QLD Separation - How to Get Passport Without Consent from Ex?

[terina]

Hi there,

My ex-partner and I have been separated for just over two months now. Three weeks after our separation, he went to Bali and will now be living there while flying to Perth for work.

Prior to our separation, I had been trying to get our daughter a passport, yet didn't lodge the application until after we split up. Now he is refusing to give his consent. I've recently won a travel voucher which expires at the end of the year and would love to use it to take my daughter on a holiday. How can I get her passport without his consent?

I do not have an address or a phone number for him so mediation isn't an option at the moment. I have made contact with him via Facebook to try and convince him to give consent and visit his daughter but he is still refusing. Even when we split up he refused to come and see her, even though he said he misses her and loves her. What can I do to get her a passport? And how much will it all cost?

 

[sammy01]

You're gonna need his consent otherwise it is court. Costs? I'm guessing but a few grand at least. Chance of getting it sorted by the end of the year? I don't fancy your chances.

 

[terina]

If I have to go to court, does he have to be there?

 

[Cairnsdad]

You need to spend some time reading on the internet as there is heaps of info about it including the Family Court website under what considerations a Judge will grant a passport application without consent because to merely go on a holiday isn't one of them. The travel must be essential to the child's development basically, visiting family, learning about their culture, a family event like a wedding, etc.

Obviously, the child's age is taken into account. For example, if your daughter is very young (toddler) then trying to justify any of the reasons will be impossible. If they are school age then whether they will miss school will be taken into account just to give you some idea.

It is a big thing for a court to grant a passport because it gives either parent full freedom if they are in possession of that passport to leave the country with the child any time they want in the future before it expires.

Your ex can choose to appear by phone or in person but yes when you apply.
Given the recent news regarding children overseas in a custody dispute I would also be making sure the country you want to holiday in is a signatory of the Hague Convention on Child Abduction which for example Bali is not.

All Judges are different but the above is from my personal experience.

My ex spent mega thousands of her boyfriend's money on legal and court fee's a few years ago trying to get a passport for my two young son's after I didn't give consent for her to go and visit her bf's family oversea's as it was a non-HCCA country and I was concerned she wouldn't return. She tried twice on different grounds even the second time saying she was intending to marry the bf in his home country and the Judge still denied it instantly due to it being a non-HCCA country.

Just a final footnote. I spoke to immigration at the time as well after she served me with court docs to double check and I was so confident it would not be granted I didn't even bother engaging a lawyer for the appearance because I knew beforehand it was a slam dunk.

I do not want to put you off as every Judge is different but simply telling you my experience from the other side.