[Twig]

Hello all!

This is my first post here and I haven't had much chance yet to read through many other posts, so apologies if this has been asked before.

I have a question really for anyone who knows anything about immigration and moving with children to live abroad.

The situation is, my husband, our two children and I wish to live in New Zealand. The children are 9 and 10 years old. Both children are from a previous relationship however they no longer have any contact with their natural father.

The children’s natural father does not have Parental Responsibility and has never taken anything to court regarding this or contact/residence hence there are no other legal/court documents.

I know as far as UK Family Law states, my husband and I are the only people with parental responsibility (PR) and ultimately, we decide on where the children reside. But will a Parental Responsibility Agreement (signed by courts) be enough to satisfy an Immigration officer to allow us to include the children in our application for residence?

Many thanks for your help!

[Caroline and Dave]

Hi, welcome to the forum. The info is all in the immigration website but it is very difficult to navigate www.immigration.govt.nz
I will write down what I think will be of interest to you.

This is in the guide for residence.

A82 Custody arrangements.
If you are seperated or divorced and will bring children under 16 years of age to New Zealand with you,you must provide evidence that you are legally allowed to remove the children from any country in which rights of custody or visitation have been granted to the other parent or any other person. If the other parent of any accompanying children under 16 years of age is not included in your application for residence, you must provide evidence of your right to remove the children from their country of residence.

Evidence that you have the right to remove children from their country of evidence includes

Legal documents showing you have custody of the children and the sole right to decide where they live,without any visitation rights being granted to the other parent. or

A court order permitting you to remove the child from their country of residence or

Legal documents showing you have custody of the child, and a signed statement from the childs other parent- witnessed in accordance with local practice or law- which confirms that they agree to allow the child/children to live in New Zealand if your residence application is approved.


Hope this helps

Kindest regards

Dave and Caroline

[Smiler]

Hello Twig

I know there have been some queries on this before, when you have time do advanced search for custody or similar.

I just wanted to say welcome to the forum and good luck with all your plans. :cheers:cheers:cheers

Whereabouts are you heading for in NZ?

[wiki]

Hi Twig, I did a bit of a google and found a few bits and pieces. I'm not a lawyer, and these may not be the most up-to-date legisation.

I suggest you contact your nearest Citizen Advice Bureau because they will be bound to know the answer and possibly have experienced similar cases.

On the Medway council website under the list of things that someone with parental responsibility is able to do was:

taking the child outside the jurisdiction of the UK and consenting to the child’s emigration.

And on another "ask a lawyer" site a Dad is worried about his ex wanting to take their son to Australia and is told:

Unless you can discuss matters directly with your former partner or discuss the details of her intended emigration to Australia, then your remedy is to apply to the court for a Prohibited Steps Order and a Specific Issue Order. A Prohibited Steps Order is an order that will prohibit your ex-partner from removing your son from the jurisdiction of the English court. A Specific Issue Order is an order that relates to one specific issue regarding your child's welfare, in this case whether he should leave the country. His welfare will be paramount and any investigations will take into account issues such as why she feels that Australia is a better place for him to live than England, what arrangements she has made and how disruptive it will be for him to change jurisdictions.

So it looks like you can make the emigration decision - but your ex-partner could contest it.

Good luck

[Twig]

Many thanks for all your help! To all extent and purposes the PR agreement I have with my husband should be enough, I think we'll just have to wait and see what they say when the time comes.

We're currently looking at surrounding areas to Auckland but haven't got much further than that. I think it will depend on what sort of property we can get for our money and what the local schools are like. We're also planning on doing a reccy visit next Christmas for about 4 weeks - visit some family whilst taking a look at the country.

I was thinking of reading some books on New Zealand to get a feel for what the different regions are like. Can any of you recommend good ones (books or regions!)?

[Caroline and Dave]

We find where to live in Auckland very valuable. It lists schools and each section of Auckland individualy. It can be prchased online from online bookshops. It can be bought from www.wheretoliveinauckland.co.nz
They will send it to UK
Kindest regards

Dave and Caroline

[Twig]

Thank you so much Caroline, thats really helpful!