tiredoftryin85

I am a British citizen I got married to a military guy in the United States airforce 22 November 2007and we had orders to the United States 3 January 2008 .we came to the United States on my passport and green card wavier. I have overstayed my 90 days but wish to go back to England. I have two daughters under the age of 3 that I wish to take back with me I have gone to people here in the military for help but no help is being given. My husband is an alcaholic and I can no longer deal with his BS. So I want to take my daughters Bk to England and be happy ..I have one child's passport but not my youngest. With that being said my passport isn't in my married name ..I'm so confused and don't know were to turn so I'm looking for positive answers not negatives please help

scrubbedexpat099

A local woman's shelter?

I presume the children are US Citizens. Unless the father agrees it is highly unlikely that the children will be allowed to be removed from the US.

Noorah101

You mean the Visa Waiver Program (VWP).

So you have not applied for your Adjustment of Status (AOS) to become a US PR? Since you overstayed the VWP, be aware that you can NEVER use the VWP again to visit the USA. That means if you leave now, and your children remain behind in the USA, you could have a very hard time visiting them in the future.

It doesn't matter whether you have or don't have both chidren's passports. You cannot remove the children from the USA without the father's permission.

If you are being abused, you can go with the children to a local women's shelter for now, and contact some immigration and family attorneys to see what your options are. Although if you do not apply for adjustment of status based on your marriage to a USC, I think your chances of staying in the USA are slim.

Your passport does not have to be in your married name.

The best thing to do is to first get you and the children to a safe environment, if you are being abused. Second, have a consultation with an immigration attorney to see if you have ANY chance of staying in the USA without your husband's help. If you absolutely do NOT want to stay in the USA, then consult with a family attorney regarding the children...you can't just simply up and take them back to the UK with you right now. The father (as bad as he might be) has rights.

Do you think he won't give you permission to take the girls back to the UK?

Rene

civilservant

So you've been in the US illegally since 2008? You've never applied for any other visa or to adjust your status?

Bob

First thing to do, get out to somewhere safe, with the kids.

Then get in touch with family based immigration lawyer and divorce lawyer.

Don't leave the US until you fully understand what that would mean to you and your kids with regards to what will happen if you try to take the kids with you, to your ability to ever enter the US in the future and what your legal status is right now.

Good luck!

ian-mstm

Because of your long overstay, you will trigger an immediate 10-year ban on returning if you leave the US.


If the children are US citizens, they will both need a US passport. However, you can not remove the children from US jurisdiction without either the written permission of their father or a court order. If you take the children from the US without either his permission or a court order, you will be charged with kidnapping.

The one option that you will always have, is to return to the UK alone and leave the children in the US... although I fully understand if you don't see that as a viable option.


With regret, your entire situation is a negative and you have very few options. So... first things first: protect yourself and your children - and then worry about immigration.

Ian

JAJ

I would echo what others have said on this thread regarding a ban on re-entry and the difficulty bringing children outside the U.S. without consent or a court order.

However, there may still be some hope to get legal status in the U.S.:

- if husband is still willing to co-operate, file now for permanent residence; or
- if there has been abuse of some kind, there may be an option to self-petition for permanent residence under the VAWA provisions. There is scope for a fee waiver under these provisions.

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/usc...00082ca60aRCRD

Filing an I-485 also allows an I-765 to get an Employment Authorization Document, which allows working while the GC application is pending, also a Social Security Number.

Realistically - your focus has to be on getting permanent residence so you can stay in the USA with your American children, not on a strategy to remove your American children to a foreign country.

penguinsix

DO - NOT - LEAVE - THE - COUNTRY ....

...until you talk to immigration and family attorneys.

Should you leave with your kids, the status of your children falls under the jurisdiction on the Hague Convention on Child Abductions. As such, the courts who would hear a custody dispute are US family courts as their "habitual residency" is the United States. If you remove the child from the United States, he can file a simple motion with the US State Department, who will contact UK authorities, who will take your children into protective custody and then return them to the United States. A US court would have a child custody hearing. As you are in an overstay situation, you will be BARRED from re-entering the USA to defend your rights in a child custody decision, and basically he will obtain custody by default.

Ok, there are exceptions to everything I just said, especially with his alcoholism (which you should start to document if possible--See the case The Matter of S (A Child) [2012] UKSC 10) summarized here: http://www.marilynstowe.co.uk/2012/0...nifer-hollyer/), but by and large, that is the general rundown on what could happen.

So that's probably scared you a bit and you're even more confused than when you started reading this. Take a look in your phone book / yellow pages under "Domestic Abuse Shelter". Get in touch with them and ask them for some assistance. Try this website: http://www.ndvh.org/ or call this number: 1-800-799-SAFE. You can also contact a UK-based charity called Reunite that deals with International Child Custody cases. http://www.reunite.org/

If he is still in the military, contact the Family Support Center on your base and speak to someone with the Family Advocacy Program. They can get a Military Protective Order which can do many things from relieve your spouse from the right to carry weapons on base to keep him away from military housing where you might live.

http://www.militaryhomefront.dod.mil....137.0.0.0.0.0

The key takeaway from this is that you need professional assistance--not a message board. You are, quite frankly, in a bit over your head and you are going to have a horrendous time trying to just D-I-Y out of this situation. There are resources and professionals available who can help and you should start contacting them immediately. You can start to plan out your course of action to sort through the various things confronting you.

Deal with the immediate threat to your family and safety.
Deal with the longer term custody issues.
Deal with your immigration status.

Good luck.