advice sought for divorce

[b236789]

Hello, I am an American, and my wife and I are separated and getting a divorce. We have one son, and we have some property financed. Right now, I give her a third of my salary to pay the bank and for her expenses and to put toward our son. She is asking for 100% custody and to give me complete rights to see him anytime and to spend time with him. I also have rights to take him back to the USA every year for a month.

I have been staying in Taiwan through my marriage instead of the NGO that I work for, and for which it is doubt I can get a work permit. Now that the ARC will be canceled, how can assure my stay in Taiwan through my son? he is the main reason why I must stay here. Also, should I get part custody, as in does the above tentative agreement secure my rights to see him and spend father-and-son time with him, at times with his mother at times not? If she gets remarried or moves, how can I assure my rights to him?

Any legal advice or advice from those who have been through similar circumstances is welcome.

B

[bobl]

Hold off on the divorce until after you renew your ARC.
Being that there is a kid involved, they will let most likely let you remain until your current ARC expires.

Are you on a one or three year ARC?
Usually, they will give you a three year one after your first one year one.

Try not to piss off the wife too much, lest she go complain to the FAP.
If their are no complaints on you, this can work in your favor in them letting you stay.

[b236789]

I was offered to get a permanant residency, but instead I just got three years on my ARC. It expires this coming October 25, which would be more than enough time for me to change from the NGO to teaching at a university (by then my master's from London will be notarized and I'll be able to receive a work permit and full-time from the one I work at part-time right now). That is of course assuming that the government let me stay due to my child. Are there any custody requirements (like percentages) or official statements of child support for this benefit?

What about rights? she is not too pissed off right now, but she does get really pissed every so often. We agree, more or less, on the terms, but I want to make sure that those terms can assure that no one can prevent me from seeing my son, or even move his residency without my consent. If she gets 100%, does that put me at her mercy? honestly, I'm sick of being gripped by the balls (not gently), and I just want us to move on, more or less free from each other's power games.

Thank you for your help, by the way. I'm still researching this as she needs this divorce soon, sooner than I could get an "ideal" job here (though I am certainly not above raking it in by teaching kindergarten for a while).

[bobl]

As far as rights, I guess any agreement you make with her about the kid's, and if the court approves, I guess you could call that rights. The court would hold you both to it.
But as far as the JRFV and the FAP (now immigration), you have no "rights". You are at their mercy. After you divorce, they may ask you to leave in 14 days, that is their right. However, most that I know off have been offered to stay until their ARC expires.

If you have enough time here, you could still apply for the PARC, and probably get it. I believe Mr. He and a few others on this site have done that.

Maybe you could PM Hartzell for some advice.

As it is now, if your very nice to the immigration people, you could stay until your ARC expires in Oct.

[bismarck]

Hello, I am an American, and my wife and I are separated and getting a divorce. We have one son, and we have some property financed. Right now, I give her a third of my salary to pay the bank and for her expenses and to put toward our son. She is asking for 100% custody and to give me complete rights to see him anytime and to spend time with him. I also have rights to take him back to the USA every year for a month.

I have been staying in Taiwan through my marriage instead of the NGO that I work for, and for which it is doubt I can get a work permit. Now that the ARC will be canceled, how can assure my stay in Taiwan through my son? he is the main reason why I must stay here. Also, should I get part custody, as in does the above tentative agreement secure my rights to see him and spend father-and-son time with him, at times with his mother at times not? If she gets remarried or moves, how can I assure my rights to him?

Any legal advice or advice from those who have been through similar circumstances is welcome.

B

I may be finding myself in the same situation as you. But I don't have a JSRV, I remained on my work related ARC all the time (time just passed and I haven't gotten around to it yet).
This site: http://iff.immigration.gov.tw/enfront/homefolk.php has some useful information.

And here, it seems that having a child is reason enough to gain residence.
http://iff.immigration.gov.tw/enfront/f ... d=9&id=460
I got that link from here: http://iff.immigration.gov.tw/enfront/f ... d=9&id=460

And I quote:
The foreign spouse who is divorced losses the reason for residence, therefore, he/she may not reside any more in principle, but for the sake of taking care of child (children), he/she may be allowed to continue to reside based on the reason of "other need for residence".

But I have found that the reality and the English translation on Taiwanese government websites are often quite different. But if you have a kid, your options look good. Take a walk down to your local FAP and have a chat with someone there. They're usually quite helpful.

[Mr He]

I would explore the APRC first, and not mention the divorce.

[Feiren]

[quote="b236789"] She is asking for 100% custody and to give me complete rights to see him anytime and to spend time with him. I also have rights to take him back to the USA every year for a month.
/quote]

I would be very careful about this. If she has full custody, she will be able to deny you rights to visit your child and to take your child out of the country. Exit control will require written permission from the custodial parent each time. Your agreement will probably be ineffective unless you can get a court to enforce it--i.e. order her to allow you to take the child out of the country each time. And I wouldn't count on getting this order. With custody, she makes all medical decisions, school decisions etc. And you can't get joint custody back without her permission.

If things get nasty, you will have to go to court to get visitation rights. My understanding is that you will get a weekend every other week.

In other words, with 100% custody, you are putting all these 'rights' at her discretion.

[Mr He]

I would insist on joint custody, unless you hate your kids.

Use all the leverage you can muster to get at least this.

[Mr He]

Thank you for your help, by the way. I'm still researching this as she needs this divorce soon, sooner than I could get an "ideal" job here (though I am certainly not above raking it in by teaching kindergarten for a while).

Why would she need a divorce fast?