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| Trying to get my son home; my son could be turned away at the border | |
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| Topic Started: Mar 11 2010, 06:08:25 PM (491 Views) | |
| jasperbell_cam | Mar 11 2010, 06:08:25 PM Post #1 |
True Blue Mate
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Hello my YDU homies, Some of you may be familiar with my situation titled "A Long Story and an Emotional One", in the "How Do I" section. this has been a long and drawn out process as my son has been in an abusive situation with his mother. I have made headway with my lawyer and things seemed to be less complicated than I thought it would be. I believe we may have been successful in bringing my son home as in 3 days I will get custody of my son by default since his mother has not responded to any of the paperwork that has been sent to her from my lawyer who is an absolute shark, she is a woman who I have never met who sounds intimidating even to me on the phone. Considering where I live vs. changing custody this has been a walk in the park. In all reality Domestic Violence towards your son and your her ex boyfriend is an absolute no-no in a judges eyes (especially when you are arrested for it with the boyfriend), I can see why she has not bothered to contest the custody hearing because she will not have a leg to stand on. I found out today through my son on his Myspace page that I will not have to make a costly trip back home to sign for a passport for him and bring him back as well as my self. My son informed me that his grandfather, who is housing both my son, his sister, and my ex, forced my sons mother to sign for the passport otherwise she had to get out of his house. With that out of the way it makes it about 50% easier to get him here. Now comes the complicated part. I have called immigration because back in 2007 when I moved here I scheduled a Medical Panel appointment at the panel doctor in Portland (there is only one). My ex did not take him. They will not schedule another one due to their policy for first time patients that miss appointments. So, despite the circumstances I have to get my son processed out of state or have his medical done here in Australia. I am holding off on my PR until he gets here otherwise the cost goes from $185 to $2700 after my PR is granted. I have called Immigration in Melbourne they told my wife the first time that if my son shows up here and gets processed there will be no if and's or buts they will deport him, and he will loose all rights to live with his us regardless of the custody being assigned to me. I called myself on Wednesday and I was told that he could come on a Tourist Visa but he will have to be a genuine visitor if they are going to let him in. I then made the omission that my son will have to have a round trip ticket as proof. The representative said, "no he just needs to state that he will have adequate finances to look after himself. I am a little afraid that since he is 15 and is travelling alone that they will interrogate him and get deport him before I can talk to them at the Sydney Airport. I made a call today and I was told the same thing that it would be okay to bring him out on a tourist visa but they might give him a form 8509? Which is a form that will not allow him to be processed onshore? But if they let him in without this form they can use a "bridging visa" in conjunction with the Tourist visa and move him over to a Temporary Resident Visa, then when I get processed we both go on PR's. The lady ummm and ahhhhh'ed and said that I could bring him out on a student visa. To me the Student Visa looks like it is for tertiary studies not High School? I don’t want to risk it and for some reason I have gotten varied answers from Immigration does anyone have advice? I just don't want to screw this one up as my sons welfare is on the line. I have looked at a visa 676, a student, or some other visa that will allow him to get here without a medical first. Thanks, JC Edited by jasperbell_cam, Mar 11 2010, 06:10:19 PM.
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| koalamama | Mar 11 2010, 06:31:02 PM Post #2 |
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True Blue Mate
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First of all, I'm so sorry about the situation. It seems rather complicated - my best advice is to seek advice from an immigration lawyer. Good luck! |
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| blarg | Mar 11 2010, 07:02:59 PM Post #3 |
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True Blue Mate
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I'd second the recommendation for a migration agent. Your situation is highly complex, and doing something wrong would cost far more than the migration agent's fees would. |
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| JenbeTas | Mar 11 2010, 08:34:55 PM Post #4 |
Hippie Wannabe sailing the deep blue sea
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And I third the recommendation for the migration agent. I think it would be money well spent in the long run and save you an awful lot of headache. Best of luck! Such a tough situation. My heart goes out to you all..... 
