Hiya guys, this is my first post here.

I am in a long term relationship with a US citizen and I am just starting a court battle with my Ex Husband as he wont allow me to take the kids over to the states.
Me and my partner are planning to marry and live in the states but right now things are not going easy for us.
Is there anyone else out there that has had to fight an ex in court for custody of the children and having them be allowed to go to the states without the other parents permission?
If so, i would really like to hear from you and what experiences you went through and what you needed to prove to the courts, how long the fight was and to help me prepare for what is going to happen to me and my children while this fight goes on.

Hope to hear from someone soon

Jane

Nothing is going to happen.

Probably something best discussed with your Divorce Lawyer.

You might try www.britishexpats.com, I have seen a few references to custody issues, either the USA forum of US Marriage forum.

Thanks Boiler, i went there and have a thread going now

My wife came as a fiance of a citizen in April but the father of her children would not allow to come. We finally were able to take to Colombian courts in June after the crazy courts went on strike!! Anyway, the final court decision will be next Tuesday and please pray for us that it goes well. What happened was basically that we had to get an attorney in the town in Colombia the children live (my wife's sister there did a lot of research and found a great attorney who teaches at the local University). He filed the papers in court and it was a big plus that there had been a "conciliation" hearing while she was still in Colombia whereby she asked legally for the father to allow the children to come with her. The court at this time did little to help but it was great for later hearings that we had at least tried directly with the father. The court hearings are long and drawn out but time is now here. I'd recommend someone do similar research in the town of the children for a good attorney and hire one locally there are there is tons of legwork necessary.

I had to go to court because my husband didn't want me to take our son to the US.

Essentially, the court will look at this from what they consider the child's point of view.

They assigned an officer from CAFCAS to assess our situation. The report formed the basis of the court case.

The process took well over a year to complete and cost me several thousand pounds.

Undergoing this kind of stress requires a lot of thought and certainty that you are doing the right thing, and even with that, it's not easy.

If the father of your child/children objects to the removal you cannot legally move to the US if you don't get permission from the court.

Best of luck.