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Sous02 said:
You will need a court order granting you sole custody. We were successful. They look at this when your application as applicant is being assesed. If the order is not there they will give you either 30 or 45 days to produce it. Going forward without the order is a gamble that it will be ready in time. All the father would have to do is appeal and that would hold the court process up.
Could the child ask the father possibly with the help of a mediator?

Just a clarification, Sous02! So if i understand correctly, a sole custody document negates the need for the father to give consent? Just trying to understand this whole custody thing.

Also in the OP's case, I thought a mother already has sole parental responsibility and now she has to get the the court to also grant her her sole custody or is that not a derived benefit from sole parental responsibility?
 
Skitz said:
Just a clarification, Sous02! So if i understand correctly, a sole custody document negates the need for the father to give consent? Just trying to understand this whole custody thing.

Also in the OP's case, I thought a mother already has sole parental responsibility and now she has to get the the court to also grant her her sole custody or is that not a derived benefit from sole parental responsibility?
At least in our case it was enough. If the op has a court order granting sole custody with no rights left for the other parent she should be good to go. Of course the waiver would be great but this is not uncommon.
 
Sous02 said:
At least in our case it was enough. If the op has a court order granting sole custody with no rights left for the other parent she should be good to go. Of course the waiver would be great but this is not uncommon.

Thanks Sous02, let's hope it all works out for OP! +1
 
Mogscat said:
Thanks canadianwoman. That's what I was wondering. We have the added complication that my older child is 17 - too old for court orders etc but needs to be included on an application now as family sposnoship is only for under-19s. By the time younger one is 16, older one will be too old and we'd have to find another way to get PR for her. Or, maybe we can apply for older child now and do a separate application when younger child is 16...?

In Canada we have what's known as "Primary Caregiver". You could state you are the Primary Caregiver for the child, and that you are awaiting an uncontested reassignment of sole custody...

You have to include all children in your application, whether or not they are accompanying you. The CIC will have to examine them all for eligibility.
 
Thank you for your helpful and kind comments.
I am in England, although I have sole parental responsibility I don't know if that is the same thing as 'custody' in law. Hadn't thought of including a letter explaining with the application, that's a good idea. :)
 
Sous02 said:
At least in our case it was enough. If the op has a court order granting sole custody with no rights left for the other parent she should be good to go. Of course the waiver would be great but this is not uncommon.

I suspect the bolded area will be the key here -- make sure to sever parental ties during the court process.
 
Mogscat said:
Thank you for your helpful and kind comments.
I am in England, although I have sole parental responsibility I don't know if that is the same thing as 'custody' in law. Hadn't thought of including a letter explaining with the application, that's a good idea. :)

Yeah they read them, so it wouldn't hurt to placate them a little..

Custody here is equivalent to making major (and some minor) choices in the child's life: school, religion, health, etc. The role of the Primary Caregiver is stating that's who the child primarily resides with, and who is responsible for minor decisions (what should they eat today, etc).