Has anybody gone through the process of getting a 'travel document' for a child under 16 years to leave Ukraine?
My situation is, I and my Ukrainian wife and her child (my step daughter of 3) will travel to Australia for the first time, visa's and papers at my end are no problems, but to get this travel document is something I'm not too sure about. It sounds like a childrens passport. Anybody?
I don't know why it would be different elsewhere, but in the US, a travel document is used when the traveler has no passport. Examples are, illegal aliens who are sent home and a legal visitor who lost their passport. One cannot use the excuse of losing a passport to extend their stay. A travel document is all you need.
I don't now why a child under 16 is asked to get a travel document instead of a passport. I would listen to Olga. You might get stuck in a country where you get in trouble for not having a passport.
Hopefully, you and your bride have already discussed this matter ... like many countries, Ukraine does not permit emigration with a child, without the consent of both parents.
I have no experience or expert knowledge, but this is my understanding (assuming that the child is a Ukrainian citizen):
1) If your stepdaughter's birth certificate doesn't name her biological father (no name written in the blank for birth father), then you're home free. (It's not a problem if the child has his given name for her patronymic "middle name," as long as the biological father is not otherwise identified.)
2) If her biological father is identified on the birth certificate, but he is no longer living (or for some other reason it is impossible to go to him for legal consent), then I suppose adequate legal documentation of that would be required.
3) If he's on the birth certificate and still living, then you need his consent, which for all practical purposes is total and permanent renunciation of any parental rights. In this case, if you're lucky he will cooperate -- if not, you could be looking at serious time and money spent, without certainty of success. Unfortunately, you would need his consent even if he abandoned the family, has never supported the child, etc.
Getting over this legal hurdle might NOT be necessary for a temporary visit (for example, if they are returning to Ukraine within 90 days). However your situation goes, I expect that she will need some sort of official document at the airport, to show that it's OK for the child to leave the country.
My (again non-expert) understanding is that the process is similar to this in the Russian Federation.
Of course, the only prudent thing to do in this situation is to get the advice of a suitably experienced Ukrainian attorney, if you haven't already done so.
I hope you have no difficulties with this process, and wish good luck to you all!
Consentually its a green light regarding the Papa, well a 'blank' one offically. Has anyone just tried using the Birth Certificate - and translated to English? When the visa comes through it gets stamped on Mamas passport, thats all the Oz authorities want. So I'll talk to an attorney once I get back there and get back to this thread let you know what happened. Thanks all.
I just did a little reading -- I haven't found yet found any official info from the Ukrainian government, but did find a thread on visajourney.com.
If I understand the picture rightly, most emigrating parents need either a notarized letter from the other parent granting VERY SPECIFIC permission for the emigration and further travel, or a court order indicating that the emigrating parent has sole custody.
So I'm guessing that your wife will need to get this court order -- but whichever exact document is required, getting it should be pretty straightforward, because no father is shown on the birth certificate (or Birth Register as they seem to call it there).
Whichever document she will need to take the child out of Ukraine, hang onto it until the child is 16! Every time your stepdaughter visits Ukraine (to see grandparents etc.) this paper must be shown to Ukrainian migration officials, in order for her to leave again.
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This doesn't apply to your situation, but where the father's consent must be obtained (because mother does not have sole custody), his notarized letter (or letters) must specify not only that he consents to the child's emigration, but also must state to which country; and further must give express consent to the child's leaving Ukraine subsequent to future visits, and again to which country or countries the child may depart.