Urgent help or advise needed
 

Hi everyone,
So i'm in a bit of a predicament. I moved to the Philippines 3 years ago to be with my wife. our marriage broke down a few months ago and now i'm desperate to get back to the UK. I've exhausted all options on asking friends and family to help me out for a plane ticket. I have also found out the my wife has gone to Saudi to work for 2 years, leaving my 3 children with her father. I have also inquired on how I can get my children, but im not able to unless I pay attorney almost 250k peso to do so which i dont have.
The British Embassy are not able to help out, only offer to contact friends and family in the Uk which I have already have done, they also tell me they cant help me get my children, who are British citizens. Since living apart from my wife she has failed to renew their balikbayan visa's which have now expired, and the Philippines dont deport children. I cannot get any contact to my kids who are all under 5 years old.

Any help would really be appreciated.
Matt

Re: Urgent help or advise needed
 

If your children are British citizens how did they get into the Philippines as a passport would be needed? that is where the BB stamp is placed. If they have passports that are British they can travel just need to pay the over stay costs to the BI get the tourist visa extended to 60 days.

During that time the quest for funds for air tickets about £500 each, maybe less for children under a certain age.

As for where they live unless your wife agrees to the children travelling and puts that in writing, they will be going no where without legal intervention.

There are no short cuts and taking unlawful action such a forced removal of the children could have very serious consequences, you will not like the inside of a pinoy prison.

Re: Urgent help or advise needed
 

they have British Passports, the father of my wife is refusing to hand over my children, as the mother is no longer in philippines i am their legal guardian. I do not have the passport in my possession as the father of my wife has hold of them. Where would i request fund for the air tickets? The children have UK birth certificates and I am names on that as there father. My wife holds a Philippines passport, im confused by what you said about being inside Pinoy prison?

Re: Urgent help or advise needed
 

I am sorry I have nothing further to add

Re: Urgent help or advise needed
 

It's not clear what you are asking for here, Matt. To get good advice here (for free) I suggest you post back with a more complete resume of your and your children's, circumstances. No one is going to advise you if they think the result might be that you take the law into your own hands.

Re: Urgent help or advise needed
 

InVinoVertias maybe you can private message me since i try to message you but am not able to please i would be able to give more to you

Re: Urgent help or advise needed
 

You won't be able to remove your children from the Philippines without the permission of the mother or a court order.

Are you currently working?

Re: Urgent help or advise needed
 

You needed 3 posts to be able to use the messaging system, but I have replied to your PM.

BritInParis is very knowledgeable on these kind of issues, so it's good news that he has joined the thread.

Re: Urgent help or advise needed
 

I dont know what law i would be braking if any at all. I am the children legal guardian since the mother is not in the country. The grandfather has no legal rights to my kids. The children are British Citizens they hold a British Passport and have British Birth Certificates all stating im and the biological father, the problem is not being able to get them away from my wife father as no one is willing to assist me not even then DSWD which most of my wife family are working for in one way or another. I have been told by attorney i can go and get the children i can actually go and get all 3 and take them, but the problem is its not safe for me to do this. The children are being kept in a farm with no electric or clean running water. But for the att to assist me he wants 250k peso to send a letter the the father in law to present the children to me.

Re: Urgent help or advise needed
 

Just because your wife is abroad doesn't mean you can remove your children from the Philippines to the UK without her permission. They can live with you in the Philippines but you cannot take them out of the country.

Re: Urgent help or advise needed
 

I dont understand why. They are not citizens of the philippines, same as me. The mother has abandoned them.

Re: Urgent help or advise needed
 

Their citizenship is irrelevant - it's the country in which they are habitually resident that is important - although if their mother is a Philippine citizen then they would also be Philippine citizens even if they were born in the UK.

Re: Urgent help or advise needed
 

As Brit in Paris says, they are Filipino citizens as well as UK citizens so should not need a visa to live here. The only way you'll be able to take them back to Uk is with a court order and that'll cost money. It's quite common here for mothers to leave the kids with family whilst they go work overseas for a few years in order to earn money to put the kids through school etc. Sorry, I cannot be of much help in resolving your predicament. All I can suggest is don't do anything illegal otherwise 1. you'll regret it and 2. you'll likely never be able to get your kids back to the UK.

Re: Urgent help or advise needed
 

to be Philippines Citizens that would need an NSO birth cert and philippines passport then they would have to go to immigration and pay 35k each child before they would have duel citizenship. I have major concerns for my children in their heath and environment that there are in right now. This is why im wanting to find help to get them to a better place and a better way of life, Their mother has left the country dont even send money from her work abroad to support the children. The grandfather is not working he is 70 yrs old with 3 children ages 2,3 and 4 yrs old. Im only looking out for the best thing for my kids as their father and legal guardian. They do not have any visa anymore, when they entered the county on a UK passport it was stamped with a 12 month balikbayan visa. The grandfather is hold all 3 UK passports and is refusing to do anything but use my children for financial gain. If anyone has abducted my kids its the grandfather who has no legal rights.

