Traceyandian

Ian has a child who will not be coming with us (yet anyway).

On the main application it says that we 'need to provide certified
copies of documents to verify custody and access arrangements for
children under 18 years of age'

We have no documents, Ian believes it was just agreed between him and
his ex wife that they have joint custody and we only have access every 3
weekends (because thats all we're allowed).

Do we need to go to a solicitor and get something drawn up or can we
just do a stat dec???

Anyone else been in this situation? Would be grateful for any advice.

Tracey

Jaj

    > Ian has a child who will not be coming with us (yet anyway).
    > On the main application it says that we 'need to provide certified
    > copies of documents to verify custody and access arrangements for
    > children under 18 years of age'
    > We have no documents, Ian believes it was just agreed between him and
    > his ex wife that they have joint custody and we only have access every
    > 3 weekends (because thats all we're allowed).
    > Do we need to go to a solicitor and get something drawn up or can we
    > just do a stat dec???
    > Anyone else been in this situation? Would be grateful for any advice.
    > Tracey

Proving custody is less important when a child is not migrating to
Australia with you.

The child willl usually need to do a medical - will this be a problem?

Something to know for the future, is that as long as the child is under
18, you'll be able to sponsor for a Dependent Child visa later on
(unless it gets married/engaged/de-facto relationship before then).
There is no need to be supporting the child if it's under 18, although
rules could of course change later on.

Something maybe to consider when the child gets to 16 or 17 and is old
enough to have his or her own views about things.

Jeremy

Bettytweena

    > Proving custody is less important when a child is not migrating to
    > Australia with you.
    > The child willl usually need to do a medical - will this be a problem?
    > Something to know for the future, is that as long as the child is
    > under 18, you'll be able to sponsor for a Dependent Child visa later
    > on (unless it gets married/engaged/de-facto relationship before then).
    > There is no need to be supporting the child if it's under 18, although
    > rules could of course change later on.
    > Something maybe to consider when the child gets to 16 or 17 and is old
    > enough to have his or her own views about things.
    > Jeremy

This is an interesting point JAJ, so, if you initially go out to Oz
without, for example, a 15 year old, as they chose to stay here with
their bio Dad, but after you get there, they decide they want to join
you, you can then apply for a dependent visa? Is this correct? How
difficult is all this?

thanx in advance
Lesley

Rob Morton-Jone

    > Ian has a child who will not be coming with us (yet anyway).
    > On the main application it says that we 'need to provide certified
    > copies of documents to verify custody and access arrangements for
    > children under 18 years of age'
    > We have no documents, Ian believes it was just agreed between him and
    > his ex wife that they have joint custody and we only have access every
    > 3 weekends (because thats all we're allowed).
    > Do we need to go to a solicitor and get something drawn up or can we
    > just do a stat dec???
    > Anyone else been in this situation? Would be grateful for any advice.
    > Tracey

Tracy,

I think that if Ian's previous relationship/marrige and custody of the
children was settled amicably then a letter from his ex pertner via a
solicitor is the norm to confirm that the children are being allowed to
move to Oz. I think that it would be a standard letter which would have
to accompany certified copies of the childrens passports, with photo's.

Hope it helps

Rob

Shecha

    > Ian has a child who will not be coming with us (yet anyway).
    > On the main application it says that we 'need to provide certified
    > copies of documents to verify custody and access arrangements for
    > children under 18 years of age'
    > We have no documents, Ian believes it was just agreed between him and
    > his ex wife that they have joint custody and we only have access every
    > 3 weekends (because thats all we're allowed).
    > Do we need to go to a solicitor and get something drawn up or can we
    > just do a stat dec???
    > Anyone else been in this situation? Would be grateful for any advice.
    > Tracey

Hi Tracey,

My hubby applied for spouse visa and he has a child from previous
marriage who is not emigrating with us. My hubby did not have to supply
proof of custody - he just made a statement himself, stating that
following his divorce, neither party were awarded sole custody of their
daughter and therefore, legally he has joint parental responsibility.
Australian High Commission did not question this, as his daughter was
emigrating with us.

The issue over his daughters' medical got messy - as my husband does not
have contact with his daughter - due to the malicious/jealous/insecure
ex-wife - you know what it's like! His daughter had to have a medical
to fulfil health requirement, even though she was not migrating. The
ex-wife had to be officially written to by the AHC and they requested
she arrange the medical for their daughter, but she refused just to be
awkward.
Eventually she agreed and is was ok in the end, but it was delayed by 2
months.
If you encounter any problems reagrding the medicals for his child -
bear in mind that your partner will have joint parental responsibility
and therefore has rights to access his childs' medical records, without
consent from the childs mother. If you get any problems over this, pm
me and give you the info you need to clarify this.
Good luck!
Shell

Jaj

    > This is an interesting point JAJ, so, if you initially go out to Oz
    > without, for example, a 15 year old, as they chose to stay here with
    > their bio Dad, but after you get there, they decide they want to join
    > you, you can then apply for a dependent visa? Is this correct? How
    > difficult is all this?
    > thanx in advance
    > Lesley

Read the information on child migration on the DIMIA site.

As long as the child was declared and did a medlcal when you migrated in
the first place, Dependent Child migration is normally fairly
straightforward *provided* the child is under 18 (and single).

Once the child turns 18, it gets a lot harder to sponsor as you need to
prove financial dependency.

Jeremy