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Hi. I need some help please.
My ex (not married), a German national, moved back to Germany 3 months ago leaving my daughter (10 yrs) with my new wife and I. I never asked for a parental responsabilty agreement but did roughly half the weekly childcare for my daughter and her little brother (not my child) since they were small and recieved the child benefit her since 2008. An arrangement I made with the mother. Now she has left the country I find I need a passport for my daughter and without 'parental responsability' from the court I can't apply for one. She was born before the 2003 law change but I am on the birth certificate.I'm not even sure if she is a British citizen or not, her mother being German. Also there are other factors like health care and schooling to consider.
Will I be able to either make a parental responsability agreement with her mother or ask the courts for an order now she lives abroad, and do I have to apply for her British citizenship first? I want my daughter to have a British passport as I fear her mother may insist one day on taking her to live in Germany.In my current legal position I'm not sure I coul'd prevent it.
What can I do?
Thanks 🙂
I'm not even going to attempt to answer this one - I'll ask the CCLC if they are able to assist, or advise who to contact.
Dear Telecaster
Thank you for your post.
You can attempt to get Parental Responsibility by the following:
• Marrying the mother;
• Having your name registered or re-registered on the birth certificate after the 1st December 2003
• Obtaining a Parental Responsibility agreement with the mother;
• Obtaining a Parental Responsibility Order from the court;
• Obtaining a Residence Order from the court
If the mother is in agreement to you having Parental Responsibility you and the mother would need to complete a form called a PRA1 which is a Parental Responsibility Agreement. If the mother is not in agreement then you will need to apply for a Parental Responsibility Order and the form required for this would be a C1. There is a fee of £200 for this application as well.
Alternatively, you can apply for a Residence Order. This would secure the child residing with you and if obtained provide you with Parental Responsibility. The form required for this is a C100 and the fee required is £200.
Once you have completed all the forms, you then need to lodge them at the local Family Proceedings Court closest to where the child resides. The Courts will then write back to you with a hearing date, if appropriate . It will then be your responsibility, once the application has been sent back to you, to make your a copy of your application is served on your ex partner so that she is aware of the Court proceedings. You must do this within 14 days of the Court hearing so we would advise doing this as soon as possible.
In terms of the other points your raise, we would be grateful if you could contact us to discuss in more detail so that we may be able to advise further.
Our webchat facility can be accessed at www.childrenslegalcentre.com and is open 9am-6pm Monday to Friday We also have a freephone advice line number which is 0808 8020 008 and this is open 8am-8pm, Monday to Friday.
Yours sincerely
CORAM CHILDREN’S LEGAL CENTRE
Hi thanks for answering my post.
After much trawling of the law I find my daughter is not British but could become so as she was born and lived here till age 10.
The Principal Registry Office in London say I can make a P.R.A with the mother via the post from Germany and so get her a German passport until I can get her British citizenship sorted, if the mother agrees. If she doesn't agree or tries to take my daughter back to Germany i'm still unclear as to what I could do. I'm not sure I could obtain a residency order or P.R.O for a foreign citizen child even though she is here now. Now I'm also wondering if I'm in a dangerous position with the German law as the child is living in a foreign country without a "legaly recognised' parent, and the British immigration law as she is not a citizen but residing here without proper authority and unacompanied by a "legaly recognised' parent with parental responsabilty. Am I even allowed to claim the child benefit and other benefits? I feel I am in a grey area!
I think the first step is to see what the mother would agree to - if she agrees to the PRA, then you are halfway there. On what basis do you now think she is not British?
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