? This would help establish non-abandonment.

I know it won't really be of help , but you are not alone! This is a relevantly frequent occurrence here and if you are determined to pursue it you will really need a local lawyer specialising in Family Law. It will not be cheap and will take some time.

sorry not to be of more help.:thumbdown:

Re: British passport for son born in Philippines
 

Sorry, Simon 1983 replied w2hilst I was writing. He has succinctly summed up the situation!

Re: British passport for son born in Philippines
 

What is the mother's martial status?

Re: British passport for son born in Philippines
 

He said in #1 that they were planning to get married...
Maybe the Filipino fellow she is now with is actually her husband????
Be interesting to see response to your question BIP.