Hi Everyone,

I have my interview in Montreal on September 13, 2007, I still haven't received pkt 4 yet. But, I was wondering since I have no divorce/legal papers with regards to child custody, what do I need as far as permission goes to immigrate my 4 year old son across the border? My x has given me permission on an agreement we drew up when he left. Is there something else that I might need? We are only moving 20 miles across the border. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Karen

I'm struggling with the same thing, and it's not really clear what is needed. I'm under the assumption that since my fiancee's ex agreed to let my future step-daughter have a passport, that would be all that is needed. I drew up a document for the ex to sign last weekend, but he wouldn't because he "didn't like the wording." Which means, since he's more or less illiterate, he didn't understand what "Consent to Immigrate" meant. We are probably going to meet with family court next week and just make sure my fiancee has up-to-date custody agreement papers and such.

Here's what the form that my fiancee's ex wouldn't sign. Maybe your ex will, and it would probably be better notarized. Also, it may not help to have a letter like this, but it couldn't hurt, either.

I have a daughter from a previous relationship.

The checklist does indicate that you need to come with appropriate custody documents or proof. I tend to agree with the comment above.

For me... I have sole custody and have for years. It was re-notarized last fall so we could travel

Good luck

I would asume you'll need some sort of legal/notarized document proving sole custody. Can you contact the ex? I hope things work out for you.
Good luck, L.

You need to have a signed affidavit stating the bio-logical parent will allow the child to leave the country and live in the states. Just a passport isn't sufficiant. You'll need this letter when you go for your interview.
Especially if the parent has joint custody, you'll need the letter. If you have sole custody without any visitations rights I don't think you need the letter. But if the fathers name is on the birth certificate, be prepared to be asked questions at your interview such as , "Does the parent know your moving this child to the states?"
I had a verbal agreement with my daughter's bio dad and he had said when the time came, he would sign the paper to allow her to move. We had joint custody but my daughter had lived with me and saw her bio dad every other weekend.
Unfortunatley we went thru a rather nasty divorce and when it came time to sign the letter to let her move, he refused. This was less then 2 weeks before my interview. I contacted my lawyers but they said it would have taken almost a year to get a court date and less then a 50% chance that the judge would allow her to move.The bio-dad had a well known father's rights lawyer and had tons of money to fight. Her Bio-dad said that he didn't really want her but since I wanted her so bad that he would teach me a lesson for divorcing him and not allow her to go. (Thats ok, Karma will get him!)
In BC Canada, once a child reaches the age of 12 they are allowed to choose whom they want to live with. My child was 10 at the time. I did manage to get a court document that states that when she turns 12 she can move here if she chooses.

I had to leave her with her bio-dad and move without her.
Luckily, She has been able to come down here and visit often. She comes every Christmas, spring break, summer and thanksgiving.

She turns 12 next February and has already chosen to move here. (I knew she would!) We'll start gathering everything for my husband to apply for her visa in January. Hopefully She can finish out her school year in Canada and move here in Summer 2008.

I know you're excited!! I waiting for the day when I can do the same thing, only in reverse. I want to emigrate to NS eventually. My daughter is only 8 and until she's old enough to decide where she wants to live, I have to wait. Fortunately she does live with me. Her DNA contributor and I went through a very bitter divorce as well and as is customary we have joint custody. The only thing he does is call her maybe two or three times a week (maybe 2 min phone call), pays minimal child support, and gets her every other weekend. Anything else in her life he's pretty much a no show. He is just like the ex you have...if it's what I want to do, he'll find any way he can to stop it, put a roadblock up, or thwart it. Just to teach me a lesson for leaving him. Hope the process to get her here with you and your husband goes smoothly.

Sorry for hijacking the thread

Geez those guys sound so pathetic - no wonder you divorced them.

From reading previous threads and such, as well as my own experiences, even having Sole Custody is still not good enough to have the ability to move a child to the US. You have to have either the permission of the child's father or, in my case, the court's permission to move the child to the US.

I do not know if morning chambers would be a sufficient venue for the court to grant this permission... I did it as part of the final Corollary Relief and Matrimonial property trial (the trial for the Court of Queen's Bench that resolved everything relating to custody and matrimonial property), very expensive in it's own right, so adding permission to move the boys to the US was only a small addition to this trial.

The USCIS officer who interviewed us in Vancouver was very appreciative that we have this court's permission as part of a court order.

Scott.

Wasn't there another member here who was RFE'd at her interview because she only had custody papers at her interview? I am trying to think of who it was... but my mind just went blank. I am sure that it as a new thread that was posted though from her... but it was a few months back.

CORRECTION. No one was RFE'd but I also found this previous discussion: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=53843 and this: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...c=57497&hl=

I didn't have any custody papers for my son at all, but I was asked to bring father's notarised consent, stating that the father didn't mind that our son would move with me to the USA permanently and I would have full responsibiity for our son's well-being. That was enough.

Shite. I guess we'll have to get on him to sign and have that paper notarized. This is going to be a pain in the ###. He said he was going to have his lawyer look at it before he signed it, but I doubt he will. He verbally stated that he would sign anything he needed to, but when it came time to, he wouldn't. We can't call him, either, since he doesn't pick up his frigging phone, and only comes by about every 3-6 months to see his daughter, and usually only with about three days warning. On top of that, when she was with him two weekends ago, he told her that she's going to live with him for a month next summer and that she can't say that she misses mommy since this is his time. All this while she's sleeping on the floor of his ex-girlfriend's house with whom he has another child since by the sounds of it he's living at the Y or something. She was so distressed about it.

I'm not going to bring this up to Kristy until after we get back from our honeymoon next week. We were planning on going to the family court place to at least update the custody papers.

