Non Married Parents and Sole Custody

My question involves a child custody case from the State of: VA

Hello,

Me and my ex boyfriend share a child together and though it isn't the ideal situation we are doing our best to make it work. My ex signed an AOP and is involved in my daughter's life for now (2 months old) and I hope it stays this way. My question is regarding custody. We have no legal agreement and he can pretty much come visit his daughter whenever he wants to however I was advised to seek legal custody of my child. Don't I automatically have sole custody? If not can I seek sole legal/physical custody and the father still have visitation rights? My main concern is to have legal control over my daughter as my ex is in the military and can't be reached all the time in the event of an emergency or just for everyay decisions but I am not opposed to him having regular visits. Can anyone help?
Thank you!

As an unmarried mother in VA, without a court order you are by default the sole custodial parent of your child. This means you have sole legal custody (decision-making) and sole physical custody, right up until Dad goes to court and gets a court order saying otherwise.

Thank you for your reply Dogmatique, that's great to know! My fear is that down the line the dad will stop being involved and I will be unable to get sone things done without his help like a passport or other documents that need an authorization from the dad if he is listed on birth certificate unless I have a court order that shows I have sole legal custody. How would that work in my case? Would I need to go o court then? Thank you so much or your help!

My question involves a child custody case from the State of: VA
I'm not sure where to ask this question so please forgive me if I'm off topic, it just relates to my child so I figured I could post it here:-)
I'm a naturalized American citizen but retained my French citizenship as well and my daughter is, by birth, French as well, however her father refuses to give me his birth certificate to do the necessary paperwork for me to register her with my embassy and claim her French citizenship. He gave me some bogus reasons saying he wanted her to choose at 18 but I'm really thinking it is for selfish reasons he opposes. Since he signed the birth certificate and my daughter carries his last name my embassy will need my daughter's father's info and can't really go around it. Is there anything that can be done legally to force him to provide me with his birth certificate to complete my daughter,s citizenship process? The father is the military as well. I'm really distraught over it because I feel he is not bing fair toasted me and my daughter by denying her heritage.
Thank you so much for any advice!

What is it you wish to accomplish for your daughter?

Im sorry I think my reply was deleted so here is a shorter version.
I just want my daughter to have access to all the opportunities she can. By being French she can have scholarships to attend French schools in the states, an international health insurance....I just don't feel her dad is giving me a good enough reason to deny her any if that. Ive been in America for almost 10 years, recently became an American citizen and I'm established here but I remain connected to my home country which I visit every year and still have all my family there.
I never thought it would be an issue and I'm quite hurt over this. My ex is in the military and can be quite controlling...I just feel bullied on this matter and dont think it's fair for my daughter.