Disclaimer: This article does not constitute legal advice. If you have any questions about your individual situation it is best to seek the advice of an experienced legal professional.
The pandemic inevitably holds us back from making some of the most difficult decisions. It can complicate those decisions, introduce new risks and unfortunately, block the exits. For people who are dependent in some way on their spouse’s immigration status, these realities can be even more testing. Homesickness is much worse when you can’t get back to see the ones you love. You may have elderly parents at home who could get sick. For some people, these factors are the final straw in a marriage. For others, their path to a new life in the US is no longer certain now that their divorce stands in the way of their secure legal status.
Experience with International Divorce
At Boileau Conflict Solutions we frequently work with foreign nationals and their spouses. Sometimes a spouse or a couple may have come to the US on work visas to work in the tech or biotech industry. We have mediated many diverse situations in which marriage brings together nationalities or international child custody considerations. We understand that decisions involving immigration and travel are often life changing and need to be negotiated with the utmost care. Families and couples may be facing particular upheavals in a time when many jobs attached to immigration status are at risk. Working with these uncertainties can be challenging, but mediation gives spouses ownership over their divorce so they don’t have to accept the legal realities alone. In the mediation room, or social distanced “zoom room” you can make contingency plans, explore outcomes and base your plans on realistic immigration and re-opening timelines.
If your divorce is entangled with immigration issues you may be facing any of the following problems:
- You married abroad and have to wait for residency requirements to kick in before filing for divorce in the US. Getting back to your home country may be particularly disruptive with current travel restrictions.
- Your status or your spouse’s status in the US is conditional and based on a work visa that may be in jeopardy due to economic instability
- Your spouse may be using immigration status as leverage over you, causing power imbalances and conflict
- You want to get a divorce after a short marriage, but need to postpone your divorce because your marriage allows you to apply for permanent residence or other immigration opportunities
- You can’t divorce on your preferred timeline because of delayed immigration processing and delayed court schedules and you need help managing the situation amicably
- There is a dispute over where your children should live
- The realities of covid-19, including being separated from friends and elderly parents may have caused you to consider going back to your country of origin
All of these are pressing realities that can seriously affect your future destiny and economic wellbeing. At Boileau Conflict Solutions we support negotiatians using both technical and emotional frameworks. Mathematical tools like game theory help you clarify your common interest, while our psychoanalytical expertise helps you access your true motivations. We are also certified financial experts who can help you make the best decisions about how to maximize the community property in the current economic climate.
Who We Are and How We Can Help
We are caring, well-educated mediators who are skilled in applied financial mathematics, the law psychoanalysis, and game theory. We strive to efficiently comprehend your situation and its opportunities for sustainable and agreeable resolution. This may include a review of your parenting plan, spousal support calculations, community property equalization, settlement agreement, and all other aspects of your case. We can either confidentially present you with a private analysis, or mediate the conflict with both of you until resolved. Any resolution you come to will be informed by a deeper analysis of the conflict that can be psychoanalytic and/or more financially-focused. Conflict analysis can result in a more optimized understanding of the net community property, which adds value to the overall estate, benefiting you both. If you are struggling in your marriage but don’t want to get divorced, we offer marital mediation that helps you resolve conflicts over a variety of issues from parenting, sexuality, finances, careers, family, spirituality, and more. Marital mediation is goal oriented, time limited, and practical, and often results in clearly written agreements that are private, but can also be drafted as postnuptial agreements with legal significance if needed. The sooner you can resolve your conflict, the sooner you can begin to craft a sustainable future for you and your children. We work with individuals from several cultures and countries, and can help with national and international relocation issues associated with divorce. Our safe, socially distanced mediations can be facilitated by Telephone, Zoom, Facetime and other videoconferencing tools. We are available 7 days a week and at urgent notice. Please contact us to see how we can help.
Read more: