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Preventing abduction and flight...

S

slycat

Diamond Member
I am checking this out for a friend who might be in a domestic dispute. Thing is he feels his ex-relatives might be thinking of bringing their baby out of the US and into another country without his consent. Is there a way to prevent that?...without having to hide the passport? Remember hiding passport is NOT a workable solution. Is there a way to file with customs or other, such that the kid CANNOT be allowed out of the US without explicit consent or presence of both parents?

any ideas?
 
need more details. are parents divorced? if so, it should be explicitely stated in the custody agreement how and when a child may leave the home state. If parents are still married, that noone may remove the child from their homestate without permission but one of the parents, otherwise it's interstate kidnapping which is a federal crime.
 
no they are not divorced and hiding the child is not possibility. the father works all day and just don't want to come home and see that the estranged wifey has 'kidnapped' the kid abroad. he has evidence of such plans but not executed.
 
"...that noone may remove the child from their homestate without permission but one of the parents.."

how do u get this done?
 
Originally posted by: slycat
"...that noone may remove the child from their homestate without permission but one of the parents.."

how do u get this done?
Click to expand...

Meaning thet either one of the parents may grant a premission to a third party to transport their child, IF they are not divorced. If they are in process of getting divorced, your buddy needs to contact an attorney ASAP and have him file a motion with the court to ban child from leaving the state until the custody agreement is worked out and finalised.
 
Originally posted by: AnyMal
Originally posted by: slycat
"...that noone may remove the child from their homestate without permission but one of the parents.."

how do u get this done?
Click to expand...

Meaning thet either one of the parents may grant a premission to a third party to transport their child, IF they are not divorced. If they are in process of getting divorced, your buddy needs to contact an attorney ASAP and have him file a motion with the court to ban child from leaving the state until the custody agreement is worked out and finalised.
Click to expand...

sorry for the confusion, but the main fear now is that the mother will be the culprit. ...relatives secondary. thats why the plan is to deny her from removing the child from the country unless both parents consent.
 
Taking the passport really is the best short term solution. Beyond that, when myself or my ex traveled out of the country (to Peru) with our kids, whoever had the kids needed to have a notarized letter from the other parent saying it was ok that we were traveling with the kids. I never took the kids out of the US myself, so I don't know who/when/if it was checked on the way out. But on the way back in, both Peruvian and US immagration officials asked for it. Now I've been told by other people that this hasn't been true for them, not sure what the difference was.

If you do get the passport, be sure to file papers with the state department indicating that the child is not to be issued a replacement passport without your permission. Note that even if you have their US passport, if the other parent retains their foriegn citizenship, a foriegn passport can likely be obtained for the children WITHOUT YOUR CONSENT. Depends on the country of course. The state department has a working relationship with some embassies such that they can request that no passport be issued for the child. But again, it's hit and miss. Talk to the state dept.

If either of them files for divorce, in many states this automatically puts in place a restraining order that restricts either parent from removing the child from the state. This gives you some leverage with the state department and the foreign government. If no restraining order or such is violated, you'll have a hard time getting anybody to do anything. Either parent can legally take the kid anywhere.

Also check to see if the foreign country in question is a signatory to the Hauge Convention on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. If they are, you have much less to worry about, those governments have pledged to work together to resolve these situations, and respect each others civil orders, etc.

I'll get you some links.
 
A restraining order?

I know that when I went to get a passport for my son, my wife had to be rpesent (to avoid just the situation you've described). Would it be possible to cancel his passport, and just get it reissued later when he needs to travel?
 
Originally posted by: Biggerhammer
A restraining order?

I know that when I went to get a passport for my son, my wife had to be rpesent (to avoid just the situation you've described). Would it be possible to cancel his passport, and just get it reissued later when he needs to travel?
Click to expand...

hmm..thats one way, quite similar to hiding the passport though. See, according to him, he doesn't want to 'stir' things up. He hopes theres still an ounce of trust and doesn't wanna go the big brother way however he is worried and he has some evidence that wife has thought of removing child to foreign country(Japan) several times. So he says it'll be best if he can get something put in place "silently" such that only when the crime is attempted will the alarm sound.
 