Why doesn't "Sole Custody" mean sole custody. This is absolutely absurd.

I guess it's because it's the question of "access"? Even though someone has full custody, the other parent still has "access" to the child (unless there's a restraining order or something).

Hopefully you can get it all sorted out in time.

Yeah, I realize that. But, in our case, she's moving three miles away. There's no difference in access, except for the wait on the bridge. And, if he did "access" her more often, like every other weekend like it states in the custody papers, I could understand it. He wouldn't even bother seeing his daughter when he lived on the next street over.

Oh I hear the frustration definitely. Kind of ridiculous when he doesn't even bother trying to be a father as it is.

Hope that Kristy can work something out.

Just to let you know that I did get a notarized copy of permision to immigrate from my son's father. Was a little like pulling teeth without freezing. I used a copy of this letter from the Canadian Gov [url="http://www.voyage.gc.ca/main/before/pdfs/consent_letter-en.pdf"] and changed a few things to state immigrate instead of travel.

Thank you for all the responses and good luck to all. I am super excited. Count down to Montreal. My packet 4 arrived on Saturday. 2 1/2 weeks before the interview. Thank god, I called when I did. Cheers to everyone. Karen

Yes, you're just moving three miles away now... but once the child has immigrated to the US, the horse has left the corral so to speak. After immigration, there nothing keeping you from moving you and the child to Arizona for instance since Canada courts will have lost jurisdiction over the child.

The Consulate needs that permission from the other parent in order to allow them to immigrate...whether you have sole custody or not... because the other parent still has the right to visit and keep a relationship with the child.. you as a custodial parent don't have the right to take that away, but the other parent can give it up...

Well now stranger... Good to see you again!! And your informative postings

Then why doesn't the consulate say anything about it in the Packet 3?

I think we're going to have to say screw it and start the plans for me immigrating to Canada, instead. Kristy (and her daughter) are going to be crushed when I tell them that all this waiting has been in vain. Well, I guess we'll see what the court says next Friday.

hi all well i (the canadian) dont normally post its usually my fiance that does the posting anyways the thing with consent from the other parent is that our laws are very strick with parental kidnapping and to make matters worse its not so much the montreal consulate that can say no to the kids visa the its also the border that can turn the kids around at least thats what my lawyer told me. My ex is nuts and thats putting it nicely he doesnt have any contac with the kids and he lives in the same town. The thing is with the new laws that passed this past january i was told i could not simply change my custody papers to say i could move. So my lawyer encouraged me to get him to sign a consent form, she typed one up it had the ontario court of justice tittle and it gave a simple discription on how he doesnt work pays no child support and alot more stuff to make it look good also stating that i would have to let him know my address in arkansas and phone number and how he still had resonable access with resonable notice to the kids and was able to call at appropriate time to talk to them. things like that she gave me 3 copies and told me to have him sign them and get it witnessed it could be anyone not realated to us to be witness.

Anyways he refused to sign them so i went back to see her and she wrote up all kinds of stuff about him how he had no relation with the kids. well basically made him look like the ### he is and she also made clear how close my kids are with my fiance. Lets say she was good at what she does. So anyways he was served the papers and the next day called me up and agreed to sign the consent forms, i brought the forms in to my lawyer and she had a judge endorse them right away that day. The court clerk then typed up the final copy and i have now a court oder basically to take my kids. That part was easy since i delt with the family law clinic at the court house so was that fast.

If i would have had to fight it in court i would have had to wait another month for the first case conferece and then if its not settled then go back in another week to give more infomation. I am so glad my ex is as lazzy as he is cause going to court would of put a strain on his drinking so his only way out of it was to give consent. If you want i can type up the consent letter my lawyer typed up if you want another ideal for a letter.

Sorry about the spelling im the worse ever speller.
Danielle

Hopefully it will get sorted out in yours and Kristy's favour.

I, the USC, think she's the best speller!

Being stopped at the boarder was my worst fear so I will share my story.

My sons father did not visit his son regularily and I had fully discussed moving with our son to the states 4 1/2 hours away with which he had no objections. Within the filing of the I129f we had our divorce order completed in laymen terms stating that I had sole custody. He had reasonable access on reasonable notice and there were no restrictrictions on location of primary residence. My ex was off work for a bit and got wayyyy behind on child support and became a total a$$ to boot (he was only a partial a$$ before this and I had really tried to work with him on it) so I put him through to the Family Responsibility Office and then he got mad. Oh dear .. so very mad and very bitter.

I was worried that Montreal would need a letter of Consent and at first they said that it would be required and then they told me that it was not required (I have come to believe that some of the people working in Montreal don't know their elbows from their .. well ... you know ). I asked my ex for the letter and there was no way in hell (his exact words) that he was going to help me out.

So I went to see a lawyer and the lawyer told me that my court order was rock solid. That he had not seen the "no restrictions on location of primary residence" put into an informal contract in the 15 years that he had been doing family law and that I would have nothing to worry about. Montreal did not ask for anything more than what I had .. no worries there. Except for the following worry which nearly crumpled my world in my last days before crossing that boarder.

At any time my ex-husband could have filed an emergency change of heart to have the divorce order changed. He could have filed it for free at the court house and had me served and delayed my whole process by God knows how long. There is no way that he would have won a court case against me with the history that we have shared (it's harder to change a court order than to put one in place) but he could have put a major crimp in my plans as far as time and a whole shi! load of money for court costs which would have devastated my relationship with my now husband.

Sweet talking (me) and ignorance about the legal system (him) goes a LONG way ... all to way to Cleveland, Ohio in fact .. WITH MY SON!! and that is my story .. I hope that it helps someone ....