Divorce, 2 year condition GC

[landa 1]

Hi guys, i have posted previously about my marriage problems. Here is the situation. it is getting worse and worse everyday. There are a few hurdles in the way. First, we have baby, second we have a house together, 3rd my GC will expire soon. Going to be applying in a month for 10 year gc. I was wondering what happens if we start the divorce procedure while i am waiting to be approved? I am thinking of leaving the house as it is very bad, but i am the primary cargegiver. I hear everyhone saying do not leave ore else you will lose seeing your daughter and the equity you hve on the house. IS that true? I have a disability so after the divorce i cannot afford to live in U.S but to move back to Canada. How will the visitation work? I understand i cannot take the baby out of country but only visit her. Once the kid is old enough can he come visit over summer after school? i am so lost i need help. thanks

[RICARDO4EVA2 194]

Hi guys, i have posted previously about my marriage problems. Here is the situation. it is getting worse and worse everyday. There are a few hurdles in the way. First, we have baby, second we have a house together, 3rd my GC will expire soon. Going to be applying in a month for 10 year gc. I was wondering what happens if we start the divorce procedure while i am waiting to be approved? I am thinking of leaving the house as it is very bad, but i am the primary cargegiver. I hear everyhone saying do not leave ore else you will lose seeing your daughter and the equity you hve on the house. IS that true? I have a disability so after the divorce i cannot afford to live in U.S but to move back to Canada. How will the visitation work? I understand i cannot take the baby out of country but only visit her. Once the kid is old enough can he come visit over summer after school? i am so lost i need help. thanks

Sorry to hear of the unfortunate and hope it turns in your favor.

I'm asking to know.. who is to say you cannot take the child with you to Canada..? if you accept the ROC back on the pretense of the marriage then that would not be good and could create problems in the future. The ROC are used for those who are not "just" married but are happily bonded. Many have success removed conditions by the burden of proof that the marriage was entered into with good faith.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Hi guys, i have posted previously about my marriage problems. Here is the situation. it is getting worse and worse everyday. There are a few hurdles in the way. First, we have baby, second we have a house together, 3rd my GC will expire soon. Going to be applying in a month for 10 year gc. I was wondering what happens if we start the divorce procedure while i am waiting to be approved? I am thinking of leaving the house as it is very bad, but i am the primary cargegiver. I hear everyhone saying do not leave ore else you will lose seeing your daughter and the equity you hve on the house. IS that true? I have a disability so after the divorce i cannot afford to live in U.S but to move back to Canada. How will the visitation work? I understand i cannot take the baby out of country but only visit her. Once the kid is old enough can he come visit over summer after school? i am so lost i need help. thanks

If you're planning on divorcing you should start the process now so that you can file ROC based on divorce. You will get an RFE for the divorce certificate and 60 days to get it (or something like that). if you don't get the certificate in time you'll go before an immigration judge who will give you an extension till the certificate IS available.

For the divorce you can apply for primary custody, though if you can't afford to stay in the US I don't know if they'll let you take the kid unless your spouse allows you.. unless you can prove you're the better caregiver. Another idea would be to get a visitation order that will benefit you. Certain periods, perhaps an extended period over the holidays etc. This is something you need to talk to your divorce lawyer about. Hopefully you have a good lawyer and your spouse is reasonable.

If you're planning on leaving the US why are you renewing the GC? I agree that you shouldn't leave though until divorce proceedings are complete for the custody and property reasons. It's not that you'll immediately lose by leaving, you want to be able to fight as well as you can and being in a different country makes it harder. If there's a friend or somehow for you to stay in the interim I would try that.

[Dakine10 5,452]

Hi guys, i have posted previously about my marriage problems. Here is the situation. it is getting worse and worse everyday. There are a few hurdles in the way. First, we have baby, second we have a house together, 3rd my GC will expire soon. Going to be applying in a month for 10 year gc. I was wondering what happens if we start the divorce procedure while i am waiting to be approved? I am thinking of leaving the house as it is very bad, but i am the primary cargegiver. I hear everyhone saying do not leave ore else you will lose seeing your daughter and the equity you hve on the house. IS that true? I have a disability so after the divorce i cannot afford to live in U.S but to move back to Canada. How will the visitation work? I understand i cannot take the baby out of country but only visit her. Once the kid is old enough can he come visit over summer after school? i am so lost i need help. thanks

Custody and visitation laws vary by state so be careful not to make any assumptions about custody or visitation. Find out exactly how it works in your state.

