What is sole responsibility?

[bhem_bhem]

A sponsoring parent must be able to show that he/she has been solely responsible for exercising parental care over the child for a substantial period.

If the sponsoring parent and child are separated, the child will normally be expected to have been in the care of the sponsoring parent's relatives rather than the relatives of the other parent. An application should normally be refused if the child has been in the care of the other parent's relatives and the other parent lives nearby and takes an active interest in the child's welfare.

The following factors should be considered in assessing sole responsibility:

Are the parents married / in a civil partnership?
If the parents' marriage / civil partnership is dissolved, which parent was awarded legal custody, which includes assumption of responsibility for the child?
Where there is a custody order the ECO should take care to ensure that the issue of a settlement entry clearance to the child will not contravene the terms of the custody order. See list for countries whose custody orders can be recognised as valid in UK (copy can be downloaded under 'Related documents' on the right side of this page).
Does the marriage / civil partnership subsist, but the parents do not live together?
If the sponsoring parent migrated to the UK, how long has the sponsoring parent been separated from the child?
If the sponsoring parent migrated to the UK, what were the arrangements for the care of the child before and after the sponsoring parent migrated?
If the sponsoring parent migrated to the UK, what has been / what is the sponsoring parent's relationship with the child?
Has the sponsoring parent consistently supported the child, either by:
direct personal care; or by regular and substantial financial remittances?
By whom, and in what proportions, is the cost of the child's maintenance borne?
Who takes the important decisions about the child's upbringing, for example where the child lives, the choice of school, religious practice etc?

[vernier caliper]

It means that you're the ONLY one responsible for bringing up your child. The father of your son is not doing anything, even financial support is nothing, in short he is missing in action. Read this link for further info. http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080615123031AACoLjw

I think your case is not complicated since the father does not exist. Good luck bhem bhem.

[bhem_bhem]

thnx.. yeah,, his father's never been there but what i think will complicate my son's application is that i've been away for years. i first came here in uk last 2008 though i've visited him last 2010, i didn't stay long. i'm just hoping that me staying in phils for 7 months last year will convince them that i am still solely responsible for my son.

i have talked to my caseworker when i applied for my visa but i forgot to mention that i've been away for years. i'm glad i've found this post as it did answer some of my question and i somehow know now what to do. hope this will help others.. :)

[sars_notd_virus]

It is very hard to prove sole responsibility if youve been away for so long.

[sars_notd_virus]

Are the parents married / in a civil partnership?
If the parents' marriage / civil partnership is dissolved, which parent was awarded legal custody, which includes assumption of responsibility for the child?
Where there is a custody order the ECO should take care to ensure that the issue of a settlement entry clearance to the child will not contravene the terms of the custody order.


It is very rare in the annulment papers that only one parent is awarded of SOLE custody,...ie, unless otherwise in some circumstances that the child is being abused or threatened by the other parent.
that is why in your clause above, the ECO should not overlooked all the documents submitted like the letter from the court for sole custody, police reports or any other documents that will not contravene the rights of the other parent.

[bhem_bhem]

It is very hard to prove sole responsibility if youve been away for so long.

yeah,, it is.. i still hope it will be successful..

[bhem_bhem]

It is very rare in the annulment papers that only one parent is awarded of SOLE custody,...ie, unless otherwise in some circumstances that the child is being abused or threatened by the other parent.

i dunno anything about annulment :doh :biggrin:, i just posted what i have read from ukba site.. :icon_lol:

[sars_notd_virus]

have you remain in contact everyday with your child?
who looks after her and where does he live now..n short who is her guardian?

[sars_notd_virus]

i dunno anything about annulment :doh :biggrin:, i just posted what i have read from ukba site.. :icon_lol:

lol you should provide the link where you get that article,...I hope you knew the copyrights law.

[bhem_bhem]

have you remain in contact everyday with your child?
who looks after her and where does he live now..n short who is her guardian?

yeah,, i do talk to him often and it's my parents who look after him at the mo..

[bhem_bhem]

lol you should provide the link where you get that article,...I hope you knew the copyrights law.

:yikes: uh uh.. :biggrin:

[raynaputi]

Always provide links of articles/news/any write ups that doesn't belong to you..this would prevent the forum or any members being in trouble with copyright laws :xxgrinning--00xx3: BUT POSTING OF SPAM LINKS ARE NOT ALLOWED!

[bhem_bhem]

Always provide links of articles/news/any write ups that doesn't belong to you..this would prevent the forum or any members being in trouble with copyright laws :xxgrinning--00xx3: BUT POSTING OF SPAM LINKS ARE NOT ALLOWED!

i'll search for that link again.. :biggrin:

[bhem_bhem]

this is the link..

