Me and My wife want to get a passport for my steop-daughter

[BigDaddy28 228]

Hello

I have 3 kids, 1 of them is not biologically my daughter. We have her birth certificate and the birth certificate has only the mother's name. We want to apply for a passport for her because we have intentions to have a vacation overseas next year. What documents do we have to have? will we have to have a consent from my daughters biological father to get a passport? What if he is not available (in prison)? My wife doesn't have any custody papers from court but my daughter has been living with us all the time, the father doesn't have any visitation, nothing at all. Will we have a hard time to get a passport for her without the consent from the biological father?

Thanks

[PurplePassion 1]

Hello

I have 3 kids, 1 of them is not biologically my daughter. We have her birth certificate and the birth certificate has only the mother's name. We want to apply for a passport for her because we have intentions to have a vacation overseas next year. What documents do we have to have? will we have to have a consent from my daughters biological father to get a passport? What if he is not available (in prison)? My wife doesn't have any custody papers from court but my daughter has been living with us all the time, the father doesn't have any visitation, nothing at all. Will we have a hard time to get a passport for her without the consent from the biological father?

Thanks

I had this same problem with my son. As long as the fathers name is on the birth certificate you have to get his consent before leaving country with the child. I believe you can go to court if he refuses or if he is MIA but that includes getting a lawyer and going to court.

[BigDaddy28 228]

I had this same problem with my son. As long as the fathers name is on the birth certificate you have to get his consent before leaving country with the child. I believe you can go to court if he refuses or if he is MIA but that includes getting a lawyer and going to court.

what about if the father's name is not on the birth certificate? Only the mother's name is there.

[JimmyHou 611]

what about if the father's name is not on the birth certificate? Only the mother's name is there.

You might want to try applying for a passport... if the father's name isn't there then the State Department will automatically assume that he is unknown.

If that doesn't work, then you'll have to go to court and get a judge's order declaring the mother (or both of you) as sole legal guardians.

This shouldn't be as hard as it would have been if the father's name was on the birth certificate.

If only the mother's name is on the birth certificate or on a custody order, then make sure that she is either with you when you travel or that she has given you a written and notarized letter of consent allowing you to take her child abroad.

If it's something you're interested in, in the long run, it may be worth while to look into legally adopting her child and having the birth certificate reissued with your name on it as well as the mother's.

[BigDaddy28 228]

You might want to try applying for a passport... if the father's name isn't there then the State Department will automatically assume that he is unknown.

If that doesn't work, then you'll have to go to court and get a judge's order declaring the mother (or both of you) as sole legal guardians.

This shouldn't be as hard as it would have been if the father's name was on the birth certificate.

If only the mother's name is on the birth certificate or on a custody order, then make sure that she is either with you when you travel or that she has given you a written and notarized letter of consent allowing you to take her child abroad.

If it's something you're interested in, in the long run, it may be worth while to look into legally adopting her child and having the birth certificate reissued with your name on it as well as the mother's.

I'm planing on adopting her in the near future just waiting on getting some $$$ so I can start the process. I have been in my kids life almost all her life and she knows me as her dad. .

Thank you my friend for your answer. I hope I wouldn't get hard time from the state department.