Step-Daughter And Custody

[mander71]

Hello All,

This is my first post here, but I have been a lurker for quite some time. Here is my questions for the masses that may have some experience with family matters.

Several years ago( 7 I think) my Thai wife divorce her Thai husband and at the time gave up her Parental Rights. Now back to the future. My Thai wife and I have been married for almost a year now( dated for another 3) and we are wanting her daughter(who is now 12) to come and live with us in the USA. Now the easiest way for her to get the VISA would be for my wife to have some sort of custody(joint or full). Her ex-husband is agreeable to this, but from the preliminary trip to a lawyer it sounds like this would take a very long time to accomplish. If anyone else has been through something similar I would appreciate any advice .

M. Anderson

[MikeyIdea]

First question is if the wife was legally married to the father or not. If she was: was removal of custody registered at the back of the divorce agreement? She can check and ask for P.K.11 (por kor 11 - states shared custody). If she can get that, then she can legally prove that she has shared custody actually, just get certified translation and over to ministry of foreign affairs consular affairs section and get translation certified there and American Embassy should have no problem accepting that she has shared custody. Sounds from what you write that parental rights are formally removed and legally registered though

If divorce and removal of custody is legally registered at the amphur, then I believe she would have to go go court to change that, don't think that father, child and mother can reverse it without going to court - please ask the lawyer or why not just ask the mother to go down to the amphur and ask. All three would surely have to agree at amphur (child too) but it's probably not enough anyway - not sure

I don't know about your specific case but - I don't think it's difficult to get the removal of parental rights reversed in court if all three parties agree. It is easy to motivate that it is good for the child and it should go through easily if father, child and mother all agree. Waiting time to Juvenile court in Bangkok area is about 2 months to first fact finding session, final decision if all agree should be in less than 4 months

Very long time to accomplish? No, I don't think so, if all including the child agree that is

[mkawish]

The part on Thailand could be accomplished without too much difficulty, I suppose.

However the other part of getting the youngster to live in the U.S. could be a long waiting.

The waiting time at the Bkk embassy could be very discouraging for anyone, except for the atty--the longer, the harder--the better. LOL

Wish you the best of luck. Perhaps, it is best to employ a local immigration atty team to represent you.

There is a very good women-men, Thai-American atty team specializing in immigration matters that might be best for you.

But you would have to do a little searching yourself. Sorry, I am not allowed to say which atty team. Otherwise, wishing you the best.

First question is if the wife was legally married to the father or not. If she was: was removal of custody registered at the back of the divorce agreement? She can check and ask for P.K.11 (por kor 11 - states shared custody). If she can get that, then she can legally prove that she has shared custody actually, just get certified translation and over to ministry of foreign affairs consular affairs section and get translation certified there and American Embassy should have no problem accepting that she has shared custody. Sounds from what you write that parental rights are formally removed and legally registered though

If divorce and removal of custody is legally registered at the amphur, then I believe she would have to go go court to change that, don't think that father, child and mother can reverse it without going to court - please ask the lawyer or why not just ask the mother to go down to the amphur and ask. All three would surely have to agree at amphur (child too) but it's probably not enough anyway - not sure

I don't know about your specific case but - I don't think it's difficult to get the removal of parental rights reversed in court if all three parties agree. It is easy to motivate that it is good for the child and it should go through easily if father, child and mother all agree. Waiting time to Juvenile court in Bangkok area is about 2 months to first fact finding session, final decision if all agree should be in less than 4 months

Very long time to accomplish? No, I don't think so, if all including the child agree that is

[SNGLIFE]

Getting her custody again should be as easy as a trip by all parties down to the amphur and wrapped up in a visit or two. No need for a lawyer if all are agreeable. After she has custody, get the passport. After you have the passport, it should be easy to get the daughter over to the States under the mother's visa (yes, the daughter would be issued her own visa, but it would be pretty much automatic if the mother already has hers and is living in the States).

Good luck!