We had a marriage ceremony in Cambodia and the three kids were born there too. The two eldest had British passports. The third child was only one month old when I flew back to settle prior to doing the visa for my wife. Baby stayed with mum whilst I took his documents with me.

I submitted the documents to the passport office in the U.K. His passport application took 17 months as opposed to just a few months with the older two kids. Firstly the passport office emailed me stating that we hasn't submitted original documents. I told them that we had and the application stalled over the disagreement.

They returned only a couple of the original documents that I'd sent. So I congratulate them for losing his original birth certificate, family book and other documents. Maybe human error was the reason for this. I wrote to them telling them to conduct a search for the lost documents. My MP also wrote letters to the passport office on my behalf. At the end of the day nothing was found and several months were lost when what I should have in fact done was just gotten the documents reissued in Cambodia and reapplied straight away.

I did bite the bullet eventually and did this at great cost to me not just financially but also the lost time. Put simply it delayed significantly the family being reunited.

On the second application Her Majesty's Passport Orifice rejected the countersignatory person. They asked for a new one by the 5 February. Coincidentally I had tickets to return for a family holiday in Cambodia and returning back to the U.K. on the 5 February. I told them that I would indeed get a new countersignatory and post it first class signed for if they could only extend the deadline a couple of days. I received a written response agreeing to the extension. At Heathrow Airport I posted the letter and it arrived the next day. On the same day that the paperwork was received at HMPO I received an email contradicting the extension email. This email stated that the application had been closed as I hadn't given them the information that they requested within the deadline.

It took another two months before I had a written apology. They admitted their error and told me that they would waver the cost of the third application. Money wasn't the issue, time was. Alongside this application was the application for my wife's visa. More hoops to jump through and more mistakes from the government institutions.

How did I manage the three years separation. The short answer is I just did. It was a matter of just accepting that some things were out of our hands and we just had to work on the visa, jump through the hoops and survive.

The best way to cope was to immerse myself with my full time job - and the kids outside of working hours. I did the paperwork required for the visa. I did the research and I completed the tasks. It was rejected due to factual inaccuracies on their part. They stated that she failed the English test in Novemeber, when she passed the test the only time she took it in April. When it went to the appeal court I represented myself. I didn't trust a lawyer to do it for me.

Mentally it was tough. I had occasional fits bought on by the prolonged stress.

Another thing that helped me through the separation was regular trips back to Cambodia. I went back every year. Flights for the three of us cost £800 (1 adult, one lap infant and one seat infant). We flew back three times in the first twelve months. The price of flights steadily increased as the kids got older.

You're probably asking about how I could support my family assuming that I was the sole money earner. Simply put I worked for the entire time, was frugal and saved. I also had some help. There is a government childcare scheme enabling those on a low income free childcare, well up to 30 hours free a week and 38 weeks of the year. I either paid full price for childcare out of school term time or utilized my days off and my mother or sister who worked part time. As a single parent I paid less tax too.

It's common knowledge that a starting wage for a postman is around £10 an hour. So with overtime I could earn enough to support the kids. My parents and friends often gave gifts of clothing, books and toys. I used charity shops/thrift shops for things like push chairs and car seats.

Even though my wife had equity (propert and savings) I still felt obliged to send money to her and my youngest son. I sent between $100-$250 a month. Sometimes I sent more.

We got there in the end - after the Home Orifice took several months to recognise the courts decision I booked flights for my son and fiance. Nearly two and a half years later its nearly time to spin the wheel again.

The incredible story of a man who works and pays bills.

A couple more and will be my first blocked poster

I guess that's the plot for each story

Never seen such an amount of half-stories and unfinished novels, there must be a reason somehow

Ah, i see the elders of the CEO have banged the gavel !
Half cocked censorship on the Bingo thread.
Makes me think about an old lady squeezing her handbag on her chest somehow, SternA...it shows your age, and how unimportant jokes is what seems to be outrageous for you now...
That or feeding crumbs to pigeons, same same...

Wouldn't it of been easier to get your son's passport in person at the embassy? Or were your stays not long enough? The American embassy took 2-3? Trips

Not a easy, nor unexpensive task to take one's family too that of their own countries, this thread shows some hardship and concerns, to one's who may be thinking of trying the same.