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International Child Custody Disputes
For parents involved in a child custody dispute, there are limits
on the assistance that U.S. authorities can provide. In cases
where an American child is abducted overseas by a parent, the
U.S. Governments role is confined to helping the remaining parent
locate the child, monitoring the childs welfare, and providing
general information about child custody laws and procedures in
the country where the abduction took place. Consular officers
overseas can issue a U.S. passport to a child involved in a custody
dispute if the child appears in person at the U.S. embassy or
consulate and there is no court order issued by the foreign court
of that country which bars the childs departure from the country.
U.S. consuls cannot take custody of a child, force the child's
return to the United States, or attempt to influence child custody
proceedings in foreign courts. If the parents cannot work out
an amicable settlement of a child custody dispute, the only recourse
is usually court action in the country where the child is residing.
A custody decree originating in the United States is not automatically
recognized overseas. On the contrary, foreign courts will decide
custody in accordance with the laws of that country. If you are
involved in a custody dispute, you will need to obtain a foreign
attorney to represent you in court. You can obtain a list of such
attorneys from the U.S. embassy or consulate in the country where
your child has been taken.
Parents who are involved in a custody battle overseas should
find out whether the country you are in is a party to the Hague
Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.
Under the Hague Convention, a child who has been wrongfully removed
may be returned to his or her place of habitual residence. For
further information on the Hague Convention contact the Office
of Children's Issues in Overseas Citizens Services. That office
also has copies of the booklet International Parental Child Abduction
which contains helpful information on what U.S. citizen parents
can do to prevent their child from becoming a victim of parental
child abduction. If you are overseas and would like information
on this subject, contact the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate
for guidance.
PRECAUTIONS
Safeguarding Your Passport
Your passport is a valuable document which should be carefully
safeguarded. When living overseas, the Department of State recommends
that you keep your passport at home in a safe, secure place. Although
a passport kept at an available storage facility outside the home
might offer maximum security, keep in mind that an emergency requiring
immediate travel may make it difficult or impossible to obtain
your passport before departure. In such a case, it may not be
possible to obtain a replacement or temporary passport in time
to make the intended travel.
Loss or Theft of a U.S. Passport
If your passport is lost or stolen abroad, report the loss immediately
to the nearest foreign service post and to local police authorities.
If you can provide the consular officer with the information in
the old passport, it will facilitate issuance of a new passport.
Therefore, you should photocopy the data page of your passport
and keep it in a separate place for easy retrieval.
Passport Fraud
Multiple and fraudulent U.S. passports are used in many types
of criminal activity, including illegal entry into the United
States. In processing lost passport cases, the Department of State
must take special precautions that may delay the issuance of a
new passport. If you suspect a U.S. passport is being used fraudulently,
do not hesitate to contact the nearest passport agency in the
United States or American embassy or consulate overseas.
CITIZENSHIP AND NATIONALITY
U.S. Citizenship and Residence Abroad
U.S. citizens who take up residence abroad or who are contemplating
doing so frequently ask whether this will have any effect on their
citizenship. Residence abroad, in and of itself, has no effect
on U.S. citizenship and there is no requirement of U.S. law that
a person who is a naturalized U.S. citizen must return to the
United States periodically to preserve his or her U.S. citizenship.
Contact the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate if you have any
questions about nationality.
Acquisition and Loss of Citizenship
U.S. citizenship may be acquired by birth in the United States
or by birth abroad to a U.S. citizen parent or parents. However,
there are certain residency or physical presence requirements
that U.S. citizens may need to fulfill before the child's birth
in order to transmit citizenship to their child born overseas.
A child born abroad in wedlock to one citizen parent and one alien
parent acquires U.S. citizenship only if the citizen parent was
physically present in the United States for 5 years prior to the
child's birth, at least 2 years of which were after the age of
14. Living abroad in military service or U.S. Government employment,
or as an unmarried dependent in the household of someone so employed,
can be considered as presence in the United States. A child born
out of wedlock to a U.S. citizen mother acquires U.S. citizenship
if the mother was physically present in the United States for
1 continuous year prior to the child's birth. A child born out
of wedlock to a U.S. citizen father must establish a legal relationship
to the father before age 18 or be legitimated before reaching
age 21, depending on the date of birth, if he/she is to acquire
U.S. citizenship through the father. For further information on
these legal requirements, consult the nearest U.S. embassy or
consulate. Citizenship may also be acquired subsequent to birth
through the process of naturalization. (For more information,
contact the Immigration and Naturalization Service at 1-800-755-0777.)
Loss of citizenship can occur only as the result of a citizen
voluntarily performing an act of expatriation as set forth in
the Immigration and Nationality Act with the intent to relinquish
citizenship. Such acts most frequently performed include the following:
- Naturalization in a foreign state;
- Taking an oath or making an affirmation of allegiance to a
foreign state;
- Service in the armed forces of a foreign state;
- Employment with a foreign government; or
- Taking a formal oath of renunciation of allegiance before
a U.S. consular or diplomatic officer.
If you have any question about any aspect of loss of nationality,
contact the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate or the Office of
Overseas Citizens Services, Bureau of Consular Affairs, Room 4811,
Department of State, Washington, D.C. 20520.
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