Custody Issues in the DR

Hi planner!!

Maybe you should be contacting the immigration ministry in Canada and likewise in the D.R.

Fabio Guzman or his associates, the lawyers who answer questions in this section, should be able to give you some idea regarding the position the Dominican government will take with respect to allowing the child to leave, but, more important, is whether or not the Canadian government will be willing to admit the children and what documents they require in order to make a decision.

If the father appears on the child's birth certificate as the father, if the child lives with the father, if the mother has abandoned the child (then you may not even have to bother contacting her), or does not oppose the child leaving with you (she already indicated so in writing), I don't see a problem from this end. The father may apply for a passport for the child, and the child can travel with the father. Migration authorities only require for the child to travel with one parent.

While mother's are usually given legal custody, in this case, if the child has been living with the father, then the father has the defacto custody. If you want to legalize this, bring the issue up with the children court and request that the father be granted formal custody. The court will most likely rule favorably, as they take into consideration first what is best for the child. If the child is already living with the father, then this should just be a routine procedure.

You need to focus most of your attention on what the Canadian migration authorities will require for relocating with the child.

If the father can prove (passport, birth certificate) that the boy is his son, he does not need an authorization from the mother to travel with the child to Canada. Such an authorization is only required by article 116 of the law 14-94 if none of the parents are traveling with the child.

The situation in Canada depends on Canadian law only.

Julio & Chris