Required document - Custody Order

[mildmiles]

Hi. Has anyone here been through my current situation?

I'm currently here in Canada and got married to a Canadian. We applied under Family Sponsorship and my husband was already found eligible to sponsor me. Already submitted my application for permanent residency along with my daughter. She's 12 years old and she's in the Philippines. I wasn't married to my daughter's dad nor we lived together but my daughter is bringing his family name. Her dad's name is also in the birth certificate. I solely raised my daughter since birth with no financial support from the dad. They don't have father-daughter time nor the dad pays visit to our daughter.

Now, we have received a letter from IRCC asking for additional documents, one of which is,
"Provide a copy of the custody order giving you sole permanent custody of your child(ren)."

Anyone can enlighten me on how to proceed with this? And by the way, I've already submitted IMM 5604 Declaration before we received this letter from IRCC.

 

[mikeymyke]

It means you need the father's permission to allow you to bring your daughter, granted by a court. You can't just bring your daughter over here without the father knowing

 

[mildmiles]

It means you need the father's permission to allow you to bring your daughter, granted by a court. You can't just bring your daughter over here without the father knowing

The father actually knows everything about this. He's even cooperative and signed the IMM 5604 Declaration and sent copies of his ID's.
If securing a court order is the only way to deal with this, do you have any idea on the process or procedures and how long will it take? I'm only given until Feb. 2018 to submit the required documents.

 

[jordo]

The father actually knows everything about this. He's even cooperative and signed the IMM 5604 Declaration and sent copies of his ID's.
If securing a court order is the only way to deal with this, do you have any idea on the process or procedures and how long will it take? I'm only given until Feb. 2018 to submit the required documents.

You will need a court order declaring you having sole legal custody of your child. Normally, this type of document would have been part of the divorce proceedings if you were married to the child's father. If the father agrees to let the child become a PR (as he has shown by signing IMM 5604), then it shouldn't be a problem to get a quick hearing in front of a Family Court judge in the Philippines. You most likely would have to travel back to do this.

However, I'm not familiar at all with Family Law in the Philippines and I urge you to get local legal help for this matter. With the father's cooperation, it hopefully would be resolved quickly and without a long expensive legal fight.

 

[jddd]

We were asked the same but more complex because the mother of my children is nowhere to be found. I issued a statutory declaration stating all facts and why I can’t get a court order (Philippine legal system being backlogged). In my declaration, I offered that they interview my children so that they can find out from them if their biological mother has had contact with them (she has NEVER been in contact with them).

I landed in Canada October 2017.

 

[CaroM8]

The father actually knows everything about this. He's even cooperative and signed the IMM 5604 Declaration and sent copies of his ID's.
If securing a court order is the only way to deal with this, do you have any idea on the process or procedures and how long will it take? I'm only given until Feb. 2018 to submit the required documents.

You’ll need to go to family court in The Philippines to get an official court order. I don’t know how the legal system works over there; you probably know more than we do.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Hi. Has anyone here been through my current situation?

I'm currently here in Canada and got married to a Canadian. We applied under Family Sponsorship and my husband was already found eligible to sponsor me. Already submitted my application for permanent residency along with my daughter. She's 12 years old and she's in the Philippines. I wasn't married to my daughter's dad nor we lived together but my daughter is bringing his family name. Her dad's name is also in the birth certificate. I solely raised my daughter since birth with no financial support from the dad. They don't have father-daughter time nor the dad pays visit to our daughter.

Now, we have received a letter from IRCC asking for additional documents, one of which is,
"Provide a copy of the custody order giving you sole permanent custody of your child(ren)."

Anyone can enlighten me on how to proceed with this? And by the way, I've already submitted IMM 5604 Declaration before we received this letter from IRCC.

Hi

As Philippine law automatically grants the mother full legal custody of an illegitimate child, you don't need to go to court. Show this to IRCC and refer them back to the signed IMM5604 granting you legal permission from the father to bring the child.

 

[bajanqueen]

This is what I received from them on 7th December:
> Custody Documents: Provide custody documentation issued by the relevant judicial
authority. If there are no judicial documents to provide to prove custody, please have the nonaccompanying
parent provide a notarized letter explaining your agreed upon custody arrangements.
This letter must be signed by the non-accompanying parent. This must be received at this office by:
2018/01/14

You and I have the same story daughters the same age as well . Her father signed the IMM5604 as well. So he just sent a letter saying basically what the IMM5604 is saying and that at the request of my daughter if she wants to spent one of the holidays per year with him it would not be a problem but my daughter wants to be with her mother and it is best she resides with her mother.

Hi. Has anyone here been through my current situation?

I'm currently here in Canada and got married to a Canadian. We applied under Family Sponsorship and my husband was already found eligible to sponsor me. Already submitted my application for permanent residency along with my daughter. She's 12 years old and she's in the Philippines. I wasn't married to my daughter's dad nor we lived together but my daughter is bringing his family name. Her dad's name is also in the birth certificate. I solely raised my daughter since birth with no financial support from the dad. They don't have father-daughter time nor the dad pays visit to our daughter.

Now, we have received a letter from IRCC asking for additional documents, one of which is,
"Provide a copy of the custody order giving you sole permanent custody of your child(ren)."

Anyone can enlighten me on how to proceed with this? And by the way, I've already submitted IMM 5604 Declaration before we received this letter from IRCC.

 

[mildmiles]

We were asked the same but more complex because the mother of my children is nowhere to be found. I issued a statutory declaration stating all facts and why I can’t get a court order (Philippine legal system being backlogged). In my declaration, I offered that they interview my children so that they can find out from them if their biological mother has had contact with them (she has NEVER been in contact with them).

I landed in Canada October 2017.

I'm happy for you guys. Question though, did you have your Statutory Declaration notarized? Can you possibly share the format of your Stat. Dec.?

 

[mildmiles]

This is what I received from them on 7th December:
> Custody Documents: Provide custody documentation issued by the relevant judicial
authority. If there are no judicial documents to provide to prove custody, please have the nonaccompanying
parent provide a notarized letter explaining your agreed upon custody arrangements.
This letter must be signed by the non-accompanying parent. This must be received at this office by:
2018/01/14

You and I have the same story daughters the same age as well . Her father signed the IMM5604 as well. So he just sent a letter saying basically what the IMM5604 is saying and that at the request of my daughter if she wants to spent one of the holidays per year with him it would not be a problem but my daughter wants to be with her mother and it is best she resides with her mother.

Looks like I'm going to go this route too. Can you please update me? Thanks.

 

[jddd]

I'm happy for you guys. Question though, did you have your Statutory Declaration notarized? Can you possibly share the format of your Stat. Dec.?

Yes we had it notarized. The format was just the normal bullet points giving the background and my explanation. Nothing special. You don’t need to worry, the father basically already consented, you seem like you will have no issues making him sign other declarations.

 

[gel143]

Hi! Just wanted to know. My friend is currently working in Canada and now she is processing her permanent residence therein. She wanted likewise to take her minor child the moment she's granted of PR. Does she need to secure a court order of sole custody over her minor child even if her estranged partner abandoned them already for a long time? My friend and the father of the minor child did not marry each other. Further, the father is nowhere to be found.

 

[gel143]

It means you need the father's permission to allow you to bring your daughter, granted by a court. You can't just bring your daughter over here without the father knowing

What if the father abandoned his daughter and his whereabouts is unknown?