LondonTown

Evening all.

I am a British Citizen who is currently in Illinois. I came over in 2008 with my wife who is a US citizen after spending a very difficult year in London. I applied for residency through the American embassy in London, how ever they sent me back the forms saying that I will have to file them in the states, so this is where I made the biggest mistake that anyone in my position would do.

I travelled to the states on a waiver visa with my wife and daughter, after selling everything I owned and quit an amazing job and giving up my life in Britain in the name of Love. My wife and her mother bless her soul(sarcasm) promised me that they would support me and would have someone sponsor me in Illinois as they were not in a position to be my sponsors, obviously I believed what they said because it was said in front of a few witnesses, them being local council employees, social services to be exact. I was also told by my wife (who by the way seems to think she knows US law as if she wrote it herself) that I would be able to get my Social Security number within 2 weeks, and that I would be able to start applying for work immediately,this was confirmed by a few of her relatives. little did I know.

Now we had a problem in England where by we had to go through courts and and all sorts of painful experiences involving our daughter, which was resolved in the end. When I arrived in the states, the sponsor that was promised did not exist, I was going through my savings and the money gathered from selling my furniture like there was no tomorrow, granted I had to spend on my daughter, but there was no support from anyone for me as was promised in London, I was supporting my self, apart from having a place to live of course.

Time went by and there was no solution to my status in the US, My wife became extremely abusive, both verbally and later physically. My hands were tied big time, I couldn't do anything to her although I am 3 times her size, she was trying to provoke me into assaulting her because of the issues that took place in London. towards the end of my waiver visa she threw me out onto the streets. I have no family in the states, and my closest relative lives in Canada.

I left the US so that I do not over stay my allowed time on the waiver visa then I came back In a few weeks later, but got a warning from the CBP that next time I wont be allowed back into the states unless I prove that where I am coming from I either work or receive benefits. I haven't seen my daughter in over 3 months, my wife has refused to let me see her on my own although there has been no divorce filed.

I haven't filed for divorce because I don't have much time to go through one and I will need to leave the US again in a few weeks plus I dont want to get stuck here fighting a divorce and not being able to work or have a normal life. I have a Hague convention application filed with the state department, but this is taking for ever and they still haven't found me an attorney who specialises in Hague convention cases and who does pro bono work as I qualify for it.

Any advice is welcomed, attorney referrals, anything else that might help me in trying to take my daughter back to England who I might add was born there and holds dual nationalities.

Please forgive me for the extra long message and I hope someone can make sense of this and try and give the best advice possible.

Regards

YoungSteve17

Well that is a very crazy story indeed. I haven't got any advice but i hope you can resolve the situation and have your daughter and get back home.

How have you like the states, apart from all the stuff that has happened to you since you have been here ?

DeanUK2US

Beware of any ideas of sneaking out of the US with your daughter, as I believe that one of the VW questions is if you have ever kidnapped a USC or something similar? US law's interpretation of 'kidnapping' would need to be carefully looked into, as this could cause serious issues with any future journeys to the US if you are convicted of such a crime.

Be very careful on that front, and good luck.

Marocco

You did everything wrong from the beginning. You can't move to the US on a visa waiver, you needed to get an immigrant visa before moving there. The fact that your wife told you she'd find a sponsor is irrelevant.

What to do now? I suggest you file for divorce, go back to the UK, and try to get your job back.

Custody litigation costs money and takes time - at the moment you haven't got much of either.

NC Penguin

This thread is clearly immigration related so I'm moving it to the appropriate location.

Elvira

I am sorry to hear of your situation. Unfortunately a lot of milk has been spillt, and the chances of getting it back into the bottle are slim. It's probably pointless to expect the state department to provide you with a lawyer. If you want to pursue this, you may have to find your own. I would suggest that you initially try and find a charitable organization that may be able to help. I know that some Catholic charities help with immigration, and maybe they can help with child custody cases too, especially since yours has immigration implications.

