childs permission letter to leave country

[elkfarmer 4]

I received an RFE from National Visa Center, yesterday about the letter from other parent, allowing child to immigrate. What I sent was an ORIGINAL COURT RECORD, with signature of wife , ex-husband and Judge. ( All original signatures) It gave permission for children to go to USA, starting in March,2009, and gave wife sole custody. Being an original document it had the court stamps on it also. I called NVC last night and of course operator knows nothing, but suggested they needed letter from ex-husband with Notary stamp of signature on another letter. I asked for a review by someone at NVC , but have little else I can do. Anyone have this situation come up?

[Bobby+Umit 161]

Perhaps, in addition to the court record, they want a letter from the father giving permission, (signed and notarized)?

(There are some posts here about something similar - you may want to do a search for them)

[NArocks 13]

Correct what the NVC is looking for is a current notorized letter. Also Elk farmer start looking into now getting the child out of Colombia. If you do not have a letter from the colombia government DAS will not let the child out. Get the letter notorized so your case can resume and work on the leeter from Colombia also. Here is alink to the Colsolate pge from here in the US. The child will need this everytime they travel back to Colombia and leave with only one parent. Colombian consolate NYIt is in Spanish

Edited April 18, 2009 by NArocks

[NArocks 13]

Elkfrmer, WAY back in June of 2008 http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...mp;hl=elkfarmer I brought up the letter and stated to PM me for addtional information, maybe this could have saved you the RFE. I hope you can get the letter from the EX and be on the way again. Do not and I state DO NOT FORGET the letter to get the child out of Colombia.

[elkfarmer 4]

That is why I do not understand Colombian law. The father has clearly given the permission as so stated by the court Document. It was signed by him and the judge. It can not be any clearer then that. The father now lives in Cali and and the children live in Bogota. He is a drunk and I am sure, it will be next to impossible to locate him. Let alone figuring out how to get him to go to a notary with a letter. And the mail system works so well in Colombia! Not !!!!

[NArocks 13]

Colombian law is just that go figure. Just remember even though you have to go through the hoops the end result is well worth it. For us it was a bit easier becasue the mom was willing to sign what ever we needed to get the boys here. Have you Lady call DAS and see what they say about the exit requirements and try your darndest to get that letter for the NVC

I wish you the best of luck.

Edited April 18, 2009 by NArocks

[chizkeyk 0]

I received an RFE from National Visa Center, yesterday about the letter from other parent, allowing child to immigrate. What I sent was an ORIGINAL COURT RECORD, with signature of wife , ex-husband and Judge. ( All original signatures) It gave permission for children to go to USA, starting in March,2009, and gave wife sole custody. Being an original document it had the court stamps on it also. I called NVC last night and of course operator knows nothing, but suggested they needed letter from ex-husband with Notary stamp of signature on another letter. I asked for a review by someone at NVC , but have little else I can do. Anyone have this situation come up?

My 2 cents...

Since the court gave you the sole custody for the child, you don't need your ex-husbands consent (letter etc.). Instead of calling USCIS, draft a letter addressed to authorities concerned (embassy, uscis, handling your case) reiterating that you were granted by the Court sole custody over your children and that you are attaching such Court Order/decision to your letter. Likewise, please also mentioned that you already submitted a copy of that order in lieu of the Letter of Consent from the biological father.

Goodluck...

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

I received an RFE from National Visa Center, yesterday about the letter from other parent, allowing child to immigrate. What I sent was an ORIGINAL COURT RECORD, with signature of wife , ex-husband and Judge. ( All original signatures) It gave permission for children to go to USA, starting in March,2009, and gave wife sole custody. Being an original document it had the court stamps on it also. I called NVC last night and of course operator knows nothing, but suggested they needed letter from ex-husband with Notary stamp of signature on another letter. I asked for a review by someone at NVC , but have little else I can do. Anyone have this situation come up?

My 2 cents...

Since the court gave you the sole custody for the child, you don't need your ex-husbands consent (letter etc.). Instead of calling USCIS, draft a letter addressed to authorities concerned (embassy, uscis, handling your case) reiterating that you were granted by the Court sole custody over your children and that you are attaching such Court Order/decision to your letter. Likewise, please also mentioned that you already submitted a copy of that order in lieu of the Letter of Consent from the biological father.

Goodluck...

I don't know how it works in Colombia, but in the US it doesn't quite work that way. Having sole custody does not automatically revoke the parental rights of the non-custodial parent. I had sole physical and legal custody of my daughter (in California, there's a distinction between the two types of custody), but my ex-wife retained her rights as a parent. She still had the right to visit my daughter. I was required to give my ex-wife 30 days notice before I could take my daughter out of the state, and required my ex-wife's written permission take my daughter out of the country. My daughter almost didn't get to go on a class trip to Italy because my ex-wife took her sweet time about getting the letter back to us.

My fiancee has sole custody of her children - I've read the divorce decree and the terms couldn't be any clearer, but if her interview comes up before her youngest turns 18 (which is unlikely but possible) then I'm going to need a quit claim signed and notarized by her ex-husband in order to get a visa for her daughter. This has been confirmed by my attorney and the consulate in Vietnam.

Again, I don't know how it works in other countries, but in the US the courts very rarely revoke the parental rights of a parent. I've only heard of this being done in the most extreme cases of child abuse.

Ok, having said all that stuff...

OP says that the court document specifically gave his wife permission to take the child to the US. It sounds to me like NVC has a problem with the document. Even though it's stamped by the court in Colombia, and is probably legally binding there, the signature of the ex-husband isn't specifically witnessed; e.g., by a notary. They want a document signed by the ex-husband in front of a legal witness. This has nothing to do with Colombian law, and everything to do with US law and cooperation with the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction. The Colombian government has legal jurisdiction on how children may leave Colombia, but the US government has legal jurisdiction on how children may enter the United States. They want the non-custodial parent's explicit permission, and not an order from a Colombian court.