People from different countries or cultures often fall in love with one another. Many people start romances while traveling for leisure, employment or educational purposes. Countless others connect with people online despite vast distances between their homes. In some cases, people who belong to traditional cultures may enter into an arranged marriage where they take a spouse from the country where many of their family members still live.
Divorce is typically a complicated process, but it can become much more challenging when one of the spouses is in the country with a visa or a green card. Even in scenarios where the foreign national spouse has acquired citizenship, the situation can be far more complicated. The challenges below are among the serious issues spouses need to address when people from different countries divorce.
Legal immigration status
Divorce can easily complicate the legal status of a non-citizen spouse. Frequently, those who marry United States citizens are eligible for green cards. However, those green cards are conditional. If the divorce occurs within two years of the immigrant spouse entering the country, their status could be at risk. Couples may need to discuss the implications of their divorce proceedings and take appropriate steps to prevent immigration consequences.
Property division challenges
When spouses own international resources, dividing those assets can prove quite difficult. Even securing accurate disclosures can be a challenge when some of the property is not local. People with international holdings frequently face complex property division litigation or negotiations due to their assets.
Custody concerns
When divorcing spouses share children, they typically arrange to share parenting time and legal authority with one another. When one spouse still has strong ties in another country, there may be reason to worry about international child abduction. Parents facing divorce when their spouse has family abroad or may return to their country of origin often need to include very clear provisions about international travel in their custody orders. While there are international laws and treaties that help protect parents from international parental child abduction by a former partner, preventing parental kidnapping is typically the better option.
There may be a host of other challenges present when preparing for a divorce that involves people from two different countries. Working with an attorney who has helped people navigate international divorces previously may lead to better outcomes for concerned spouses.
