bringing 10-year-old son to the UK

[Juliano]

Hi there

A friend of mine is here on a two-year spouse visa. She has a ten-year-old son in Brazil. She wants to apply for the boy to come and live with her and her husband here in the UK.

My friend was never married to the boy's father. She got pregnant when she was about 18 years old, and lived with the boy's father (on and off) for about two years. During that time the father never wanted/decided to recognise the boy as his son so there is no father in the boy's birth certificate. Neither my friend nor the boy has had any contact with the man in the last 7 years or so. He never recognised the boy as his son, and hasn't had any participation in the boy's upbringing.

In Brazil it is very common for single women to register a child by themselves, i.e. as having no father, when the man doesn't want to recognise fatherhood. This makes the mother solely responsible for the child (in the eyes of the law).

Now, my friend wants to make an application to bring her son to the UK. Does the biological father need to be involved in the application? I mean, does she need to seek his consent? 'The biological father' hasnt had any contact with the child for about 7 years, and he has never wanted to recognise the boy as his son.

My friend only lived with the guy for about two years and then left him because he used to beat her up. She hasn't seen him for at least 7 years.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

Regards

J

[vinny]

See also sole responsibility.