You can go online to childrenspassport.com and find out the laws, but I have researched this and the law states that if the father is not licted on the childs birth certificate that all you need to get a passport for the child is to have the birth certificate showing the father is not on the birth certificate, if you have filed and been granted sole custody and have a court ordered custody order you can also use this. One or the other or both will work. Your child having the fathers last name does not matter the father would of had to of signed the birth certificate, so yes your fine to go and get a passport. The father has no legal rights to the child, even if he takes a DNA test and it proves he is the father, that only gives him the right to file for his rights and he is in jail so he cannot do that and it takes awhile to even get the test done if he is in jail and then to get the results.Once you get a passport he cannot do anything to stop you from leaving the country, if you wait until he proves paternity and files for joint custody then he can try to stop you, take advanage of this and do it now.

My child has already been granted a passport as we recently visited Australia. I am hoping to go back and make it a permanent move. Does the fact that he has already been granted a passport by the US clear the way in my attempt to gain citizenship in another country?

If you have a passport then you can go to this other country, when you get there you would have to talk to a lawyer on the laws for you to become a citizen.

Thank you very much for sharing what you know about this situation. From what I understand, there are too many factors in my favor for the father's family to win a fight to keep me here. My dad keeps insisting that I change my son's name to mine because he thinks having his dad's last name gives the father more power. I disagree. Paternity has not yet been determined; however, there is no father listed on the birth certificate, my son already has a passport, I have been the sole provider for all of his 5 yrs. and a move to Australia would be in his best interests. Besides, only God knows how permanent this move can potentially be. Taking his dad's name back off after I went to court to add it, may only cause problems with the father's family. It wouldn't look right for me to try to change it all of the sudden right before paternity is determined correct? If you have any additional information, please don't hesitate to educate me. Thank you, tomturkey!