The Russian court practice shows that the chances of custody being awarded to the father are very few unless there are very strong reasons like the mother’s immorality or addiction to alcohol or drugs.

According to the Russian Laws departure from Russia under K-1 or K-3 US visas is not considered departure for the purpose of permanent residence abroad and doesn’t require any special permission. In order to leave Russia, irrespective of the purpose of the trip, the mother and the child shall have a passport and a visa. Accordingly, you shall contact the US Consulate (Embassy) in order to find out which documents are required to apply for a visa for the child. As far as I know from my clients’ experience, many mothers leave for the USA without informing their ex-husbands about their departure. I should also mention that according to the Russian Laws a child’s departure from Russia together with the mother or the father is not a criminally punishable act or a breach of law. If Anastasia obtains a US visa for her and the child, her departure from Russia will be lawful provided that there is no court decision according to which custody is awarded to the father.

As a general rule, custody and visitation matters are not settled along with the dissolution of marriage unless the plaintiff or the respondent request so. If Anastasia wants to settled the custody matter along with the divorce, she can do it. There is no need to mention that she is planning to leave for the USA during the divorce proceedings as her husband may start obstructing her leaving. Usually the court awards custody to the mother and grants the father a right to meet the child and take part in the child’s upbringing. The court will not take the initiative in establishing the visitation procedure, the father shall file a separate claim to establish such procedure.

As I have mentioned above, the court will not take the initiative in establishing the visitation procedure, the father shall file a separate claim to establish such procedure. We may not know what the father’s claims will be. The court may award meetings once a week, once a month or twice a year. Later, after the mother’s and the child’s departure from Russia, the mother may file a claim for change of the visitation procedure due to temporary residing abroad.

In such case the visitation procedure will be changed by request of any rent.

He will not be notified about the mother’s attempt to remove the child from the country. Whether the child may be removed from the country or not will be decided by a court in case the father files a protest to the border control authorities before the child crosses the state border.

I cannot help her in obtaining a US visa but I may help her in obtaining a court order regarding the child’s custody if such order is required for the purpose if obtaining a US visa. If the visa can be obtained without the court order I would advise her to obtain the visa and leave the country without informing the ex-husband about that. If he takes legal action later it will be easier for you fiancée to protect herself when she is outside the Russian Federation because her ex-husband will not be able to threaten her by prohibition of departure from Russia.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me. I’ll be happy to answer them.