Originally posted by: slycat
Child is US citizen born in california, mother is a foreign national.
Click to expand...

See my post above. If the mother is a foriegn national, there's a good chance she can get the kids a foriegn passport.
 
Originally posted by: Armitage
Originally posted by: slycat
Child is US citizen born in california, mother is a foreign national.
Click to expand...

See my post above. If the mother is a foriegn national, there's a good chance she can get the kids a foriegn passport.
Click to expand...

crap..does he need to now hide the damn birth cert too? i mean doesn't she need to prove the baby is hers before she can get a passport for the kid?
 
Originally posted by: Bryophyte
Any reason he hasn't confronted his wife with the evidence he has and asked her what her story is?
Click to expand...

das what i said but he say he tried and there seems to be a 'brush-off' attitude and nothing gets relayed properly so he says he needs to protect himself now.
 
Originally posted by: Armitage
Originally posted by: slycat
Child is US citizen born in california, mother is a foreign national.
Click to expand...

See my post above. If the mother is a foriegn national, there's a good chance she can get the kids a foriegn passport.
Click to expand...

Exactly, many countries may gran an automatic citizenship to a child born outside of country as long as one of the parents maintains the citizenship of the country in question, in your friends case, Japan.

Your friends best bet is to file for divorce right now, which will prevent child's mother from legally removing the child from the state. Have his attroney notify the court that your friend has serious reasons to believe that child's mother is about to leave country permanently and is taking their child with her. The court may order her to surrender all child's legal documents including passport. Have him DO IT NOW.
 
Originally posted by: slycat
Originally posted by: Armitage
Originally posted by: slycat
Child is US citizen born in california, mother is a foreign national.
Click to expand...

See my post above. If the mother is a foriegn national, there's a good chance she can get the kids a foriegn passport.
Click to expand...

crap..does he need to now hide the damn birth cert too? i mean doesn't she need to prove the baby is hers before she can get a passport for the kid?
Click to expand...

It's easy to get another copy of the birth certificate. It all comes down to the Hague Convention and how well the foriegn governments cooperate with ours. What is the country in question?
 
Is the evidence really that she's going to leave permanently, or is she stressed out and planning a trip back to Japan to get away from him for a vacation to clear her head?
 
Originally posted by: AnyMal
Originally posted by: Armitage
Originally posted by: slycat
Child is US citizen born in california, mother is a foreign national.
Click to expand...

See my post above. If the mother is a foriegn national, there's a good chance she can get the kids a foriegn passport.
Click to expand...

Exactly, many countries may gran an automatic citizenship to a child born outside of country as long as one of the parents maintains the citizenship of the country in question, in your friends case, Japan.

Your friends best bet is to file for divorce right now, which will prevent child's mother from legally removing the child from the state. Have his attroney notify the court that your friend has serious reasons to believe that child's mother is about to leave country permanently and is taking their child with her. The court may order her to surrender all child's legal documents including passport. Have him DO IT NOW.
Click to expand...

Agreed. It's probably gotten too far to have a simpler solution.
 
Japan is NOT a signatory of the Hague convention.
This means that if she takes the kid over there, there is nothing in law that obligates the Japanese government to cooperate with him in gaining the return of his child. Not to say that they wouldn't. But they don't have to. When I was in this situation, MANY conditions & constraints were put on my ex in taking the kids back to Peru.

1. I was named sole custodian for the time period of the trip.
2. Had court papers stating that she was exercising visitation privileges only, and for a defined limited time period.
3. I received a list of all her close relations in Peru with phone, address, etc.
4. She had to file a detailed itinerary and post a significant bond with the court.
5. I coordinated all of this with the state dept. and US embassy in Peru so they knew what was going on.
6. I went down myself to bring them back.
 
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