Child's passport

misspumpqueen

My ex wants a passport for our baby for his visa application. If I refuse, can he bring me to court? I've heard of mothers bringing the fathers to court because they won't sign for the passport

Fred Swanson

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misspumpqueen

Thank you

Pro Hoc Vice

misspumpqueen wrote: »

My ex wants a passport for our baby for his visa application. If I refuse, can he bring me to court? I've heard of mothers bringing the fathers to court because they won't sign for the passport

I may be misunderstanding your question does your husband want your child's passport to get your child a visa or does he want the passport to get a residency permission for himself that being your husband.

marieholmfan

He can only make you go to court he cannot make you get the baby a passport.

Peregrinus

It's likely that to get a visa for himself he needs to prove that his child is an Irish citizen. Since you can't get an Irish passport unless you are an Irish citizen, the easiest way to show that someone is an Irish citizen is to show that they have a passport. Hence, he wants you to get the child a passport so that he can point to the passport to prove that he is the father of an Irish citizen.

Can he go to court to compel you to do this? Well, the first question is, will he have to? Are you going to refuse to get your child a passport and, if so, why? What are your concerns?

If you do refuse he has a couple of options, one of which is to take you to court. (Another is to to talk to the Dept of Justice to see if they will accept any other proof of his child's citizenship status, and if necessary to take them to court.) If he does go down the route of taking you to court, the issue will come down to whether, in all the circumstances, it is in your child's best interests that a passport be issued.

On the face of it, the answer is yes, it would be in the child's best interests. The opening presumption is that it's in the best interests of any child to have a relationship with both parents, and if the child not getting a passport might lead to the father being deported, that's a bad outcome from the child's point of view. It would require fairly unusual facts (showing that the child is best off having no contact with its father) to get past this.

But, really, this shouldn't come to court. Unless you want the father deported you will want to do anything you need to do to enable him to get the visa he needs. If you have concerns about the child having a passport - e.g. if you are worried about abduction - there should be other ways to address this, such as an agreement that you get to hold on to the passport, or that you provide some other evidence of your child's citizenship which will satisfy the Dept of Justice. You should be able to work something out here that keeps the pair of you out of court.

The other side is that with a passport he can take the child back to his own country. Which is the very reason the passport form must be signed by both parents and witnessed by someone who know you.

misspumpqueen

Thanks for your replies. He is looking to get a passport for the baby to show that he is father of irish born citizen. That is a fear of mine, that he will take her. I don't know how to convey that. I know she has a right to both parents and a right to a passport but I'm scared that he will take her.

Pro Hoc Vice

misspumpqueen wrote: »

Thanks for your replies. He is looking to get a passport for the baby to show that he is father of irish born citizen. That is a fear of mine, that he will take her. I don't know how to convey that. I know she has a right to both parents and a right to a passport but I'm scared that he will take her.

You get the passport then Get a certified colour copy, or agree to provide passport directly to solicitor to copy INIS accept colour copies.

Cushie Butterfield

misspumpqueen wrote: »

Thanks for your replies. He is looking to get a passport for the baby to show that he is father of irish born citizen. That is a fear of mine, that he will take her. I don't know how to convey that. I know she has a right to both parents and a right to a passport but I'm scared that he will take her.

One option might be for you to submit the passport application for your baby - just get him to sign his part of the application, & keep the passport/give it to a family member for safe keeping. Give him a certified copy of the passport & a long form birth cert together with a covering letter stating that you are prepared to produce the actual physical passport to an INIS staff member should they require you to.

marieholmfan

Peregrinus wrote: »

It's likely that to get a visa for himself he needs to prove that his child is an Irish citizen. Since you can't get an Irish passport unless you are an Irish citizen, the easiest way to show that someone is an Irish citizen is to show that they have a passport. Hence, he wants you to get the child a passport so that he can point to the passport to prove that he is the father of an Irish citizen.

He should be able to do this with a copy of the birth certificate.

Victor

marieholmfan wrote: »

He should be able to do this with a copy of the birth certificate.

Yes, but he would also need a chain of other documents to prove the mother's citizenship, primarily her birth cert.

Fred Swanson

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Pro Hoc Vice

marieholmfan wrote: »

He should be able to do this with a copy of the birth certificate.

Birth cert does not prove nationality.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.