Re: Urgent help or advise needed
 

What you are talking about is being recognised as a Philippine citizen which is not the same thing as being a Philippine citizen. In any case it's irrelevant to whether you can take your children out of the Philippines. If you want to take to the UK then you'll need their mother's permission or a court order.

Re: Urgent help or advise needed
 

What im talking about is what the Embassy and immigration has told me. I just come here to find out if any one knows any organisation that would be able to help with funds to get help from att. Only thing i have learnt from this is that the law always in favor of them mother regardless if she cares or not. So I have lots my children through no fault of my own apart from trusting people I maybe shouldn't have trusted, The only people suffering in this situation are the children. Thay is are my concern only. If i had the 250k peso if that the real amount i dont know, i would pay it even 1 million i would do it for my kids. Thats only for the att to send a letter to the grandfather to present the kids to me since he has no legal rights.

Re: Urgent help or advise needed
 

I really appreciate your predicament and sorry that I cannot offer any help on this for you. What I cannot understand why he would need the mothers permission to leave to UK with his children. Assuming a more normal situation where there was no conflict between the parents, are you saying that he would still need the mothers permission? How would this be normally granted? Will immigration stop him at the airport of departure? Just trying to understand the situation better.

Re: Urgent help or advise needed
 

David thanks, the mother and i have only separated, living apart we have never been to court not one of use have got custody of the kids. there is NO court order saying the mother has full custody or the grandfather has not got full custody. I have been told that i can go to house of the grandfather and take my kids as i am the legal guardian since the mother is no longer in the philippines. The problem is i have had death threat from the family if i attempt to do this. most of the family of my wife are dswd workers, her cousin is the mayor of the town and her uncle is in the police.

Re: Urgent help or advise needed
 

That sounds like a pretty one sided and impossible situation to deal with but what I am trying to understand is why you as the father cannot legally visit UK as a normal father might take his children there to visit or holiday.

Re: Urgent help or advise needed
 

Any attempt to remove the children from the Philippines without the permission of the mother or a court order is international child abduction. I'm not sure how I can phrase this differently. Whilst I sympathise with the OP's predicament complaining about the perceived unjustness of the situation won't make any difference to the legal position.

Re: Urgent help or advise needed
 

250K Philippine pesos is the equivalent of around 3,600 GBP.

Can't your family (the children's grandparents) raise this amount?

Are YOU destitute too?

The following website might help:

https://www.gofundme.com/

Re: Urgent help or advise needed
 

Thank your for the website SanDiegogirl. MY wife and her father have been using the children for financial gain for year now, for example telling my parents that the kids are in hospital please send x amount of money, when actually there not in hospital, they use the money to buy pigs or fix the house. my parents the children grandparents have used all their saving and now only have my fathers salary to support themselves. I have used my savings and now im here stuck in the Philippines with no money for flight back to UK. I think it would any be abduction if i didn't tell the mother that i was getting my children, and she didint know where they were. I would be telling her what im planning and providing an address where they would be staying. If anyone has abducted the children she as by taking them from me without my knowing, only to find out by neighbors of her father.

Re: Urgent help or advise needed
 

As always, BIP is spot on! Many airlines and immigration officials are suspicious of a single parent arriving with just the children and ask for written proof from the parent presenting - in this case the father- that the other parent knows the children are travelling with the other parent. I'm afraid that's todays reality. tough maybe, but done for the right reasons - protection of the children from abduction.

Re: Urgent help or advise needed
 

Similar questions come up frequently on BE, and the answer is always the same - one parent cannot remove their children from the country in which they usually live without either the permission of the other parent, or a court order, which can be very hard to get. That is the issue in a nutshell, and there is NO way around this problem that you face.

Even if you can get your children handed over to you, there is no way to legally remove them from the Philippines without your wife's permission or a court order, and if you were to remove them it would be quite easy for her to get the children removed from you in the UK and returned to the Philippines and you wouldn't have a leg to stand on because Britain is a signatory to the international treaty on child abduction.

Re: Urgent help or advise needed
 

:goodpost:

Re: Urgent help or advise needed
 

'one parent cannot remove their children from the country in which they usually live'

Can you prove that the country they usually live in is in the UK.? this may make a difference, equally it may not.

Should you have issues that can prove the children are kidnapped and held for ransom which is in effect what you are suggesting. Then you do not use the police services you use the NBI in Manila. Should you be able to prove what you are claiming. I am surprised that the UK embassy will not assist to recover three minors from such an ordeal.

As for funding you will have to meet that challenge. How are you funding yourself here in the Philippines?

