Divorce from a Foreign National

The rules and responsibilities found under the international family law are helpful to those dating foreign citizens. A divorce is a critical affair and is more complicated if it involves a partner, not from the United States.

Your spouse may decide to travel back to their country of origin to seek support from their family members, leaving you overwhelmed with a lot to bear on your own. Before proceeding with the divorce, it is important to ensure you follow all the state laws to avoid causing more turmoil.

Before the divorce process, it is important to go through the legal recommendations and ensure you and your spouse understand your requirements. The following are important details concerning divorce from a foreign national:

Residency Issues

The US Immigration and Naturalization Service have developed strict laws concerning citizenship. When foreign national gets married to a US citizen, they are usually granted permanent residency. The immigration and Naturalization Act permits a foreign national to apply for naturalization in the US after two years of marriage.

If the divorce occurs within two years of your union, your partner may lose their residency and be forced to relocate back to their original country. Suppose they have a wish to go forward with the citizenship application. In that case, non-citizens are required to apply for a termination waiver, and both parties are to validate that the marriage happened in good faith.

Property Division

In divorce, the law applicable to Matrimonial Property Regime allows spouses to choose the laws that will decide how the existing assets will be divided. The couple has a choice to choose the country which country law will govern their property after separation. If no choice is made, the marital wealth is divided according to the first state’s law where the primary residence was done.

However, these laws are not widely implemented, especially where the marital wealth is in a state where neither of the partners is a citizen. When this happens, the spouse controlling the assets is ordered to compensate the spouse who is not in control.

Affidavit of Support

When a divorce takes place between a US citizen and a non-US citizen, the non-citizen must sign an Affidavit of Support which directs the US citizen to use the available wealth accumulated when the marriage was still active to support the non-citizen partner. To make the process more professional, you can involve a divorce lawyer to help you get in touch with the financial obligations and settle financial matters with your divorced spouse.

If both spouses have assets entitled to their names that they need to share amongst each other, involving a qualified divorce attorney or family lawyer is important to ensure the seamless process.

Child Support

The Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support creates payment rules regarding child support between divorced partners. Every state is called upon to formulate such rules and regulations to make work easy for child support activities between divorced partners. Your spouse should implement these rules after divorce, regardless of their current place of residence.

However, when it comes to abduction, the state demands that the child be returned to their original country of residence. Usually, abduction cases push nations to come together in solving custody arrangements and may favor the spouse who is not part of the abduction. After separation, the state calls upon every spouse to be responsible for child support to perform their duties and avoid running into trouble with the authorities.

The Convention on the Recognition of Divorce and Legal Separation generally recognizes divorce across national boundaries. If the involved spouses are from nationalities that do not support divorce, the divorce may not be recognized and be termed as null and void. To successfully initiate and complete the divorce process, it is important to work together with a qualified attorney so that the rules and regulations are spelled out well and no rule broken.

One of the difficult stages involved in a divorce is presenting the legal documents to your spouse and hoping they agree with what is required of them. To contact your spouse in a different country requires knowledge of:

• Treaties
• US Federal Laws
• State-Specific Laws
• The laws in the state where your foreign partner resides in

About Zimmerman Law LLP 

Zimmerman Law LLP is a law firm for family issues, like those surrounding marriage, divorce, and adoption. These are personal matters, so it’s natural to become emotionally invested in your civil lawsuit; our attorneys can handle the legal process to minimize any stress that you may feel. Our attorneys are experts in civil litigation, ensuring that your lawsuit brings you the most favorable results. Our attorneys can help litigate: 

• Restraining orders
• Divorce
• Child support
• Child custody
• Property division
• Trust and probate litigation  

Our attorneys can also help you pursue compensation if you were in an accident and need to sue for damages. If you suffered a car wreck, bike accident, or were hit by a car as a pedestrian, we can get your personal injury lawsuit started. Our offices are located across greater Ontario, so accessibility shouldn’t be a problem. We’re also offering virtual services due to COVID-19. To see our full list of contact options, click here.