Hi everyone, I'm about to apply to bring my son to join my British partner and myself to the UK using VAF4a and appendix 1. The father has had no contact with my son since 2008. Our joint income is more than the requirement in the immigration rules. Do I need to use the sponsorship form as well? The other question I have is after my son receives his visa, is there a time limit before he travels to the UK? I seem to remember that there used to be a three month period during which you had to travel or your visa could be revoked. I have a settlement visa but I'm not yet a British citizen. Any advice would be appreciated.
When you apply for a visa it will ask you which date you want your child to travel to the UK, speaking for most of us here at BF we normally have the loved ones travelling to the UK as soon as possible after the given date stamped on the visa. When the visa is granted it will tell you how long it is valid for, I would have thought 3 months would be reasonable.
You may very well have a problem as the biological father must give his permission by means of a legal document otherwise Immigration officials will stop him at the airport and not let him board his flight. If the father can not be traced, you will need the assent from a Judge but that will be a long, drawn-out process as the Courts allow anything up to a couple of years for the father to make an appearance. You need a good lawyer who specialises in family law to advise and act for you.
I thought that where the mother has custody of the child, she can decide? K certainly thinks so, and has told me so.
That's certainly true for child who is under 6 or where the Custody Order does not specifically exclude travel or settlement abroad. In other cases (eg: assumed custody), it is worth checking with BoI (the Bureau has a Facebook page and will answer such questions there).
Thanks; owing to time wasting by his mother the boy is now six. This is "assumed custody" as the father's whereabouts are unknown.
Hi, Coldn't help but notice this post, I have a similar situation, biological father AWOL, last time I hear was 13 years ago, when my children went to come and see me here, I applied for travel clearance, isn't that enough? I have asked my friend who works at BOI and I am yet to receive a response. I'll let you all know what she says but KeithAngel's reply looks really interesting
Hi, Spoke to my friend who works at BOI, she said as long as you have a clearance from DSWD you should be alright.
Hi, No worries, I take it your wife is in the UK, if she is, she needs to get affidavit of support and consent from the Phils Embassy in London. If you are near London or you have the time to go to Lobdon , I suggest you take her there and don't do like what I did. Because I live in Manchester, I downloaded the form and had it notarised by a notary public and costed me extortionate amount of money which you then have to send to FCO to get that ribbon. If you go to the Phils Embassy, it is a straightforward application, fill it in, make sure the person you are authorising has 2 forms of ID. your wife needs her passport with her, I think the fee is £12 pounds. If you arrive early in the morning, chances are you will get it the same day, if not, Make sure you have a self-addressed envelope so they can send it back to you. You then have to send that to your representative in the Phils. Who is looking after the child? It's best if it is a Lola or the aunt and take it to DSWD near where they live, again make sure they are early as the queue is long and be prepared to stand for a long time. Your representative will fill in the form, make sure they bring the child's birth certificate, passport size pictures, letter from the mother explaining why she is applying for a travel clearance, in my case I said in view of my family commitment and work I can't and that I love and work in abroad. For 1 year validity it is Php300 while 2 year validity is Php600. It took about 3 to 5 working days as they have to trace the father (someone told me it's more like looking at phone book and calling and verifying, in my case they found 2 names similar to the father and turned out its not who they are looking for so in the end they put unknown whereabouts). Let me know if you get stuck Joy
I was trying to paste the link where you can download forms for DSWD and Phil embassy for the affidavit of support and consent (ASC). So basically in order for DSWD to process his clearance you need the ASC from Phil embassy in London (this is needed if she is in the UK). Then send it to her named representative together with a copy of her child's birth cert together with passport size picture. I hope this helps.