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 "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough and goshdarnit, people like me!" | |
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| suzn | Mar 11 2010, 08:58:54 PM Post #5 |
True Blue Mate
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JC- I have no advice to offer but I do wish you, your son and family all the best in getting him here. He's lucky to have such a caring dad and a brighter future to look forward to. Please keep us posted. I will keep your family in my thoughts & prayers. |
 Living in Oz since 2002 ~ Temp Residency granted Dec 2004 ~ Perm Residency granted Oct 2006 ~ Dual citizenship official May 2009 | |
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| Janda | Mar 11 2010, 09:03:15 PM Post #6 |
True Blue Mate
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I won't go into this fully because I have already explained this in your other posts and you can go back and read there if you want more info and let me state that I am not a migration agent and I can not guarantee anything or tell you that what I did will work for you 100% but I can tell you how my son got over here with us. He was 18 and had never lived away from home, decided to stay with his father when we got a divorce because he felt guilty and didn't want his father to be alone since I had my younger son with me also. He had been abused by my x-husband in the past and I knew it was a mistake but I couldn't do anything because he was old enough to make the decision to stay with his father. I ended up coming to Australia and bringing my youngest with me and as most of you know, ended up staying here, getting married and going through the visa process. After filing for my visa already, my 18 year old son called and said he had to get out of the house he was in with his father. He was being abused physically and verbally. He had no where else to go. I made arrangements to have him stay with my family 6 states away, my new husband and I bought a plane ticket and flew him out the next day. Once he arrived in Florida, we sent money to get his passport and everything else he would need. I personally applied for his visa online which was a tourist visa and it was approved in 2 seconds. Like literally I just refreshed the page and it was done! We applied for a 6 month tourist visa because we were not sure what we would end up doing at the end of all. My main priority was getting my son the hell out of dodge and here with his family in Australia where I knew he would be safe and taken care of. I thought he would be going back at the end of 6 months though I wanted him to stay and encouraged him to stay. He wasn't sure he wanted to stay here and was going back up until like 4 weeks before it was time for him to go back to America. He told me at that point that he did want to stay but he was torn and just didn't know what to do with himself. He got very scared even thinking about leaving us. It was then that I started the visa process. I simply wrote Statutory declarations explaining our whole situation telling the truth 100% and keep in mind my son was 18 which means he would not normally be granted a dependent child visa. Due to the circumstances the case officer granted it and even called me to tell me that everything would be ok because he could sense how scared I was to have my son sent away from me and back to the situation he was living in. As soon as that was granted we had to fill out a form 1002 which will then make it so that when a decision is made on my spouse visa (second stage) he will also be given the same decision as myself along with his brother. That was it. Now we are just a few days away from the whole kit and kaboodle being granted. My case worker has already called me and said that everything seems in order and she should be able to grant the visa/visas as soon as I send her one piece of paper work that was misplaced (just because they need a hard copy of it). There is no reason why you can not bring your son over here on a 6 month tourist visa. Technically he is coming to visit. Who knows...it may not work out once he gets here. He may decide he hates it here. He may not get along with your new wife and want to go back to America in 6 months but he may decide in 1 week or even 2 weeks of being here that wants to stay. Well, just do what I did. Get paperwork, apply for the dependent child visa, then once that is granted fill out papers to add him to your temp spouse visa and then your good to go. No worries! You will have the paperwork that you have custody of him and that is all you need to prove that you have the right to keep him here if that is what he chooses to do and that you are the sole person who can make that decision and you don't need permission from anyone else or have to show any papers from anyone else. When he comes into the airport I seriously doubt they are going to stop a 15 year old and question him about what his intentions are. He is obviously coming here to visit family. My son didn't get stopped even at 18 except to ask him if he needed any help finding which terminal he needed to go to. As far as immi telling you that he needs the funds to support himself while he is here. That is crazy. I seriously would totally IGNORE that! All you have to do is write him a letter so he will have it with him when he travels. Again, my son being 18 did not have a ton of money on him. We paid for all his travel expenses and he only had about $200.00 in his pocket for spending money. Since it was a last minute thing and with us just applying for the temp spouse visa a few months before we were very short on finances anyway and so paying