Emigration of Child With Non-Married Parents

[Porfio_Rubirosa]

Okay, here are the facts. The child is 5 years old. The mother was never married to the father. All are Dominicans resident in the DR. The mother has de facto custody. The mother and child have obtained visas to travel to the US. The father will stay in the DR.

The question is: Will the Dominican emigration authorities at the Airport demand to see written permission from the father for the child to leave the country and, if so, in what form must the written permission be drafted?

Thanks in advance.

[Fabio J. Guzman]

At present, no authorization from the non-traveling parent is required. Beginning August 2004, when the new Code of Minors will come into effect, this will change.

[Hillbilly]

That if the parents are divorced or separated that the other, non-custodial parent has to approve any trip?

It will get nasty........

HB

[Porfio_Rubirosa]

Interestingly, in a separate matter, the 4-year-old son of mi fulano was sereptitiously taken by the child's mother to Panama without the father's knowlege or permission. The mother had been living in Panama for three years and barely knew the son. Mi fulano is now desparately trying to get the son back - using methods that I cannot describe.

So, Hillbilly, while dual parent permission may cause problems, single parent permission has created problems too.

BTW, the US Embassy advises that the child have written permission. So this is either needed for US purposes or the US Embassy does not understand Dominican law as well as Dr. Guzman. Based on my experiences to date, I suspect the latter.