Divorce after removal of restrictions (and child custody)

[NMEURO 0]

I am originally from France and was married to a US Citizen in July 2010. We had a daughter in 2011 born in Massachusetts. Things have been difficult and in the end, he was not willing to step up and take actions to ensure our family was taken care of: too focus on a job that he enjoys and was never home, had to beg for him to pick one activity a day with his daughter which he did not do consistently, and living in a house that was a training room, with no rooms, no bath, and no bedroom for our daughter. All this was supposed to be temporary, and 3 years into it nothing is changing. So i took steps to go back on a temporary basis to work in Canada (where I was living for 10 years before moving to the States) where I found work more easily than in the States. Situation turned for the worst. I ended filing for separate support as he changed the locks of the temporary housing we were at, closed all joined accounts. He got real mad so went ahead and filled for divorce.

I have a green card and its restrictions were lifted in 2013. With the divorce, he is forcing our daughter to be in Massachusetts where his job requires him to be at, hence me having to be there, since I refuse he has custody as he has not been able to take care of her since she was born. He mentioned his family could, which I am completely against.

Several questions:

- How will my status be affected? Does he have any leverage to withdraw my green card being my sponsor?

- The agreement for me being in Canada was that I would be here 6 months (in order to preserve my intention to reside in the States) and it is my intention, but MA does not have much work available in my field (work psychology). Am I at risk here because I was outside the US for 6 months?

- What are the risk of me loosing my daughter? I have been home for her first 2 years of life at home and sole care provider and she has been in daycare only since I have been in Canada for 5 months.

- Any other thing I should consider and/or be doing in order to ensure I can stay in the US, keep custody of my daughter, and eventually be able to go to different states where I can florish professionally...

THANK YOU in advance.

[Brian1967## 119]

Wow....Op. you have some very, very deep questions. The only advice is get a lawyer or conult one asap..this is really difficult situation. Call around your home town most lawyers do not charge for initial conseltation. And he cannot do anything to your green car. Sorry for troubles

[VanessaTony 3,567]

1. How will my status be affected? Does he have any leverage to withdraw my green card being my sponsor?

2. The agreement for me being in Canada was that I would be here 6 months (in order to preserve my intention to reside in the States) and it is my intention, but MA does not have much work available in my field (work psychology). Am I at risk here because I was outside the US for 6 months?

3. What are the risk of me loosing my daughter? I have been home for her first 2 years of life at home and sole care provider and she has been in daycare only since I have been in Canada for 5 months.

4. Any other thing I should consider and/or be doing in order to ensure I can stay in the US, keep custody of my daughter, and eventually be able to go to different states where I can florish professionally...

1. It won't. No

2. You are risking have your GC revoked. Being an LPR means "Legal PERMANENT RESIDENT". You are not a permanent resident of the US if you are living in another country.

3. The only risk is if your lose your GC, you cannot legally live in the US. Having a USC child gives no status so you will have no way to stay with your child.

4. Stop living in Canada. File for sole physical (joint legal) custody of your daughter and request permission to change states. A good lawyer could do this. You would want to negotiate how the child would see her father (you paying for her to visit or vice-versa).

As for your profession, you may need to decide between having custody of your child and a flourishing career. Doesn't mean your life will suck, but you may need to wait for now.

[NMEURO 0]

Thank you for both of your responses.

I have a temporary agreement for physical custody of my daughter as of Sept 13th, 2013 signed by me, her father and our 2 lawyers.

I am returning to the States this month as it was originally agreed with my future ex-husband which would make my stay in Canada less than 6 months, with a initial and constant intent of returning to MA....

I have been avoiding looking into getting an immigration lawyer as I need a family lawyer to ensure my daughter stays with me. I will follow up with her and see what are my options to move to another State eventually.

Thank you for the very direct and straight forward recommendations. I am taking them to heart!

Item 3 is what is worrying me the most!

Any other comments and suggestions are welcomed. Thanks again! :-)

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Item 3 is what is worrying me the most!

You have a 10 year GC. You can live in the US for the rest of your life as an LPR and your soon-to-be-ex-husband has no say over your status.

The only risk to you losing your GC is doing any of the things that risk having it revoked, which is basically failing to maintain your residence (there are guides online about that).

You are eligible for USC after 5 years of being an LPR. I would plan that as a goal. After that you can work wherever you want. Your daughter may not be able to move with you, but at least your status wouldn't be at risk. So, count 5 years from the "resident since" date on your GC and subtract 90 days. That is when you can apply to be a USC citizen. After you are, you can start focusing more on your profession because the ability to be with your daughter will never be a problem (immigration speaking).