for all his travel from the state he was in to Florida then all documents to travel and finally his plane tickets to come to Australia we were not able to stick a thousand in his pocket. Who would question a 15 year old boy coming in the country to visit his father for not having tons of money with him? Anyone would expect that you (his father) would be sheltering him and supporting him through his stay. I want to say to you "Trust Me, JUST DO IT!" but I won't. I can only encourage you to just follow your heart and don't be afraid to do what you have to do to get your son over here come hell or high water. That is what I did and with intentions such as you have, no case worker in their right mind is going to turn you down! Once again...Good Luck! I forgot to comment on the medical issue. I listed my son on my temp spouse visa paperwork but he didn't have a medical at the time either. That was not an issue when it came down to applying for his Dependent child visa. We did not have a medical upfront. We sent in the paperwork an waiting until they requested his medical and then made an appointment with the proper facility here in Australia and took him to the hospital to get his chest x-ray. Why would you have a medical exam done there in the states if he is coming on a tourist visa? Technically your not "SURE" that he will like it here so you would want to wait right? Edited by Janda, Mar 11 2010, 09:30:29 PM.
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| canaussie | Mar 11 2010, 09:51:49 PM Post #7 |
True Blue Mate
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What I would wonder is if he comes on a 6 month tourist visa - immigration people know that it is still school time in the US, wouldn't they wonder why he's out of school and what he's going to do about that since he's coming on a 6 month visa....not a 3 month visa with a return ticket to go back to a few weeks. |
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Paula (dual Canadian/Australian) married to an Aussie since 1999 and mummy to an Aussie since 2000 | |
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| jasperbell_cam | Mar 11 2010, 10:27:29 PM Post #8 |
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True Blue Mate
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That is where I was at after 4 hours on the internet with 3 kids on my own today. I was going to fly my son here with a tourist visa and then get him the medical here in town, I heard of one doctor when I was going through an Employment Medical for my local council to get a job, one file had the U.S. Eagle on it hanging out in clear sight when I made the enquiry. I am concerned that if an Immigration officer asked at the airport why my son does not have a return ticket back home he would piss him off back home. That is why I dont want to gamble and do this wrong the first time. I will give Immigration Statuatory Declarations as Permanent Record to provide a record if they screw us. I am trying to find an appropriate visa and if not then get the conversation recorded from the Immigration Department and ask for a receipt of our phone call and get a transcript of our conversation from the Freedom of Information Act here in Australia. If they give me the wrong information they would be forced to fix it, and that is all that we want. There are 3 other kids ages 7-2 that want to see there older brother. |
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| koalamama | Mar 12 2010, 07:57:16 AM Post #9 |
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True Blue Mate
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Personally, as far as it being school time goes, I don't think they would think much of it. Aussie kids go on overseas holidays all the time during the school year - I worked at a local girls college for 10 months and it was very common. Even at my kids primary school as well. I still recommend to get legal advice though. |
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| blarg | Mar 12 2010, 12:41:40 PM Post #10 |
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True Blue Mate
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Especially if you were to just have a 1 hour consult with a migration agent I don't think it would cost you very much. It's not like they're going to do the visa for you, you just want to get advise as to the best plan of attack. |
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| Janda | Mar 13 2010, 07:12:03 PM Post #11 |
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True Blue Mate
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When my 15 year old son and I came over from America school was in and we had the 6 month tourist and there were no questions asked about school in any way. Also as for your medical, I'm not sure about where you are but here in Tassie they don't send you to a private doctor. When we did it the place was called HSA but there seems to have been a name change. I think this is the official place for medical exams onshore in Australia. I'll post the link here. http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/health-requirements/hsa-name-change.htm Also just a note.... When myself and my son first came over we did not have a lot of money in our pockets either. I had under $500.00 but I did have a letter from my now mum-in-law inviting me for a visit and stating that every expense would be paid for by them for the entire time of my stay. Immigration advised my mum-in-law to do that and send it to me in America so that I would have it with me just in case. I didn't need it in the end because we were not questioned at all. Edited by Janda, Mar 13 2010, 07:13:30 PM.
