Child Passport Renewal Issue

[jondurrant]

I hope that someone is able to assist:

My daughter (aged 10) started to live with me full time in March 2014.

Last week I tried to get my daughter's passport off her mother. On numerous occasions (verbally and in writing) she refused.

I contacted the Passport Office to enquire about the situation and report the passport as lost. They informed me that I could not report the passport as lost when I knew where it was.

I report the passport as stolen to the police. As helpful as they were they said there was no act of theft. The policewoman did speak to the mother and the mother stated that the passport had been destroyed. The police recorded this.

I rang the passport office to report the destruction of the passport. They stated that I could not report the passport as lost as I did not sign the original application. I asked them what they were going to do about the destruction - they said nothing. They stated were even able to give me a reference number for the telephone call.

I have written an email of complaint to the passport office.

I am told that the matter is a civil one. I have tried the professional mediation process previously - the mother failed to make an appointment for the 2nd meeting.

I am faced with a huge solicitor fee for trying to recover the old passport (which may not even exist) and applying for a replacement passport for which I did not sign the original application.

I can find little legislation or procedures on these matters.

I did not get legal aid in custody matters so I am not expecting to be eligable for legal aid in this matter. It would seem that there is only justice in this country for those who can afford it!

Any knowledgable advice would be most welcomed.

Thanks,

Jon

[leclerc]

Re: Child Passport Renewal Issue

But you cannot take the child overseas unless you have the parental support(excluding limited period to countries who are within the Hague Convention). How long does the passport last?(if the mother did this then it would expire after 5 years if it is a child passport)
What reason do you need the passport?

[des8]

Re: Child Passport Renewal Issue

Hi and welcome toLB

The procedure about Children's lost or stolen passports is set out here: https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...xam-policy.pdf
Here's the relevant excerpt:
Our normal one passport per person policy applies to children, and examiners
will need to take care a passport is not being declared lost or stolen in order to
circumvent our published policy.
If the application and/or LS record shows that the passport is ‘held’ or ‘stolen’
by the other parent, the passport is not lost or stolen, as either parent can
apply and hold a passport for their child provided they have parental
responsibility. It will be for the applicant to retrieve the passport from the
other party. If necessary the applicant will need to be told to seek legal advice
with a view to retrieving the passport through the issue and enforcement of a
Specific Issue Order made under the Children Act 1989.
An application to replace a lost or stolen child’s passport must be checked in
the exactly the same way as an adult's. In addition, the signature of the
parent applying for the original passport must be compared with that on the
replacement application form. If the record is on, the image will need to be
viewed to do this. Where the signature on the application form and the LS
Record is not that of the parent who applied for the original passport, the
written confirmation of the loss of theft must be obtained from the parent who
originally applied for passport facilities (unless that parent is deceased in
which case evidence of death must be submitted). The standard 159 text
advising the applicant that the passport has been cancelled and is not valid
for travel must be sent. Where the original passport was applied for by a
parent, not the current applicant, a copy of the letter should also be sent to
them.
If the whereabouts of the person who applied for the original passport is
unknown, there is little point in attempting to obtain a court order as it will be
unable to be served. In these circumstances we need evidence that every
avenue has been explored to enable contact with the missing person - for
example, evidence of contact with the Child Support Agency (CSA) - contact with the missing person’s family who can provide written confirmation that
their relative’s whereabouts are unknown, all detailed in a statutory
declaration confirming the actions taken. Before making a request for a
statutory declaration, the applicant must be warned that a statutory
declaration is a legal document and that knowingly making a false declaration
is a criminal offence. Once all the evidence has been received, details must
be case noted and the application referred to a team leader with a proposal to
accept.
Where the child’s passport has expired and has not subsequently been
replaced, it will be irrelevant which parent applies for the replacement
passport as there is no danger of breaching our one passport per person
policy.
If the child was previously included on a parent’s passport, their application
should not be classed as a replacement passport, but as a first time
application, and the one passport per person policy applies."

It seems the only way forward is a Specific Issue order made under The Children Act 1989

I think you need to complete a form C100 and send it to the court with £215 fee (ouch!)


If this was already known to you my apologies, but I know of no way round the passport rules.
I take it that your daughter's mother would not sign a declaration that she had destroyed the passport?

[jondurrant]

Re: Child Passport Renewal Issue

Thanks des8 - you have already been more help and are more informed than the passport office (PO)!

The attached is very useful - at least it explains the "rules of the game".

No the mother will not freely declare the passport as "lost".

It would appear that if I apply for a replacement, the PO will check the signatures, find them not to be the same - then it would follow that the PO would contact the mother (copying me in) and she would be obliged to declare to them that the passport is either lost or exists?

Then dependent on the outcome, a SI may be needed.

Thanks.

[jondurrant]

Re: Child Passport Renewal Issue

Thanks leclerc

I accept the point re parental support - this will be the next battle - but ultimately the mother will have to obtain a court order to prevent me - and have to justify her reasons.

I believe the passport has already expired. I understood that expired or not the passport had to be returned?

Ironically I need the passport so that my daughter can visit her maternal grandmother in spain - the maternal grandmother cannot travel because of health issues.

[des8]

Re: Child Passport Renewal Issue

[QUOTE=jondurrant;508210]Thanks leclerc
I believe the passport has already expired. I understood that expired or not the passport had to be returned?

Passport office must be aware the document has expired so this section applies:
"Where the child’s passport has expired and has not subsequently been
replaced, it will be irrelevant which parent applies for the replacement
passport as there is no danger of breaching our one passport per person
policy."

good luck

[jondurrant]

Re: Child Passport Renewal Issue

Noted with thanks des8.

[jondurrant]

Re: Child Passport Renewal Issue

For the benefit of others who maybe faced with the same situation:

On review of the passport application form; I am required to declare and return the uncancelled passport - I cannot declare it as lost because I did not sign the original form!

Therefore I have sent the requisite pre-action protocol letter giving the mother one last opportunity to cooperate before I issue proceedings for a Specific Issue Order under the Children Act 1989.

Just to complicate matters even further I have to comply with the Family Court's mediation rules - I am hoping that the previous mediator will sign the exemption form on the basis that the mother did not attend actively engage in previous attempts at mediation.

It would appear that the laws of this country have evolved in such a way that reasonable people face an almost impossible struggle to obtain justice against unreasonable people - unless of course they can afford to instruct solicitors on £100's/hour!

[seduraed]

Re: Child Passport Renewal Issue

Yes and what did you expect . There has always been one law for the rich and another for the poor . The legal aid system built to help has been dismantled by the Tories , it is part of their ongoing plan to entirely dismantle the welfare state and return us to a situation where there is a small rich elite and a massive struggling destitute poor . It may take a revolution . Those of us who saw the writing on the wall with thatcher have been fighting the Tories ever since .

[jondurrant]

Re: Child Passport Renewal Issue

Keen for this thread to stay on topic so that it might be of some use to others in the same situation but thanks seduraed for your post.