No objection letter from biological father for minor to travel

[denyl182002]

Hi All,

The canadian embassy sent a request letter to me on Monday stating they to proceed with our application the require a notarized no objection letter from father for my son to travel. My son is already almost 9 yrs old and since after 2 weeks of his birth i dont have any contact with him. We were never married. My son and i is living in Dubai.

I tried to trace him thru his family but even his parents cannot locate him nor contact him. When my son travelled from Phlippines to UAE, the DSWD told me that the custody of illegitimate children is under the mother.

Please suggest me what to do as I cant provide this letter to the embassy. Is there anything else I can do? Pls suggest. Thanks in advance.

 

[callalily]

I would go to the Canadian Embassy and explain this to them and see what they suggest.

 

[computergeek]

Your best bet would be to consult with an experienced Canadian immigration lawyer. Further, I suspect you will need to consult with a family law attorney familiar with the UAE laws.

I suspect that you will need to obtain a court order terminating his parental rights to satisfy the visa officer. Bottom line is that the biological father has abandoned his child - assuming he knew of the child, which seems reasonable based upon your description of no contacts since two weeks after your son was born.

But CIC has no way of knowing that your son has been abandoned by his father. Thus, CIC is attempting to protect the interests of your son - they don't know the specific circumstances of your case, so they do not wish to assist you in kidnapping your child. While this may not fit your circumstances, it has in fact happened in the past. I even read of a case in which a mother attempted to have her ex-husband and the father of their children deported by CBSA in an attempt to constructively kidnap the children!

With a legal court order stating you have sole custody of the child and the natural father's rights are terminated, CIC would be satisfied. With a court order stating that you may leave UAE with your son, CIC should be satisfied.

Again, because you are in an unusual situation, it is best to work with an attorney familiar with cases like yours.

My best guess is that you will need to advise CIC of your situation, explain that you are attempting to obtain a court order, explain how much time you expect that will require, and ask for their forbearance while you obtain the relevant material. Perhaps just something in writing from a governmental authority stating that you have sole custody is sufficient - again, CIC officers are not experts in foreign law. Indeed, in just researching for this answer I found how incredibly complex family law is in the UAE.