Passport problem and residency order

mumofjusttwo

Hi.

Wonder if anyone can help. my niece has been living with my mum and dad after her mum died.

They have applied for a new passport and have had a letter saying that to issue a new passport then they need to have a residency order or court order allowing parental responsibility.

My niece has very little contact with her dad. About once every 3 months for about one hour.

Anyone any advise as to what is the best thing to do?I assume that they will need to contact the father if they apply for a residency order. Although we do not have his number.

How long does it take to process a residency order, please?

Thank you for your help.

Mrs_P_Pincher

Hi

Assuming everyone is happy with this little girl living with her grandparents then they really need parental responsibility to tick all the boxes. If they're reasonably OK with filling in forms they can go to the County Court and collect the forms to fill in themselves. They won't get advice, but the staff are trained to be helpful to people acting without a solicitor and it's quite a simple informal process if it's all agreed.

Alternatively they could go and see a Solicitor who is a member of Resolution, who will steer them through the process. This might cost of course, depending on what the entitlement to legal aid is these days.

Any application would have to be sent to Dad at his last known address.

Without a PR order they could run into problems in the future if the child needs medical treatment and Dad is not there to give his consent.

Hope it all works out.

Mrs P P

emsywoo123

Am I correct in thinking that it depends if the father has parental responsibility? It is not automatic, depends on the childs date of birth and marital status of the father and mother at the time of birth.