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Passports

Ash

Ash

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This is not something I have had to deal with before as haven’t had overseas holidays. And I know a few members have dealt with various issues re passports for children. So would appreciate any tips :)

I have always known my ex wouldn’t release the passport if needed. And it could take having to apply to court for it. Or she might say yes and then lose it at the last minute when it’s too late to apply for court.

The situation isn’t urgent right now but I’m thinking ahead and I remember someone on here getting a new passport for the child that cancelled out the old one. Any tips on how to do that? As the blurb says you need the old passport to get a new one.
 
You can declare the old passport 'lost' on the application form and get a new one without giving the old one back. This is replacement rather than renewal. The new passport would have the same expiry date as the one that was lost. I did this with my own passport a long time ago. They saw it as suspicious and made me pay full price for a passport that only ran for a year. I had to return that one to get longer validity. This might not be a good idea, it would cancel the passport held by your ex.

When I took my child abroad at the end of last year. My ex refused to release the passport until she handed the child over to me on the day of travel. My proposal was that passport should be handed over 21 days in advance - long enough to get a court order should she fail to provide the passport. I decided to go with her loony idea in the knowledge that she would be paving the way for an SIO if she agreed to release in writing then left us unable to travel. If I had opposed, she would have claimed the holiday was scuppered by my refusal to trust her. The passport was handed over as arranged. She did everything to derail the holiday by getting my back up. I decide to hold my nerve. Got her consent at the last minute, the passport at the last minute... It went ahead and was wonderful.

Why not get all of the arrangements in writing then trust her to hand over the passport as arranged. If she tries a dirty trick - refusal/loss at the leat minute - you have solid basis to apply for a passport protocol to cover future trips.
 
Slightly different circumstances and absolutely no way would she give me the passport. Age of child makes things a bit different.

But thanks that was the info I needed. That you can say the passport is lost and get another one. Thing is would they have a record of which parent applied for the previous one and would they contact that parent to check it was lost?
 
Ash said:
This is not something I have had to deal with before as haven’t had overseas holidays. And I know a few members have dealt with various issues re passports for children. So would appreciate any tips :)

I have always known my ex wouldn’t release the passport if needed. And it could take having to apply to court for it. Or she might say yes and then lose it at the last minute when it’s too late to apply for court.

The situation isn’t urgent right now but I’m thinking ahead and I remember someone on here getting a new passport for the child that cancelled out the old one. Any tips on how to do that? As the blurb says you need the old passport to get a new one.
Click to expand...

Yes, you can't send them the old one if you tick the 'lost or stolen' option. I have known fathers to simply apply for a new one if the mother deliberately withholds the current one and state that it's been lost. It's fighting dirty but any mother who denies their child a holiday to spite the father deserves a taste of some bitter medicine.

I will be crossing this bridge soon as I want to book a week in Menorca with my son next summer. I've already suggested we agree, in writing, go halves on a passport for my boy. That means we both have an equal stake in its production. If she withholds it and I have to take the matter to court it won't look good for her.

My tactic before actually going on holiday would be tell her that the flight is a different day. I would never collect him from her on the day of the flight. That's just asking for trouble. I'll tell her the flight is the day I collect him but it wont be. I could pick him up on a Friday for example but the flight will be Saturday or Sunday. That would give me some wriggle room if she decides to pull a fast one. It won't completely protect me from her withholding him but It gives me a buffer zone to try and negotiate.
 
I'm wondering about timescale. If you say ask for the passport 21 days before the holiday and she doesn't hand it over by then, is that still enough time to get a new passport.
 
They say its 2-4 weeks but we recently applied for a new one for my mum and it came within a week.

It totally depends on their backlog, its tight but you can just about do it
 
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Hi Ash

Couldn't you have your son apply for a "first adult passport"?

He no longer needs a child passport.
 
Thanks. I thought they couldn't do that until they were 18. But just googled "first adult passport" and you are correct. Once he turns 16.
 
Ash said:
Slightly different circumstances and absolutely no way would she give me the passport. Age of child makes things a bit different.

But thanks that was the info I needed. That you can say the passport is lost and get another one. Thing is would they have a record of which parent applied for the previous one and would they contact that parent to check it was lost?
Click to expand...
Can see this not looking good for the dads though if it's found false report of lost passport to get another without notifying ex. Worth considering
 
I had an emergency court case where my ex was ordered , around 11am, to hand the passport over to her solicitor by 5pm same day. She didn't of course and the court did SFA about it.

I ended up declaring the passport as lost and applied and got another.
 
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