I'm the sole parent but how do I prove it?

As my son's passport comes up for renewal the American Embassy insists I come with the father and child to renew. The father lives in Japan and has no interest in our child (who I have raised alone and have never received any child support for). I live in Switzerland and as a single mom dont have money to hire a laywer to sort through this. Isn't there a simple form or something the father can sign to permanantly give up his rights to the child (he is more than willing to do this). I also worry when I travel with my son because the international child abduction scares have led to many instances of a parent having to prove that the other parent gives permission for the travel. I've heard that a simple notarized letter from the father giving up his rights to the child wouldnt be legal.

[Trinster23]

Well...I'm in Australia but laws here have changed for travel with children recently also.
I have sole custody ( no contact with the father) family court orders giving me sole control and no contact whatsoever with the other parent however the new law even applies to myself. I must have an order made that allows me to leave the country with my child.
Of course the father discovered I was relocating and did not agree....and now I am in court trying to apply for relocation and being fought by a father that has no rights to the child anyway, but apparently he still has a say in where we live.....it sucks.
Just wondering if you have a dual passport? I used my German passport to order passports for the kids, then used the German passport to order Australian passports later being that I am a German citizen and the father wasn't of course I was the only one allowed to apply for the first one.

Single parent travel -- See http://www.singleparenttravel.net/Wr...Documentation/

if that offers any help.

Hi I am the one who started the thread. No I dont have dual citizenship, just an American, father is a Micronesian. I do travel internationally(and moved to Europe)with my son and have never had a problem so far.
I am grateful for the reply's and the link to the website. It had some links to documents I could use but the links are deadends . But this did lead me back to US Embassy site where I see that I can just swear the dad is unreachable and that should do the trick - going to try that. Thanks

Let us know how it goes!