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/policyandlaw/guidance/ecg/set/set7/#header8

set 7.8

[joebloggs]

the embassy could say who ever is looking after the child has 'sole responsibility' it doesn't have to be the father, thou its probably best if the child doesn't have contact with the bio father or provides any financial support.

you need to convince the embassy you make all the decisions that effects the child's life and not the person looking after the child. whether its your mom, aunt, sister , brother etc..

[bhem_bhem]

the embassy could say who ever is looking after the child has 'sole responsibility' it doesn't have to be the father, thou its probably best if the child doesn't have contact with the bio father or provides any financial support.

you need to convince the embassy you make all the decisions that effects the child's life and not the person looking after the child. whether its your mom, aunt, sister , brother etc..

yeah,, good thing he never met his dad.. hopefully a letter from me and from my parents will be enough.. and my bank statement can confirm that i'm sending money every month.. what else do u think i should do joe? :smile:

[joebloggs]

when was the last time you lived with your child ? and how old is the child now ?

[bhem_bhem]

when was the last time you lived with your child ? and how old is the child now ?

i went home last december and didn't come back till july.. he's 7 years old now..

[joebloggs]

it can be difficult to provide evidence you have 'sole responsibility' and not your parents, but if you can get a letter from say his doctor, teacher, headmaster, local priest etc stating you make the decisions effecting the chlid..

a written statement from your parents stating clearly that you take the main decisions in the child's life and supports him completely financially.

[bhem_bhem]

it can be difficult to provide evidence you have 'sole responsibility' and not your parents, but if you can get a letter from say his doctor, teacher, headmaster, local priest etc stating you make the decisions effecting the chlid..

a written statement from your parents stating clearly that you take the main decisions in the child's life and supports him completely financially.

yeah,, i'll ask my parents to do that,, i can also ask our priest to write a statement since he is close to my parents. with his pedia,i can try ask her but not sure if she will do it as he hardly go to see her.

my son's teacher is my mum so prob i'll just ask her colleagues to do it for me.. thnx so much joebloggs.. :smile:

[joebloggs]

like i said it can be difficult to show on paper you have 'sole responsibility' for your child, but if you can get some evidence you should be ok.:xxgrinning--00xx3:

if you can get the person to state you chose the school,, church, you first brought the child there etc,

good luck :xxgrinning--00xx3:

[bhem_bhem]

like i said it can be difficult to show on paper you have 'sole responsibility' for your child, but if you can get some evidence you should be ok.:xxgrinning--00xx3:

if you can get the person to state you chose the school,, church, you first brought the child there etc,

good luck :xxgrinning--00xx3:

thnx..:smile:

[rusty]

For my step son we submitted 3 letters.

One form my wife as the sponsor, one from her mother who had been looking after him while my wife was in the UK and one from me as I acted as co-sponsor.

Each letter explained the history of her son, about the relationship with his father and also explained the arrangement for support and upbringing of her son while my wife was away.

[bhem_bhem]

Thnx.. :xxgrinning--00xx3:I'm taking notes now what should I write on my letter. Was his application complicated? When did u apply for his visa? :smile:

[rusty]

what should I write on my letter.
In our case, the father was not named on the birth certificate and had never financially supported them and only saw his son a few times.

We explained who brought up her son and who looked after him while she was away. We explained why we didn’t take him originally when she came to the UK and the reasons for the delay in bringing him to the UK.


Was his application complicated? When did u apply for his visa?

The application was submitted in about July 2011, it was not complicated, just the normal settlement visa but this time my wife was the sponsor. She had originally booked a couple of months back in The Philippines to submit the application and wait the response, then hopefully bring him back when she returned. As it happened, the application only took a few weeks.

The complications arose when we got to the UK as, with the expert advice we received from this forum, we discovered that, as my wife already had her ILR then his visa should have been ILE (indefinite leave to enter).
After writing to the UKBA his visa was changed to the correct one and now they are able to apply Citizenship at the same time, even though he has only been here for 1 year.

[bhem_bhem]

Good, my situation is kinda same to yours except my son never met his real dad.. Hopefully mine will go smoothly. I'm going to lodge his application by January as soon as his passport arrives. Thnx.. :xxgrinning--00xx3::smile:

[gkt]

Good, my situation is kinda same to yours except my son never met his real dad.. Hopefully mine will go smoothly. I'm going to lodge his application by January as soon as his passport arrives. Thnx.. :xxgrinning--00xx3::smile:

Hello there Bhem__bhem, have you submitted the application for your son yet?

[bhem_bhem]

Hello there Bhem__bhem, have you submitted the application for your son yet?

hiya,, no i haven't.. i'm still waiting for his passport.. :)