Sponsoring teenager without parent consent

[Mogscat]

My younger daughter is 14. We want to include her in application for family sponsorship so we can emigrate while she is 15, nearly sixteen (target date summer 2018). My Canadian partner will be our sponsor, we all live together in uk. I have sole parental responsibility. As her father will not sign the IMM form giving permission, I have applied to court for leave to remove. However this is taking months. Currently father is not turning up at court hearings or replying to my contact requests. Court have ordered cafcass report today, at second hearing, so unlikely to get a decision for another 3 to 4 months, which of course could be a no!
My question is, can we submit the sponsorship application without either father's consent form, or court agreement, as she will be outside court control age 16 anyway, three months after our planned arrival.
Advice much appreciated, am finding solicitors and judges useless. Judge had not even read my witness statement as court had lost a few pages!!

 

[KaunaSiya]

They will not process if the father does not give concent... Only if he's dead yes... I too have the same problem, my sons grandmother(fathers mom) took custody of my son while i am in canada as a protected person with out my knowledge she told the court i abondoned my son and ran away. So the court was looking for me and i didnt show up because i was in Canada and she got custody. Now i am stuck, I cant go back to my country and solve it because am a refugee. I cant sponseror him because his grandma will not give me the birth certificate but she allows me to visit him in a neigbhouring country for christmas and she is present with all documents in her name.

Am so sad and heartbroken.

So No they will ask the fathers concent.

 

[profiler]

I think they will allow you to immigrate with her only if: her father signs, or the court orders that it should be permitted, unfortunately.

 

[UA2014]

I think they will allow you to immigrate with her only if: her father signs, or the court orders that it should be permitted, unfortunately.

This is correct. Or parental rights for the absent parent are terminated by the court.

 

[profiler]

This is correct. Or parental rights for the absent parent are terminated by the court.

It's terrible that this happens... being a dad myself, I cannot imagine this from either side ;(.

Best of luck everyone!

 

[UA2014]

It's terrible that this happens... being a dad myself, I cannot imagine this from either side ;(.

Best of luck everyone!

It all depends completely on the circumstances and the legal system of the country you are applying from. Ukraine (from my understanding) very, very rarely authorizes children to immigrate and there is no such thing as "sole custody" issued by the court.

A parent who has not seen, inquired or supported their child for 5 years has effectively terminated their own parenthood in my opinion.

Some may or may not agree.

 

[profiler]

It all depends completely on the circumstances and the legal system of the country you are applying from. Ukraine (from my understanding) very, very rarely authorizes children to immigrate and there is no such thing as "sole custody" issued by the court.

A parent who has not seen, inquired or supported their child for 5 years has effectively terminated their own parenthood in my opinion.

Some may or may not agree.

My ex partner did try to take custody away from me -- of course I wouldn't let that happen -- not from my cold, dead hands...

 

[UA2014]

My ex partner did try to take custody away from me -- of course I wouldn't let that happen -- not from my cold, dead hands...

As you should! I would not expect anything less from a responsible, engaged parent.

I would not feel right if that were the case. It isn't.

 

[mikeymyke]

Can't do it without parent consent, or if he passes away.

You have to think of it from your daughter's point of view as well. She's grew up in the UK her entire life, and she's leaving at a certain age where she's likely to be emotionally distraught at having to be away from her friends and family in the UK. Why would you want to so quickly remove her from where she's from so quickly before the courts even make a decision?

Is the father a deadbeat abusive man? If he's a decent guy, then you also have to remember you're also removing her father from the picture and bringing her to a country that she's never been and forcing her to start over from there.

Best to wait for the courts to make their final decision.

 

[Mogscat]

Her father has not paid child maintenance for seven years. He sees her about once or twice a year, even though lives only ten minutes away. He did not attend court for the hearing. He does not give her birthday presents. When we were together he used to steal money from her money box. I have had to call the police to make him leave the house because he used to have screaming meltdowns here and refuse to leave the house. He has broken various doors external and internal in the house in the past. My older daughter had counselling to help her cope with his behaviour. I had support for domestic abuse. She never sees his family any more even though I have tried to keep in touch with them. She has visited Canada with us and wants to move when she is 16. Despite all of this I have told the court I will pay his air fare if he wishes to visit Canada and we will be visiting uk annually so he can see her the same amount anyway.
So I think his refusal is more about controlling me than maintaining contact with his children.

 

[canadianwoman]

I think you could submit the sponsorship application now, with proof that you have sole parental responsibility. Include a letter explaining that you are waiting for the court decision, and will send it in to be added to the file when you get it.
If CIC does not accept this, they will send the application back at the sponsor evaluation stage, I would guess, so you would only be out $75. I think they would continue to process the application, and wait til they get the court decision before they decided. They might consider the proof of sole parental responsibility to be sufficient, but I would continue working on getting the court order.

 

[Mogscat]

Thanks canadianwoman. That's what I was wondering. We have the added complication that my older child is 17 - too old for court orders etc but needs to be included on an application now as family sposnoship is only for under-19s. By the time younger one is 16, older one will be too old and we'd have to find another way to get PR for her. Or, maybe we can apply for older child now and do a separate application when younger child is 16...?

 

[Skitz]

Thanks canadianwoman. That's what I was wondering. We have the added complication that my older child is 17 - too old for court orders etc but needs to be included on an application now as family sposnoship is only for under-19s. By the time younger one is 16, older one will be too old and we'd have to find another way to get PR for her. Or, maybe we can apply for older child now and do a separate application when younger child is 16...?

If I am not mistaken, You could apply for all of your children at the same time - the lock in date is set on the day they receive your application for your children so your older child will be well within the accepted age limit. Depending on how long your application takes, it may happen sooner than later. In any case, you have the option of doing a soft landing to set your landing date within the cut off date on your COPR. You could then return to the UK and land when you are ready but within a reasonable time so as not to jeapordise your residency obligation in Canada.

If your child turns sixteen while application is in process, and the court orders don't come through - she is at an age where the PR consent or court order isn't required. If you get the court order while its in process, you can send that in. The challenge is processing times are so up in the air - hard to predict the timelines for it.

Either which ways, you should apply with all your additional dependent a now. Send your sole custody document and write an explanation of your (similar to what you have here, detailing the behaviour of your husband, lack of maintainence, abusive behaviour, support given to your daughter etc) and add some proof of this if you have - maybe that with your sole custody doc and letter of explanation would be enough for CIC. Your daughter could also wrote her own letter outlining her wishes - I am no expert but looks to me it would be best to apply for all at the same time and hope that all of it falls into place.

 

[Skitz]

Apologies! I have typos - messaging from a phone.

Also I made the assumption you were from the UK you could be from another country.I am not well versed with European family law but understand it's fairly similar to UK family law.

In any case, maybe even a free consult with an immigration lawyer could help point you in the right direction. I do feel for you!!

 

[Sous02]

You will need a court order granting you sole custody. We were successful. They look at this when your application as applicant is being assesed. If the order is not there they will give you either 30 or 45 days to produce it. Going forward without the order is a gamble that it will be ready in time. All the father would have to do is appeal and that would hold the court process up.
Could the child ask the father possibly with the help of a mediator?