However, your time here is limited. Whatever you do, do not overstay your visa waiver as you would find it virtually impossible to get back into the US in the future.

Once you are back, consult the Citizen's Advice Bureau about your custody case and divorce. They should be able to help you file a claim for Legal Aid.

This is going to be a long and difficult road for you. To be honest, unless your wife is abusive towards your child, I cannot see any prospect of you gaining full custody of your child. I suspect visiting rights may be the best you can hope for. But IANAL, and I wish you all the best.

Rete

I'm sorry for your troubles and your troubles are large and multiple. I don't know why you took the word of your wife and her family without first checking how to immigrate to the US properly. I also don't know what your issues were in the UK in regards to your daughter and I'm assuming here that you and your wife are the biological parents of said child.

As a person without funds and with your wife here in the US with her family, you are going to need a very specialized and experienced divorce attorney. The Hague has nothing whatsoever to do with your custodial rights to your daughter. Since you are now in the US the US courts' decision will be the one that you will have to deal with. While we like to think ourselves enlightened in the US, we aren't in the matters of child custody in most states and your ability to be awarded sole custody of a US Citizen and to remove her from her country and mother are almost nil. At best I would wager that you would be allowed joint custody meaning that you might be able to have her sent back to the UK to stay with her over summer and winter holidays.

You have absolutely no avenue based upon your marriage unless your wife decides to petition for your residency and you find a financial co-sponsor. If her family is prominent in the community, you can kiss your chances goodbye and please remember that verbal commitments mean little in the courts as it comes down to she said/he said.

Good luck.

Deedee13

The question I have is, what are you actually doing here and who are u staying with at the moment. Getting a job in the UK is going to be tougher than hell. What a damn mess.

I read ur post and its heartbreaking, however, u managed to get back here after returning to the uk so ur finances are probably not as dire as some peoples. What is there to say, ur daughter is going to end up a victim of divorced parents. Like a lot of people including me. It didnt do me any real harm, my mom was pretty tough although we did get to hear on a daily basis how much she hated my dad. Not too nice growing up. Although he never made the effort when we were kids and hardly does now were adults. He thinks his lot was done paying his 3quid a week child support. So is it tough, can be doesnt have to be though. I dont know what happened to ur daughter or the need to know. Life throws buckets of poo at us and then sits back and watches us either sink or swim. So its up to you to decide what you want to do.

You too can fight for custody of ur daughter its not a done deal anymore that the mother gets it.

Dont run away with her tho because there is little tolerance for that sort of thing over here. Or anywhere else for that matter.

jmh

You say that you had to go through the courts in the UK on issues related to your daughter, and it sounds as if social services were involved. Was you daughter born in the UK, and what obligation does the UK Govt have re her welfare? I suspect there is more here that could influence the case on custody.

LondonTown

Its nice over here, with the right job and the right woman one can make it very nicely.

LondonTown

I wouldn't do any thing of the sort, I know I have the right to take my daughter back to England, its just finding the right attorney to get it done for me.

meauxna

You do not have the 'right' to take your daughter anywhere, based on what you have written.

What happened in the UK with the court? Do you have some custody agreement that gives you sole custody?
You're going to need to start looking at the laws of the State where your daughter is resident. She's in her mother's custody right now?

LondonTown

My daughter was born in the UK and thus remains a British subject up to 1 year after leaving England. Uk courts can request my daughter be returned to England under some conditions, i dont the exact way it would be done.

Noorah101

If your USC wife is also your daughter's mother, chances are your daughter is a dual UK/US citizen. She remains a British subject all her life, as well as a US citizen all her life.

Let us know how it goes...

Rene

Rete

They can request all they want. It means little. Your daughter holds dual citizenship in the UK and the US. At present she is living in the US under her mother's care. Her presence here means the state that her mother is resident in has the final say as to who gets what in terms of your daugther's custody.