
Quoting
brisapinho
So after I read your replies, I went ahead and hired an actual International Custody attorney here in San Francisco. You are wrong and I wanted to take the time to post the correct information here.
1. Once I have my child in Brazil, and I spend at least 6 months there, Brazil becomes the child's habitual residence as stated in the Hague Convention. Since I am not married to my baby's father and he wont be on the birth certificate, it will be very very easy to get full custody from Brazil.
2. Once I have that custody order and I return to California, the same attorney I hired will then file the order with California courts. Once the order from brazil is filed here in California, it is valid and can only be modified in Brazil. If the father wants ANY rights he will need to fly there and ask for modification there. Thats because both US and Brazil are signatories of the Hague Convention and they honor each other's custodial orders.
3. The habitual residence in my case would be Brazil since thats were I am from, my child is from and thats where we lived for over 6 months after my child was born. Period. There is no going around this.
This is factual information from one of the top international custody lawyers in San Francisco. In case anyone is in a similar situation as me, make sure you hire one so you can protect yourself. They are pretty expensive (around $600 for the first one hour consultation), but at least you will get correct information and they will be able to help you file any orders you bring back from abroad.