VIC Can I travel outside Australia with 7 year old child?

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Mel125

Active Member
2 March 2020
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Am i able to travel overseas with my 7 year old daughter without the fathers consent?
The father has never met our daughter as was never interested in his child.
I have had no contact with the father for 7 years and no clue where he is.
It would be impossible to find him and i really like to travel.
 

GlassHalfFull

Well-Known Member
28 August 2018
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You haven't given enough information yet. Has the 7 year old got a passport yet? That will be the sticking point. Normally you need the father's signature on the passport application form. It is possible to get a passport without it but you will have to jump through more hoops and it will take longer.

 

Mel125

Active Member
2 March 2020
7
0
31
You haven't given enough information yet. Has the 7 year old got a passport yet? That will be the sticking point. Normally you need the father's signature on the passport application form. It is possible to get a passport without it but you will have to jump through more hoops and it will take longer.

Hi there is no passport as yet
I would like to travel in 4 months
Do you know what i need to do
 

GlassHalfFull

Well-Known Member
28 August 2018
544
51
2,289
Read the Passports page I linked to above. There are forms you need to fill out when you apply, and it will depend on other things like whether the father is on the birth certificate or not. It's complicated but I guess 4 months should be long enough if you get started now. Worst case scenario, you might need a court order allowing you to apply for a passport without the father, but I'm guessing you'd need to demonstrate that you have tried to contact him over an extended period of time and failed. Have you ever tried? Do you receive child support from him? So many questions that may have an effect on what the process might be.
 

sammy01

Well-Known Member
27 September 2015
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4 months might not be enough time to get consent. Get started asap
 

Mel125

Active Member
2 March 2020
7
0
31
Read the Passports page I linked to above. There are forms you need to fill out when you apply, and it will depend on other things like whether the father is on the birth certificate or not. It's complicated but I guess 4 months should be long enough if you get started now. Worst case scenario, you might need a court order allowing you to apply for a passport without the father, but I'm guessing you'd need to demonstrate that you have tried to contact him over an extended period of time and failed. Have you ever tried? Do you receive child support from him? So many questions that may have an effect on what the process might be.
I have tried in earlier years but he dosent acknowledge the child so i gave up . He pays 25 dollars a month in child support collect.
 

Mel125

Active Member
2 March 2020
7
0
31
Thanks for your helpful information.
Is this the only consent i need from the father is there anything else other than travel i will need consent for
 

GlassHalfFull

Well-Known Member
28 August 2018
544
51
2,289
Well he clearly acknowledges his fatherhood since he sends child support. I'm surprised its as low as that though. Is that what the Child Support Agency has decided on or is it a private arrangement?

As I mentioned, it depends on whether he was listed on the birth certificate or not. If not, there is a different form to fill out and it may be easier because of that. If he is listed, then yes ideally you need consent from him. If you apply for the passport without his consent, the form will ask you what steps you've taken to try to contact him, and it probably won't look good for you if you haven't made any attempts and may mean the application will be refused.

If you get consent and he signs the form, it should be fairly easy and I don't believe you would have problems going overseas without him being present there with you. It would probably be good to get a written authorisation from him that he consents to you travelling overseas with the child, either in general or for the specific dates and destination that you intend to travel for, just in case anyone questions you at the airport about the consent of the father. Without court orders preventing you from travelling though, I don't know of any reason why you would be prevented once you have a valid passport.

In general, because he is still legally the father (unless he's not on the birth certificate), it's going to be a good idea to stay in contact with him for situations like this. You can reassure him that you don't want to involve him in the child's life but for practical reasons, it is important that you keep each other informed of contact details.
 

Mel125

Active Member
2 March 2020
7
0
31
Well he clearly acknowledges his fatherhood since he sends child support. I'm surprised its as low as that though. Is that what the Child Support Agency has decided on or is it a private arrangement?

As I mentioned, it depends on whether he was listed on the birth certificate or not. If not, there is a different form to fill out and it may be easier because of that. If he is listed, then yes ideally you need consent from him. If you apply for the passport without his consent, the form will ask you what steps you've taken to try to contact him, and it probably won't look good for you if you haven't made any attempts and may mean the application will be refused.

If you get consent and he signs the form, it should be fairly easy and I don't believe you would have problems going overseas without him being present there with you. It would probably be good to get a written authorisation from him that he consents to you travelling overseas with the child, either in general or for the specific dates and destination that you intend to travel for, just in case anyone questions you at the airport about the consent of the father. Without court orders preventing you from travelling though, I don't know of any reason why you would be prevented once you have a valid passport.

In general, because he is still legally the father (unless he's not on the birth certificate), it's going to be a good idea to stay in contact with him for situations like this. You can reassure him that you don't want to involve him in the child's life but for practical reasons, it is important that you keep each other informed of contact details.
He is not on the birth certificate as we had a court dna test after the child was born. He was ordered to go on birth certificate but he didnt and i couldnt afford court to go back. So i didnt bother. Yes its child support collect
 

GlassHalfFull

Well-Known Member
28 August 2018
544
51
2,289
Then it might work in your favour in this case, because my understanding is that when the father isn't listed on the birth certificate, it is a simpler process to apply for the passport, although looking at the form, it still asks if you have tried to contact the father and obtain written permission to apply for the passport, along with their last known contact details, so I think the very first step is to immediately try to track him down to obtain permission and ideally his signature on the form. If you want to travel in 4 months, get on it right away. The passport office website says that you should allow 6-8 weeks for a child's passport and it might end up taking longer for complicated applications like yours.

Ultimately, have a proper read of the page I originally linked to because really I'm just passing on the same information I'm reading from there myself.