Who Gets Parental Rights?

[DoctorP]

Wife is Japanese, husband is a foreigner but living here on a marriage visa. He has a resident alien card and works full time. The question is: If they get a divorce, who has rights to the child? I know that if he did not have residency then he would have no rights, but how about now?

Also, he would have to take steps to change his visa too right?

Any help would be appreciated.

[yukio_michael]

As far as I know the wife can abscond with the children and the husband will have absolutely no rights whatsoever... this may even be true of nihonjin.

http://www.international-divorce.com/d-japan.htm

[DoctorP]

Thanks for that link, but it still leaves things a little vague. It would seem as I read those pages, that the parent that is the Nihongin retains rights to the child. This contradicts what my friend (who teaches law in Japan) is telling me. I am not saying that he is right, I am however looking for facts to back up his claim.

[ArmandV]

Maybe consulting with a Japanese divorce attorney is the wisest thing to do.

[DoctorP]

that is in the works...just thought I would search for answers here as well. This is not for me, but the wife and child are staying with us right now until things are worked out.

[ArmandV]

Maybe the foreign husband ought to check with the embassy of his home country as well. They may be able to help.

[Ewok85]

http://metropolis.japantoday.com/tokyo/618/feature.asp

Read this first. Theres alot of factors involved in deciding who gets custody, mainly by what the courts decide is best for the children. But there is a serious bias against the foreign parent in international couples, with the custody going almost always to the Japanese parent irregardless of what really is best for the child/ren.

http://www.crnjapan.com/custody/en/

[Mars Man]

Interesting that this has come up since I had pulled one slightly old write-up on this matter from THE DAIILY YOMIURI that I have in my collection, and had intended to use info from it in the 'Divorce' thread.

I had planned on posting that last night, but didn't get around to it and, unfortunately, do not have that page with me at the office. I'll have to wait until I get home tonight. The article was exactly about cases of especially Japanese women married to non-Japanese men who, in/after divorce practically adbucted the children. The Japanese governement has not signed the Geneva something something, so foreign courts/governments have no control.

There is a site given that is said to have more than 100 (I'll give the exact number later) names--mostly men--who are trying to get some way to at least get visitation rights. There was one case reported on where after some great length of time and court battling, one Chinese-American man got the Japanese version of visitation rights--once a year. (and the article went on to say that the ex-wife filed claiming that was even too much.)

In short, in Japan, the Japanese national gets the heavy, upper-hand in child custody. For that very reason, when my first marriage went down the tubes, I didn't make any effort at all--regardless of how cold it may have seemed to those on the American side who didn't understand cultural norms here--to get custody or visitation rights at all. I met my biological daughter when she became curious at 20, and the mother seemed to have said, "OK, you're old enough now to do what you want."

I'll get back tonight !! MM

[Ewok85]

The Japanese governement has not signed the Geneva something something, so foreign courts/governments have no control.

"1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction"

Say the couple is living outside of Japan and break up. Means that if a court in say Australia, America, Canada, etc rule that the foreign parent gets custody, the Japanese parent can illegally abduct the children and go to Japan, where a Japanese court will ignore the original custody order and give the Japanese parent custody (which is IMO a null ruling).

[Mars Man]

Thanks !! THat's it, I'm sure, because that article had such a case, where one husband was just who had custody rights in the US was just being kind and fair in letting his ex take the two kids to Japan to visit their grandmother, yet who never came back again; poor guy.

[nurizeko]

This just seems to tell me that in the un-thinkable case and i got custody, i would never leave my kids alone with her....

I didnt know CC1 you were having a divorce :S.....best of luck dude, Japan isnt a father-friendly place, but stick in there. :souka:

[DoctorP]

As I stated before...it is not for me. And as you would be able to see from previous threads where this was discussed, I am usually for joint guardianship of the children. In this case however I am really hoping that what I have heard of Japanese law is correct.

The father in this case has serious problems coping with reality. His health and mental health have been in decline since I first met him. I didn't particularly care for him when we first met, but I have always been civil. Add to the equation that his family back home has an abundance of money, and I just see bad things happening to his child if he won custody.

I appreciate everyones input thus far.

[Ewok85]

If were talking about a Japanese mother and foreign father, I think the mum is in the safe. Joint custody doesnt exist within the Japanese legal system too.

[Mars Man]

Well, I couldn't get on line last night. And my eyes are shot now, but one of the sites talked about in that article is the second one given by Ewok85 in post #7. It was started by one Mark Smith who was a softeware engineer by trade and used his time and money in that way rather than years of costly court battles, to help out others like himself who had become 'left-behind dads'.

Another site is www.crcjapan.com

It is a more broad ranging, Children's Rights Council site. What the article tells us is what has been said so far, basically, so I'll leave it at that. One interesting thing more is that the National Center for Missing and Exploted Children in Virginia (an non-profit US organization that works to retrieve abducted children) has 22 active cases (as of Dec. 3, 2005) on its books involving abductions to Japan. (according to the International Division Director, Julia Alanen.)

I understand CC1 san that the guy could be bad in the long run for the kids. In that case the wife (assuming she's Japanese) will have no trouble, as Ewok85 pointed out. I wish the best for those in the right !!

[DoctorP]

thanks for the input Mars Man. From what I have read so far, she will not have problems obtaining custody. He is not a bad person, but he does have a few problems that I feel would not make him the best choice for sole custody.

[JimmySeal]

Japanese divorce sounds like so many levels of hell, for anybody. This was posted on another message board today:

http://www2.gol.com/users/coynerhm/divorce_japanese_style.htm

[budd]

this is why i was asking those pointed questions in the other thread... thanks to those who already posted all of the info
nothing for me to do now but agree. peace out