You’ve booked your flights and accommodation, the children are excited. One small issue – you’ve forgotten to get your ex-partner’s consent for the children to travel overseas. In our latest article in The District Reporter, we discuss how essential it is to ensure you have consent of the other party and a valid passport in place for the children, before you book your next overseas holiday.
Australians are travelling overseas in increasing numbers, including our children. In years gone by, Parenting Orders rarely included clauses requiring parents to renew children’s passports and permitting overseas travel. But that has changed and many settlement agreements in relation to children now include some reference to passports and overseas travel. The Australian Passport Office (APO) has very strict rules surrounding who can apply for a passport for a child and whose signature must be on the application form. If a child has two parents named on their birth certificate then the APO will generally not approve a passport for that child unless both parents have signed the passport application form.
Please be aware that holding a valid passport is only one of the issues that need to be addressed in planning to take your child overseas. If there are parenting orders in place, or if court proceedings for parenting orders are on foot, it is an offence under the Family Law Act 1975 to remove a child from Australia without either a Court Order or the consent of the other parent. This offence carries a penalty of imprisonment of three years.
What happens if you’ve given the form to the second parent and they won’t sign it? You need to attempt to persuade the other parent to give consent and there are a number of ways we can assist in this process. If you reach an agreement then it is good practice to arrange for the other parent to sign the application form and agree to the travel.
If they still won’t sign, then an application is made to the court and the process may take three to nine months – depending on which court.
If you’ve already booked your holiday, have overlooked the second parent’s consent for the passport and don’t have time to go to court, you can still apply to the APO for a passport to be issued for your child with what is called a ‘special circumstances’ letter to take into account when the application is processed. The APO has a particular form for this and you will need to provide supporting documentation. Classic examples of special circumstances are that you’re unable to contact the other parent or that the children have not had contact with that parent in substantial time. When the APO assesses whether the special circumstances are considered, there is no guarantee the passport will be issued without the full consent of both parents, and in all cases the APO may try to contact the other parent directly so it’s helpful if you include their contact details in the application so they follow up with them. If your application is refused, then there is no refund on the application fee or refund. Although this may get you the passport you will still need parental consent or court orders.
We see many cases in our office of people booking lovely holidays to take their children overseas, only for them to run into trouble when it comes to the approval of the second parent or consent for the issue of the child’s passport. So we can’t stress enough that it’s important to check your Parenting Orders and obtain consent in order before you book and pay for flights and accommodation.
