International Child Custody

[nikad]

So that means that ALWAYS the consent of the other parent is needed if one parent wants to travel with an Argentine kid out of Argentina?

Yes, you got it right.

 

[El chabon]

Yes, you got it right.

I always thought it would be like that but there seem some logistical problems if one of the parents moves away, is lost or lives under the radar in Argentina.

 

[ElQueso]

I always thought it would be like that but there seem some logistical problems if one of the parents moves away, is lost or lives under the radar in Argentina.

You are absolutely right. It's one of the reasons that my friend who has the step-daughter who had the baby was trying everything he could to keep the father's name off the birth certificate.

He was concerned that the boy would lose interest in the baby and his step daughter over the years and if she ever wanted to take the baby out of the country for any reason, she'd have to track him down to get his permission.

The step daughter and father of the kid didn't get married (weren't even thinking about it), he left her when she got pregnant, didn't support her at all during the pregnancy and has yet to really show any real interest in the kid. But he was insistent that he be listed as the father (actually his family was - but they haven't shown any interest in support or visiting either), they went through the DNA process and he was confirmed and placed on the BC.

The only thing that got him was a withholding from his paycheck for child support (not sure how that works, actually, my friend was a little vague on that).

The girl never tried to deny him visitation rights. She gets her 300 peso a month stipend from the government for having successfully procreated (which just about any idiot can do - why don't they pay people NOT to have too many children, or children at a young age, etc? Why encourage damaging behavior...but that's another topic).

But now she's stuck until the kid turns 18, to get permission from this wonderful father to travel with the baby that she is raising without him (well, OK, my friend and his wife, the grandparents, are actually doing most of the raising, but still...).

 

[El chabon]

She should tell him she ships her son/daughter to him and that she is moving overseas alone unless he signs the form that gives her permission to travel with the kid untill he is 18.

If he never showed any interest he will most likely sign the papers

 

[ElQueso]

Someone mentioned previously that any document allowing for travel signed by the parents is only valid for one year until the kid is 14 (if I remember the statement correctly - I didn't go back and check). I actually thought is was 16.

Restrictions are pretty tight. She will have to get his permission at least once a year until the kid's 14, or 16.

All of this supposedly to help fight human trafficking and support parental rights.

I am so against human trafficking that if I ever came up against it, I would do anything possible to stop what I saw.

I am very FOR parental rights when they are used for the good of the kid and not as a strict law that some parents can use as power over the other. Of course, that is often very difficult to determine, and I don't know what the answer is.

Having said that, the new law related to permanent residents leaving (no comment on the law related to citizens) is completely useless, at least in this region of the world. All it does is cause no end of heartache for people trying to cross the border legitimately with their kids, particularly in the case where poor people, resident here (working to send money back home - and with currency restrictions here, that's another issue as well...), are trying to bring their kid back to see their father (for example) in the home country but they didn't even know about this law, much less have the money required to get all the paperwork legalized in both countries, to do something so simple.

I've crossed the border at Clorinda twice since the law passed and both times, leaving Argentina, there are a group of people crying and wailing, having spent their money on a bus ticket to go home, that cannot take their kid across. They either have to find some way to stay in Clorinda long enough for the other parent to come to Clorinda and find an escribano or a judge to prepare the papers and witness signatures, or return to their point of origin. Sometimes, they are dependent on reaching home to get the money they needed to return, although lately most people are forced to carry their cash with them (that they earned to send home) rather than send via Western Union or encomienda. So now they spend a good chuck of that cash to either return or pay to get the kid across.

We were told by immigrations officials at one point when we had the problem at Clorinda (long story, frustrating) that it wasn't good enough for both parents to be present in this case, that the paper still had to be filled out and signed and apostilled. That, to me, seemed excessive with both parents at the border.

People would be very surprised how easy it is to get[FONT=&quot][/FONT] a child across the border without the required paper, though - with a little money to grease the wheels (nobody can tell me it can't be done - I know better). Child traffickers can still do this with impunity. As with most things illegal, it only affects law-abiding citizens.

 

[Bella27]

I contacted my mom as she was in a similar situation as you describe with me when I was born (but in a different South American country). She suggested going to the US Embassy without advising anyone else (i.e. the father) of what you are doing. Register your child as an American citizen and have them issue your child an American passport. When it comes to the father part let them know you are not married and the father is not in the picture and does not occupy themselves with the child before and after birth. With that American passport you should be able to take your child out of the country no matter where they were born. She strongly suggested you go to the US embassy before even contacting a lawyer as they would be the best to advise how to navigate the situation so you and your child can get to the US. She said don't get the baby an Argentine passport, that could really pose huge complications and it shouldn't matter (in terms of getting a US passport) if the father is on the Argentine birth certificate. But I am sure the US embassy could advise you further on more current regulations for the issuing the passport. This is all if YOU are not only an American citizen but born in the US too. She mentioned had the above not worked, she would have tried the being nice route so my "sperm" donor could sign the proper documents. Fortunately, she didn't have to go down that path.

 

[AngelinBA]

I agree with what has been said, the child will not be able to leave without the signed, legalised permission from the father.
I don't know any family lawyers to recommend, but you can contact the Direccion General de la Mujer for advice about custody rights / protection for you and your baby.
DIRECCION GENERAL DE LA MUJER.
SERVICIO: contención psicológica individual y grupal, asesoramiento, orientación y patrocinio jurídico. Derivación
de la persona a un refugio cuando el caso lo requiere.
ATENCIÓN: inmediata en cualquier CIM de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires o en el 0800‐666‐8537
E mail: [email protected] / [email protected]
Carlos Pellegrini 211, 7º piso. ‐ Tel: 4393‐6466/62.
SERVICIO: Atención todos los días las 24 horas.
http://www.vivirsinviolencia.gov.ar/ctros.html

 

[El chabon]

I contacted my mom as she was in a similar situation as you describe with me when I was born (but in a different South American country). She suggested going to the US Embassy without advising anyone else (i.e. the father) of what you are doing. Register your child as an American citizen and have them issue your child an American passport. When it comes to the father part let them know you are not married and the father is not in the picture and does not occupy themselves with the child before and after birth. With that American passport you should be able to take your child out of the country no matter where they were born. She strongly suggested you go to the US embassy before even contacting a lawyer as they would be the best to advise how to navigate the situation so you and your child can get to the US. She said don't get the baby an Argentine passport, that could really pose huge complications and it shouldn't matter (in terms of getting a US passport) if the father is on the Argentine birth certificate. But I am sure the US embassy could advise you further on more current regulations for the issuing the passport. This is all if YOU are not only an American citizen but born in the US too. She mentioned had the above not worked, she would have tried the being nice route so my "sperm" donor could sign the proper documents. Fortunately, she didn't have to go down that path.

I highly doubt the American Embassy will ever go that route because it will have huge diplomatic complications and rightfully so.

 

[Bajo_cero2]

The key is:
a) Are your children Argentinians?
b) Do they have his last name?

If there is physiologic or physical violence, it is easy to get a restriction order.

Regards

 

[El chabon]

The key is:
a) Are your children Argentinians?
b) Do they have his last name?

If there is physiologic or physical violence, it is easy to get a restriction order.

Regards

Now getting that order enforced if you are not rich