NRP taking DD's abroad on holiday?

[froggies]

This is not a rant, just wondering what the requirements are really.
DD1 informed me this morning that they could go on holiday with Dad, and they could go to France....

If ExP decides to take them on holiday abroad, do I need to do anything to enable it? Neither of the girls have a passport, they both live with me, but there is no residency order in place, and they both have my surname.

Can he apply for passports for them to be delivered to his address, without my knowing? Can he take them out of the country without my permission?

I don't for a minute think that he would abduct them or anything like that, but he doesn't always look at the legalities of any situation, and I would hate for the girls to have their holiday ruined because he hasn't got my permission in writting.

I also kind of suspect it won't happen anyway, we live in the far far north of scotland, DD1 (6) gets travel sick on boats, neither have ever flown, DD2 (3) would be a nightmare on train/boat/airport for any length of time, and it is a 10hour drive to the tunnel... I wouldn't do it! But good luck to him.....

We took my 2 SS's away on hols every year when they were little (ie until they became so cool that a holiday with Dad and SM became a balance between we were so embarrassing up against a nice hotel!).
I think DH applied for the passports although they lived with their mum. We never had to show a letter or anything at immigrations anywhere - it was never even questioned. But the boys had their Dad's surname and so did I when we married.
Might be worth taking their birth certs maybe in case of any query.

Why not check with the passport office.

AFAIK, he can apply for passports without your permission and should be able to take them abroad during his contact time without your permission so long as it is at a time when he would normally have them. I think it is recommended that he has permission from you though, either written or at least your agreement.

My DS has his father's surname and I have taken him abroad many times with nothing in writing from ex but have usually informed him that we are going away even though there is no schedule for access. When I applied for DS's British passport, the form asked for father's passport number, if British passport holder. I asked ex but he refused to give it (on the advise of his then DP) and said I didn't need it. I phoned the passport office and they said I can just write 'father refuses to give passport number'. I wasn't happy with that but found out I could apply for DS to have my nationality and subsequent passport without needing anything at all from ex nor even to state that he refused to cooperate.

If you want to have more control, you could apply for the passports, keep them with you and then give them to ex if needed, that way you would know when they are going. I think he can't apply for another passport for them then unless their's have expired.

Thanks, I am not really after the control, he sees DD's one night during the week and sat eve-sun eve every week. He was asked if he wanted to take them for a holiday last summer, and he didn't take up the offer, so we have no set 'block' of time in the summer for him to take them away within his contact time.

I don't have a problem with him taking them, and don't feel the need to control it, he would need to let me know when as it would be outwith his normal contact time, and they would tell me where anyway. however, he is a controlling person, and I suspect if he paid for their passports, he would refuse to give them to me to keep here, with their birth certificates, which would then make it difficult for me to take them anywhere (in my dreams... Eventually.... When I have a proper job....)

Maybe I should sort it for them myself just in case. Even if he is planning a trip, he won't tell me until the last minute, or does he need their birth certificates to get passports? (I don't have one, so no idea!)

He will need their full birth certificates to apply. They are expensive so if you have no inclination for foreigh travel he may as well stump up ^!!

I'm pretty sure you have to have PR to apply for passports. If you were married when they were born, or they were born after around the end of 2003 when the law changed (and he is named on the birth certificate) then he'll have it. Otherwise, he'd have had to apply to court to get it first. Surnames don't make any difference.

So, if he's not got PR, he would need to ask you to get them passports, and then ask you to have them for the holiday, and you could rightly demand them back at the end of the holiday.

Like Fanny, I've been asked info on father's details when applying for my DCs passports, but also been told I don't really need it (suspect you only really need it you're not British and their father is)

Thanks, we weren't married (thank god) and they were born '05 and '08, so he will have PR. We have kind of a standing invitation to a friends in Greece, have just never got around to getting passports for all 4 of us to go, so foreign travel is possible. If he pays for 2 of them it makes it more feasible for me to pay for mine and DS's.
The only spanner in the works is if he refuses to give them to me should I actually do that, which is, unfortunately, possible, and if he is feeling particularly arsey towards me.... Again, possible.... He may decide to keep a hold of their birth certificates too. Although, I am assuming it is possible to be copies of those if necessary?
Mind, we have lived with not going to Greece for long enough, we can probably manage a bit longer! Think I'll just sit tight and see what happens before forking out all the cash!