Custodial Parent or Sole Custody?

I hope to be applying for a fiancé visa over the next few months. I have a few questions concerning my child and what forms I need to get for his visa to be approved. He was born out of wedlock, but his biological father’s name is on the birth certificate. My son and I currently live in Florida. There was never a custody issue or any kind of visitations set and I am the custodial parent and my son has only ever lived with me for the 8 years of his life. He has been absent and missing for most of my son’s life. I recently managed to track the father down to get him to sign that he gives permission for me to take his son to reside in the UK, but today learned that he has disappeared in suspicious circumstances yet again. What do I need to do to satisfy the VISA Department in order to get my son a VISA? Is showing that I am the custodial parent enough, or do I have to go to court for sole custody even though the child is and has been in my care only?

 

Thank you.

Any chance that the letter he signed giving permission was notarized? If it was you will have no trouble with that and won't need sole custody.

You should really consult a lawyer on this, as it is a very stick situation.  I wish you the best of luck!

Any chance that the letter he signed giving permission was notarized? If it was you will have no trouble with that and won't need sole custody.

As far as I know, he never signed the papers. He's never done anything for my son in the 8 years of his life! I should have known he wouldn't do this either. 

I'm so confused. According to Florida, being the custodial parent means that I'm the one with custody, but if that's not good enough for a VISA then I need to establish paternity (even though the father's name is on the birth certificate) and then go for sole custody. I'm not worried about being awarded that because he's been absent most of my son's life and during our last phone conversation he said that Nick (my son) doesn't feel like his son and if I wanted him to sign over his rights he would gladly do it. He also said he'd be happy to sign a notarized letter saying he gives permission for me to take our son to live in the UK, but he has since vanished again. I was just hoping this would be easy. 

You should really consult a lawyer on this, as it is a very stick situation.  I wish you the best of luck!

That's what I'm going to do. Already going through the phonebook and taking price quotes 

Thanks 

Best of luck with this- I'd potentially be in the same boat. . . Keep us informed- you've got quite a network of supportive folks here. 

Good luck with that.  I might be in a similar situation in the future but for now I know where the father is.  I am in the processing of filing for legal custody after 10 years.  I can't believe I never thought to do that before but didn't think I needed to until now.  I hope it all goes well for you.

krystalblue ... have you checked with the embassy that this is required? Over here if the parents are not married the father has no automatic paternity or access rights, even if he is named on the birth certificate, so you may not need to get anything. 

krystalblue ... have you checked with the embassy that this is required? Over here if the parents are not married the father has no automatic paternity or access rights, even if he is named on the birth certificate, so you may not need to get anything. 

in the states, if he's on the birth certificate, he has far more rights than a father here. 

If you have been granted sole custody by a court then that will be enough for the embassy.

If not, then there will need to be a letter signed by him to give permission - this does not need to be notorised, as notorisation of such things mean nothing to the ECO and will be a waste of your money.

If you can't get the letter, then get the custody order.

Victoria

I just got back from seeing a lawyer and my lawyer doesn't think I need "sole custody" that the custody that I do have should be enough for a VISA. So now I need to contact someone in British Embassy to find out for sure.

I think that is a good idea.  Not being familiar with Florida family law, I am not sure of the difference between 'sole custody' and the kind of custody you have.



Victoria

If not, then there will need to be a letter signed by him to give permission - this does not need to be notorised, as notorisation of such things mean nothing to the ECO and will be a waste of your money.

I agree. 

And as a personally private confidentially-public advisory because I'm not going to go back into PM tonight, they have been asking to see the envelope the father's letter came in with a postmark on it.  It has been the norm at awkward consulates for a long time, but they are starting to get stuffy about it at normal consulates too. 

Don't know what the fast-tracks have in mind yet, so I hope we can watch and learn...

In my eyes, I think this suits your situation perfectly.....



I found this HERE - "Diplomatic Service Procedures - Entry clearance
Volume 1 - General instructions"




14.5 - "Sole responsibility"
In order to fulfil the 'sole responsibility' requirement of the Rules, a sponsoring parent must be able to show that he or she has been solely responsible for exercising parental care over the child for a substantial period. This is in contrast to the concept of the ordinary family unit where responsibility for the child's upbringing is shared between both parents.

You will need to be satisfied that the sponsoring parent has consistently supported the child, either by direct personal care or by regular and substantial financial remittances.

If the sponsoring parent and child are separated, the child will normally be expected to have been in the care of that parent's relatives rather than the relatives of the other parent. This means, for example, that an application by a child to join his/her mother in the United Kingdom on the basis of sole responsibility should normally be refused if it transpires that the child has been in the care of his/her paternal relatives and that the father lives nearby and takes an active interest in the child's welfare.

The following factors should be considered in assessing sole responsibility.
If the parents' marriage / civil partnership has been dissolved, one of the parents must have been awarded legal custody, which includes assumption of responsibility for the child. (You should take care to ensure that the issue of a settlement entry clearance to the child will not contravene the terms of the custody order.) Annex 1 contains a list of those countries whose custody orders can be recognised as valid in UK.
Does the marriage / civil partnership subsist, but the parents do not live together?
Are the parents married / in a civil partnership?
If the parent migrated to the UK:
how long has the parent been separated from the child ?
what were the arrangements for the care of the child before and after the parent migrated ?
what has been/what is the parent's relationship with the child?
By whom, and in what proportions, are the cost of the child's maintenance borne?
Who takes the important decisions about the child's upbringing, for example where the child lives, the choice of school, religious practice etc?

This is also on the same guidance page, section 14.14, and I think this also adds yet more weight to the arguement in your favour.....



14.14 - Children of fiancé(e) / proposed civil partner (Rules paragraph 303A)
Entry clearance with a view to settlement may be granted to a minor dependent child of a parent who has been admitted, or is seeking admission, as a fiancé(e) under paragraph 290 to 295 of the Rules provided the following additional requirements are met:
the child is under the age of 18, is unmarried and is not leading an independent life nor formed an independent family unit;
the child can and will be maintained and accommodated adequately without recourse to public funds with the parent admitted or being admitted as a fiancé(e);
there are serious and compelling family or other considerations which make the child's exclusion undesirable;
that suitable arrangements for the child's care have been made;
there is no other person outside the UK who could be reasonably expected to care for the child;
the terms of any custody order relating to the child do not prevent the child being taken to another country with a view to settlement there.
In assessing whether there are serious and compelling considerations it would normally be undesirable to exclude a child who had largely been cared for by the "fiancé(e) / proposed civil partner parent". With regard to another person being able to look after the child, this would include a close family member if there had been a genuine transfer of responsibility prior to the application. The age and health of the present carer will need to be taken into account in determining whether that person could be reasonably expected to continue caring for the child.





I have underlined the important part in this statement, the fact that NO COURT ORDER has ever been put in place!