Where I live (Colorado), the court has a strong preference for shared custody. If one parent is leaving the state after divorce, the parents can present a custody arrangent to the court, or if not the court will decide on an arrangement based on the best interest of the child. The parent leaving the state does not automatically give up custody. For older children, the split is often school year with one parent and vacations/summer with the other.

The laws in your state will be different of course, but things in your favor are that you were the primary caregiver and the young age of your child may mean there is no obvious advantage to staying in the current location. (ie. for an older child the court may find it in the best interest not to disrupt existing school and social arrangements).

[Wis-Can 0]

Sorry to hear about whats happening. Divorce is never easy, especially with a child involved. Your spouse signed an affidavit of support for you. Maybe you have a friend you can stay with while you get things figured out. Do you want to stay? Prehaps both of you sitting down with a someone and discussing the options would help. Regardless of what has happen between you two, your child deserves to have both parents. It sounds like you entered into the marriage in good faith so you can file your ROC based on that. I think I would get that done and then at least you have the option of staying if you want to. Take care and all the best.

[landa 1]

Hey guys thanks for all the advice and suggestions. I don't get on here because i am too busy with the baby these days. If I leave the house before the divorce. ( I will not be able to stand her and be accused of domestic voilence or anything like that which will jeopardise everything). Does that mean i give up the right to my baby and the right to the house. will i lose both? I want custody of my child whatever it will be. I will ask for holidays, summer holidays. Will our house equity be split or i will lose that? I invested most of the money. I don't want to be broke, as I already will be, as i am disabled. thanks

[trillium13 84]

Hey guys thanks for all the advice and suggestions. I don't get on here because i am too busy with the baby these days. If I leave the house before the divorce. ( I will not be able to stand her and be accused of domestic voilence or anything like that which will jeopardise everything). Does that mean i give up the right to my baby and the right to the house. will i lose both? I want custody of my child whatever it will be. I will ask for holidays, summer holidays. Will our house equity be split or i will lose that? I invested most of the money. I don't want to be broke, as I already will be, as i am disabled. thanks

I think that those are questions for a divorce lawyer, those aren't really immigration issues.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Hey guys thanks for all the advice and suggestions. I don't get on here because i am too busy with the baby these days. If I leave the house before the divorce. ( I will not be able to stand her and be accused of domestic voilence or anything like that which will jeopardise everything). Does that mean i give up the right to my baby and the right to the house. will i lose both? I want custody of my child whatever it will be. I will ask for holidays, summer holidays. Will our house equity be split or i will lose that? I invested most of the money. I don't want to be broke, as I already will be, as i am disabled. thanks

Child custody is a matter of family law in the state where you live. Most states lean heavily in favor of joint custody unless there is a very strong reason to decide otherwise. Many states will permit international visitation as long as they are reasonably assured there is little risk of international child abduction. They are more inclined to agree to this when the non-resident parent lives in a country that is a signatory of the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction. The US and Canada have been bound by the Hague Convention since 1988. That improves the odds that an international custody arrangement could be made in your case. Of course, you need to discuss this with your divorce attorney.

Most states employ the concept of "marital assets" when it comes to property settlement during divorce. A marital asset is generally an asset that was acquired during the marriage. Income of both parties earned during the marriage is usually considered a joint asset, as is anything purchased with that income. If you purchased the home after you married then the court will likely split the equity between you. The courts usually prefer the parties to resolve these matters between themselves, and then present the court with a mutually agreed property settlement. If you can't come to an agreement, and end up resolving this during a divorce trial (usually NOT what you would prefer) then the courts have a tendency to simply cleave the marital property in half. In the case of real estate, this might require the forced sale of the property.

Something to keep in mind is that marital debts also have to be resolved in the property settlement. Sometimes you can get more of an asset you want to keep by agreeing to assume more of a debt than you are legally required to assume. You might also be able to use marital assets and debts as leverage in other areas of the divorce, including custody and visitation. This is one of the advantages of being able to negotiate the property settlement outside the courtroom. When you speak with your divorce attorney you should be sure to emphasize the areas that are important to you, and where you're willing to make concessions in order to get what you want.