Legal Status of Foreign Born Child Left in This Country with Grandfather
Parents: Mother is Nicaragua and Father is American. Couple are married and were together when a vacation was planned Jan 2010. Couple has 2 children, a boy and a girl, both born in Nicaragua. Father took both children to California on vacation in Jan 2010 and returned with only the son. He left the daughter with his father (American citizen) in California without a word to his wife. After this, she separated from him physically but remains married. She hasn't seen her girl since then and is afraid of what the husband might do. She has been severely distraught. I would think that she needs to pursue custody rights in Nicaragua but since I've learned they don't subscribe to the Hague treaty, I'm not sure what good that would do. Question: Might approaching this from the U.S. immigration side be better? Does the child have any legal status here right now? The grandfather is not the legal guardian. How does this work? Thank you so much for your time.
Re: Legal Status of Foreign Born Child Left in This Country with Grandfather
Mom would want to seek a custody order, and then attempt to enforce the order (if necessary) through the U.S. courts. We have no way of knowing if mom could obtain the necessary visas or afford travel to the U.S. in order to try to pursue divorce or custody through the U.S. courts, so it would make sense for her to consult a lawyer in Nicaragua. With her having waited well over a year to take action, though, depending upon the full facts the custody issues pertaining to the daughter may have to be litigated in the U.S.
Should we infer that the son is back in mom's custody?