Registration As Natural Father

[Lenn2005]

hi,

I have a 6 months old daughter and I was told that unless I get myself registered as the natural father, I am legally not the dad. does anyone know how I could get this done or have a good lawer you can recommend to handle it?

thanks

Len

[soihok]

Is your name on her birth certificate?

If so , no worries.

[Nawtilus]

I went throught his, originally I was told I had to adopt my own child, but this was simply a lost in the translation kind of thing.

I was in exactly the same situation, I am on the birth certificate and I am not married. Regardless of being on the BC, it means jack shit unless you are married properly.

You have to go to court, family court and be granted the documents recognising your child officialy as yours.

It is much simpler to get married, but I did not want to do this and I got repeatedly asked by people why not just take the marriage route, easier and cheaper.

I used a lawyer that we knew and it cost me 50k, I thought it was expensive, but it got the job done, a couple of other lawyers and visa joints wanted much more, I know you can get it cheaper now. The same lawyer is doing it for my friend for 30k now.

The process is getting all the documents required together, then you have to have an interview at the family law courts office kind of thing. What this interview does is qualify you for it or not, if you pass, you go to court and it is just mostly a formality, if you dont pass they do not recommend you and you do not get to go to court.

You will only get knocked back and fail the interview if you are doing something shady and trying to pull the wool over their eyes to get a visa or such.

Once the interview is over, it takes about another 2 to 3 months for the court date. You are asked several question before the court, the lawyer has a translater for you so no problems with the language. When it is approved, you get the documents and I think from memory in about a week you can go off to immigration and submit, then they tell you to come back in 1 month for final approval and you get your 1 year visa.

I looked at the cost, 30k or 50k etc as a saving, it stopped me from having to do visa runs every 3 months and I had formal recognition of my child if i ever needed it for any other reason. It was well worth it in my books.

Hope that helps.

[Nawtilus]

Your posts does not say married or not, if you are not married, then it is as i said above. If you are married, then you do not have to go through this and being on the birth certificate is enough alone.

[Lenn2005]

Your posts does not say married or not, if you are not married, then it is as i said above. If you are married, then you do not have to go through this and being on the birth certificate is enough alone.

thanks for the info everyone. must admit..it's making me hate this place even more..sounds like another scam to squeeze money out of farangs. i mean, really...I am the dad of this child and what right do these..f...kers have in telling me if I am or I'm not. sorry...I just can't see the logic in this other than just a rip off excuse. I guess I don't get much of a choice here. any chance you could give me contact details of a lawer who can help me with this? would be much appreciated. just another thing you said. could they actually refuse you rights to your own child? if so, on what grounds? I'm not rich...I don't have a work permit...I have a non-O visa which is only good until the 20th of Dec. then..I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I know you need to show an income of over 40,000 a month, but it's a catch 22 situation...40,000 and above is what I earn but I can't declare it because I don't have a work permit. working on getting one...will probably qualify to get one in about 2 or 3 months when I complete my online Tefl cert. just one more question....I managed to get my daughter Australian citizenship....would it be possible to get her out of the country if I had the mother's consent?

[Nawtilus]

If you get your daughter an Oz passport, I think you will have no problem departing the country with or without the mothers consent/ Not sure what would happen if she only had a Thai passort and mother was not present.

You do need to prove an income, by whatever means, if you do not you will not be able to get a visa based on this criteria.

Yes it does suck and i went through the same emotions about it, but then I just got on with it and did it.

As for refusing to recognise you as the father, no as I mentioned, it will only happen if you are doing this in some kind of sneaky way and not quiet telling the truth and if they catch you out. If you are genuine and all the information you supply is true and correct, you will have no problem.

By this what I mean is if say 2 people had a child but the father had nothing to do with the child and they only got together to cook up a story to get him a visa etc. As long as you are genuine and all is ok, you will have no problem.

At the first interview, they interview you both seperate and if your stories do not match within a reasonable level, then they will smell a rat and decline the application.

[Lenn2005]

thanks Nawtilus. good to know that I could leave the country with my daughter with an Oz passport, but I'm still unsure if I would have any legal rights to her whether here or in Oz. the mother is in it for the money and is squeezing it out of me continously using our daughter as emotional blackmail. seems like a no win situation. got a quote from a lawyer about the registration process. he wants 160,000 baht. absolute daylight robbery. I just don't have that kind of money. even so, there's no guarantee that it'll be approved if the mother refuses to co-operate. the other option is to marry the mother, but she wants a dowry and a party at her village in Isan. that's going to cost a fortune, too. I've already given her family huge sums of money. it just doesn't stop and I'm just wondering..even if we did get married...because the child was born before we were married...would that mean that I'm still not the legal father and would have to go through some other costly legal process? is it possible for you to send me the contact details of the lawyer you mentioned that could do it for around 30 to 50k? cheers and thanks again for your support.