Re: Urgent help or advise needed
 

Yes i can prove they usually live in the UK, The grandfather here is holding the children, and their passports, he is refusing to meet me in order to renew visa, or for me to see my kids, i have received a parental assessment done by independent social worker. and the embassy have actually visited my kids in the grandfather house. The embassy has told me the conditions there living, but they cant give me legal help or advice only told me to seek attorney. I have their birth certificates, i Have nursery schedules from UK with date they were due back in UK to go to school. The children have registered DR in the UK. I have child benefit number in UK and tax credits which i may add i stopped when we left and to be started again once be return to the UK as we planned before. We as a family was only coming to philippines for 3 weeks vacation and now we have been here 15 months. I have been funding myself, I even took work as a call center agent to make a little bit of money which gave me a working visa to stay here and fight for my kids. This was my kids first visit to the Philippines. The embassy are unable to assist me they only direct me to seeking attorney. The have contact my family back home to see if they can give me fund for this situation by my family and friend and used all they had. It makes it harder cos the kids are not in Manila they in Visayas area.

Re: Urgent help or advise needed
 

If I was in your position I would be at the Immigration bureau in Manila, NBI and the offices of the Star news paper. I would be doing everything and anything to ensure that no one was in any doubt that my children were at the mercy of a kidnap for ransom gang.

Working for a call center you will be earning over 32,000 pesos a month, enough to cover the costs of funding the above.

I hope you do not mind my saying that they way you present your written communication reminds me of a Filipino writing English as a second language. I say that, as working in a call center here I see this all the time.

The UK embassy has on its information wall contacts for attorneys, which one have you tried?

Re: Urgent help or advise needed
 

it all sounds like a huge scam to me. so your wife tells your parents that the kids are in hospital and they send her money without checking with you on their health first. your wifes family members include a mayor and a serving police officer ? ^snip^

Re: Urgent help or advise needed
 

Im doing everything I can im located north of manila my salary 15,000 pesos a month just enough to afford my rent and food. The att cos 250k. My writing is like this cos im rushing what im saying, sometimes in anger and frustration. Being here for the amount of time i have i also have lost my accent and now sound like Filipino. I have contacted most of the attorneys give to me by the embassy. They all advised me to find a local attorney to where the children are located which i have done and the cheapest and the one who is willing to work for me has told me the amount i have mentioned, i dont know if this is because im a foreigner or not, from experience i guess it is the reason. I cant always travel to manila since i have work and if i dont work i wont have any money or a visa to stay in the Philippines. If i go to manila i finish work at 5am and go to bus terminal sleeping on the bus, go to embassy then back home again, its 7 hour trip to manila from where i live.

Re: Urgent help or advise needed
 

thank for you message Steve

yes hard to believe but it the truth, im not with my children, i would not know if they were sick or not as i cant see them, the grandfather has my children. They live in small town where the family grew up so they have many family member working in the municipality and mayor office including there mayor. How am i trying to scam im not asking for money or anything just advise and maybe some useful websites i could access to gain information to help me.

Re: Urgent help or advise needed
 

Could you please tell us which of these claims is true?

Re: Urgent help or advise needed
 

If EITHER of those is true then this cannot be true.

Re: Urgent help or advise needed
 

Guys I was convinced this was a scam, when I initially advised i could not add anymore, just not sure enough to call it at that time.

BPO 7 hours north of Manila I do not thinks so!!!

''Being here for the amount of time i have i also have lost my accent and now sound like Filipino. ''

I have been here for 14 years and not lost my accent or the ability to construct written English

Guys this is a Con and I would suggest the MODS may wish to flag a warning

Also when googled this unique name comes up for a Russian website that if you click on will have your Firewall going crazy.

You have been warned!!

mdcol1335 - UBLove.com - сайт знакомств, сайт для переписки с ..

Re: Urgent help or advise needed
 

I understand your concerns, guys, but scams normally involve asking for money or taking us off to dodgy websites. Let's see if the OP comes back here and helps us along a little with the latest questions.

Re: Urgent help or advise needed
 

Well If you think he is going to ask for money now then it will be a hoot. the con was slowly settling in with sympathy factor, outrage that embassy does nothing:zzz: The next stage is to NOT ask but will accept any assistance. By the way the UK embassy does not give out details of attorneys. The dodgy website with his unique handle is identified, :eek::amen:then again its not pay pal

Anyone know of anywhere 7 hours north of manila by bus with BPO offices and expats there:confused:

Angeles 2 hours

Baguio 5 hours

Laoag 5 hours

After that you are in the Boonies heading for Pagapud and the south China sea:blink:

then again I am just a cynic auditioning for Grumpy old man part 3

Re: Urgent help or advise needed
 

:goodpost:

Here's another cynical grumpy old man ;)

I was pretty sure he was doing what is called 'The Long Con' after three or four posts but he could have also been just a common or garden troll

Evidently some on here are not familiar with 'Hustle' or Leverage' but FWIW when a poster needing help (or money) starts saying can you PM me please its a dead give away.

Re: Urgent help or advise needed
 

Look guys, as spammy as this may seem to some of you, it does not yet constitute a spam. The OP PM'd me for guidance and I replied to him. He has not broken any rules.

I am conscious that some members have taken time to respond to him in good faith and it behoves us all to await clarification of this situation before jumping to judgment.

Re: Urgent help or advise needed
 

Its not spamming but trolling IMO.

Re: Urgent help or advise needed
 

No, it's not trolling:-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_troll