URGENT: Need International Family Law Advice

Hello, I am writing on behalf of a woman from Belarus. She won a green card to come to USA. She has a 6 year old daughter. The woman is legally divorced but father still retains custody. She was told that the new law has passed allowing her to take the child out of the country without the legal consent of the father. First, is this true? If so, what can the father do after he finds out? Can he sue the mother that lives in USA and get a court order to return the child to him? Get legal visiting rights? Please be kind to be specific. I am considering marrying this woman and would like to know about any possible complications.

Thank you so much in advance.

It is not likely they will let her leave without his consent.

And yes he could object--the child lives there now and is subject to that country's courts at this point.

Best to get all sides to agree a solution if possible.

Originally Posted by Unregistered It is not likely they will let her leave without his consent. And yes he could object--the child lives there now and is subject to that country's courts at this point. Best to get all sides to agree a solution if possible.

What if she would legally leave, but without his consent. What could be the consequences once they are in US when he finds out?

She cannot "legally" leave the country with the child without his consent. That's untrue. She cannot do that.

If he has custody, even worse for her if she takes the child anywhere without his consent.

The consequences would be kidnapping charges levied against her, which would surely result in her having her green card revoked and never being able to return to the U.S. Possible jail time is not out of the realm of possibility.

It's best that they go to court and get this resolved before she takes any rash action. She could get into serious trouble removing the child from the father's custody without his permission. There really is no "legal" way to remove the child from the country without the father's consent. The only way to legally resolve this matter is for them to go to court to establish custody/visitation rights.

Originally Posted by Unregistered She cannot "legally" leave the country with the child without his consent. That's untrue. She cannot do that. If he has custody, even worse for her if she takes the child anywhere without his consent. The consequences would be kidnapping charges levied against her, which would surely result in her having her green card revoked and never being able to return to the U.S. Possible jail time is not out of the realm of possibility. It's best that they go to court and get this resolved before she takes any rash action. She could get into serious trouble removing the child from the father's custody without his permission. There really is no "legal" way to remove the child from the country without the father's consent. The only way to legally resolve this matter is for them to go to court to establish custody/visitation rights.

Her husband was an abuser and an alcoholic. That is why she divorced him. He abandoned them when the daughter was 3.5 month old. The government did make him pay the alimony, as he still does. He was gone for 5 years and recently came back when the daughter was 6. He calls the daughter on her cell phone from time to time but rarely sees her. She said "I want a daddy, but not this one". He will NEVER let her go, just to make them more miserable. He keeps damaging the child and hurts me to see this!

Here is the actual law that she was talking about, that went into effect on March 2010 (it is translated by Google from Russian to English)
Google Translate

Here are a couple of articles written about it (also translated by Google).
Google Translate

Google Translate

[olive]

Normally a local court will have to approve it if one parent does not agree,

But if he has that many issues, it should not be hard to get an order.