[JacknDanny]

thanks Nawtilus. good to know that I could leave the country with my daughter with an Oz passport, but I'm still unsure if I would have any legal rights to her whether here or in Oz. the mother is in it for the money and is squeezing it out of me continously using our daughter as emotional blackmail. seems like a no win situation. got a quote from a lawyer about the registration process. he wants 160,000 baht. absolute daylight robbery. I just don't have that kind of money. even so, there's no guarantee that it'll be approved if the mother refuses to co-operate. the other option is to marry the mother, but she wants a dowry and a party at her village in Isan. that's going to cost a fortune, too. I've already given her family huge sums of money. it just doesn't stop and I'm just wondering..even if we did get married...because the child was born before we were married...would that mean that I'm still not the legal father and would have to go through some other costly legal process? is it possible for you to send me the contact details of the lawyer you mentioned that could do it for around 30 to 50k? cheers and thanks again for your support.

Are you still living with the mother?

If not is the baby with you?

I went through a similar situation a year ago.

I had been living with my girlfriend for 3 years , we had a 2 yr old son, we seperated and she took my son.

After a financial negotiation a few weeks later she allowed my son to live with me. However by the time he was 4, I was fearful that at any time she could turn up at my doorstep and take my son away. She refused to sign any paperwork allowing me sole custody.

I went to an excellent lawyer, it cost me 100,000 baht. That got me SOLE custody of my son which means if I wish to leave the country I do not need permission off his mother. If she wants to see him then I have to agree. He is now 5yrs old and everything has worked out fine, the mother has slowly but surely drifted away.

As the previous poster has saiod you have to go to family court where you have to give evidence in front of 4 judges, with a translator acting on your behalf.

It sounds to me that your girlfriend is trying to blackmail you for money, you really do need to get a lawyer. The guy I used I would highly recommend. PM me if you want his details

[Nawtilus]

Lenn, PM me with your exact details and as much info as you can give, similar to what Jack has asked above and I will ask the lawyer about your situation and see what she thinks and then if ok I will give her your contact number and she can call you, she speaks ok english, enough to get started with.

You would have FULL legal rights to her in Oz no problem and you can here according to what Jack has said above if you go through his process.

Does the child live with you or her ?? The best thing is to try to get the paperwork done for the Oz passport before anything else, then you can fall back on that if your idea is to go back to Oz, you need to get this while you can and before any real shitfight starts and then she will really refuse to do anything for you.

If there is a chance that she will not co-operate at the courts, then it could mean you would be denied it the way I went and you would have to go the way of Jack above, but the cost is more.

If I can help anyway, just ask, I hate to see kids like this, but if it is your who cares for the child the most and can care for her better then good for you and do whatever it takes.

One thing you can try and use it as a last resort, if the mother starts getting nasty, then play by her rules and make up whatever story you have to to get her to sign the Oz passport details and promise her that you will send buckets of cash but you have to get back to Oz to sort out cash somehhow.

You mentioned you got her Oz citizenship, if you got this, then you should be able to get the passport easily enough, the documents required are less than what is required for citizenship and if the mother signed those, you should be able to get the passport.

But how do you intend to support the child here or anywhere and where and who is she best off with ?? you need to be really sure of what you are doing, this child at only 6 months is something that will be dependant on you entierly to provide a life for it for a long time.

When i sit down and think of that resposibilty myself, it sometimes scares me.

[lincsong]

Lenn, PM me with your exact details and as much info as you can give, similar to what Jack has asked above and I will ask the lawyer about your situation and see what she thinks and then if ok I will give her your contact number and she can call you, she speaks ok english, enough to get started with.

You would have FULL legal rights to her in Oz no problem and you can here according to what Jack has said above if you go through his process.

Does the child live with you or her ?? The best thing is to try to get the paperwork done for the Oz passport before anything else, then you can fall back on that if your idea is to go back to Oz, you need to get this while you can and before any real shitfight starts and then she will really refuse to do anything for you.

If there is a chance that she will not co-operate at the courts, then it could mean you would be denied it the way I went and you would have to go the way of Jack above, but the cost is more.

If I can help anyway, just ask, I hate to see kids like this, but if it is your who cares for the child the most and can care for her better then good for you and do whatever it takes.

One thing you can try and use it as a last resort, if the mother starts getting nasty, then play by her rules and make up whatever story you have to to get her to sign the Oz passport details and promise her that you will send buckets of cash but you have to get back to Oz to sort out cash somehhow.

You mentioned you got her Oz citizenship, if you got this, then you should be able to get the passport easily enough, the documents required are less than what is required for citizenship and if the mother signed those, you should be able to get the passport.

But how do you intend to support the child here or anywhere and where and who is she best off with ?? you need to be really sure of what you are doing, this child at only 6 months is something that will be dependant on you entierly to provide a life for it for a long time.

When i sit down and think of that resposibilty myself, it sometimes scares me.

I don't know how to message you... PLEASE let me know the name of your good lawyer!!! I NEED help! Thank you very much, Lincoln

Edited October 10, 2010 by Mario2008
email removed per forum rules

[Mario2008]

Sending a PM is easy: Go to the top of the screen and select "messenger", on the line with your member name. You should be able to take it from there.

legitimizing a child is very easy, provided the mother agrees.

If the child is about 7 years old, it can even be done at the amphur by simply turning up all 3 three of you and making a declarition that you are the father of the child. If the mother doesn't agree or the child is very young you have to go to court.