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| AmbroseChick | Mar 18 2010, 09:47:33 PM Post #12 |
True Blue Mate
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My older son emigrated with us in December. His step-father (my husband) is Australian so he didn't get any of the benefit of having an Australian step-parent even though my husband and I have been the sole physical custody and financially responsible for him. His father has not contributed to his upbringing in over 10 years. Regardless, part of the requirements to put him on our visa application was to get a notarized statement from his father that my son had his permission to emigrate. Given the custodial situation you may not be required to do this but I thought you should know. Also, if your son is on a tourist visa, it will be very difficult for him to attend school - oh I'm sorry I didn't mean difficult I meant expensive... very expensive. Luckily you are in NSW and once he is on a bridge visa that becomes a lot more affordable but you need to know that if he is on a 3 month or a 6 month tourist visa, the bridge visa doesn't kick in until the tourist visa is completed. We just switched over a few days ago from our tourist visa status to our bridge visa status even though we applied for our visa well over 2.5 months ago. Of course you are in a different state so you may find the NSW government to be more compassionate then QLD. If you want to chat about it - please feel free to PM me - I feel like I've been thru hell and back myself with this whole thing. PS - If it were me, I would fly him over on a 3 month tourist visa with a return airfare ticket and a letter from you stating that he is coming to visit you. Then immigration at the airport would have no cause for concern. I've been watching too much Border Patrol. Edited by AmbroseChick, Mar 18 2010, 10:02:35 PM.
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| jasperbell_cam | Mar 18 2010, 11:17:18 PM Post #13 |
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True Blue Mate
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Thanks for the advice....I see a huge part of what you are saying in this. The 30 days are up that my sons mother had to file a objection to the court in regards to why custody should not be change over. This turns everthing into a Default Judgement against my ex. The only part left in this process is for me to file a "Prima Facie Affidavit". Thank god I do not have to get this one notarized another $90 plus, $40 to send it as fast as possible through the post to Portland. My lawyer thought that she would go through with signing my son over but she did not have custody papers made up at the time I appeared by phone January 20th. My ex said that she would sign him over after court so my lawyer mailed her the paperwork. She never signed. Now my lawyer is having to type up the affidavit and e-mail it to me, to then have me print it out sign it "as an original" back to her to be signed by a judge to give me default custody. In this document that the judge will sign it states that I will not need my ex's permission to obtain a passport (priceless when dealing with the State Department), Also it will have my address on it here in Australia Immigration should be able to figure this one out. I am just hoping that the mail moves a little faster for $40 from Tamworth. That is all that I am waiting on so I will take your advice on a refundable ticket back to Oregon. That should be good enough. I also got information from an Immigration consultant they said that the U.S. is not considered a "High Risk Country" for illegal immigrants, however I am going to play it safe and get him a ticket back. In regards to dealing with immigration I will drive him to Melbourne if I have to make my case in person. I know that immigration has a long line of people but I think when you have a child who has a parent who is the main provider of their welfare, the child should be given a fast track bridging visa if all of the dots line up, to show there is a compassionate circumstance. I will let you all know how it all pans out.... JC |
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| Janda | Mar 19 2010, 03:26:08 PM Post #14 |
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True Blue Mate
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I wish you All the Luck! Be sure to keep us updated! I'm sure everything will work out and be just fine! |
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"I tried sniffing Coke once, but the ice cubes got stuck in my nose" www.JandaDesigns.com.au - Custom Web Design, Web Site Hosting, Cheap Domain Name Registration. | |
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| minx | Mar 20 2010, 02:38:06 AM Post #15 |
True Blue Mate
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I don't have any advice to add to what's already here - I just wanted to say good luck and I hope it all works out for your family. |
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