Indian government scheme
help deserted wife to file case in US against NRI husbnand
Help at hand for estranged
Indian wives of NRI men
New Delhi, June 08, 2008
shubyat
IANS
Young Indian women who have followed their non-resident Indian
(NRI) husbands abroad sometimes find that a matrimonial dispute
can leave them without the wherewithal to contest a divorce case
or file for custody of their children. In some cases, the distressed
women are unable to fight for their rights because of some lacunae
in their immigration papers.
Anuradha, a mother of two children, who was divorced by her husband
while she was in India on a visit, has not seen her son for the
past three years. After a lot of effort and heartache, Anuradha
has finally been able to file a suit for custody of her son and
has now been called to make a personal appearance in the American
court. Anuradha is fortunate to be one of the first beneficiaries
of an Indian government scheme to provide distressed Indian women
the means to prepare legal documents and file a legal case.
Anuradha did not have the resources to look for a lawyer in America
to file a case for her. She was also debarred from going to the
US because of visa complications, but eventually last year she managed
to get in touch with SevA Legal Aid Foundation, a US-based legal
assistance agency. The Indian government scheme gives the initial
money required to file a case and to prepare the legal documents.
Anuradha's case is coming up for hearing later this month. According
to Anu Peshawaria of SevA, Anuradha has also filed for a waiver
of the illegality of her visa status in the United States and is
likely to be able to leave for San Francisco shortly for her court
appearance.
Anuradha had lived with her husband in San Francisco on the basis
of his permanent resident's visa, but her husband had never initiated
the process of getting Anuradha's visa status regularised. It is
the husband's responsibility as the permanent resident to file the
application for permanent residency for his dependent wife. He,
however, sent Anuradha back to India with their daughter, while
their son stayed on with the father. During this period Anuradha's
husband obtained an ex parte divorce from a Californian court and
she was effectively prevented from going back to America since she
did not have a resident's visa. The husband and his parents, who
lived with him in San Francisco, kept the young boy while the husband
cut himself off from his daughter in India. Living in Delhi, Anuradha
had no means to file for alimony or child support and custody of
her young son. After filing the case in San Francisco court, Peshawaria
came to know that Anuradha's husband had re-married and had divorced
his second wife Sheetal. Sheetal, an NRI who lives in London, has
since filed a case against her former husband.
The Indian government scheme for giving legal or financial assistance
to women deserted by their overseas Indian spouses is available
for Indian citizens whose marriage was solemnised in India. It would
be available in instances where the spouse has filed for divorce
within five years of marriage or obtained an ex-parte divorce within
10 years of the marriage. The assistance is meant to meet the initial
cost and incidental charges for documentation and filing of the
case and is to be paid to NGOs or other associations empanelled
on a list maintained by the government or the embassy. The government
would provide a sum up to $1,000 which can be made available for
deserted women living in India or abroad through credible women's
organisations and NGOs, which could provide the legal assistance.
Women's associations and NGOs have been taking up the cases of
women deserted or maltreated by their husbands while living abroad.
But the case of a woman who is in India while proceedings for a
divorce and child custody case are being held in a court in another
country is even more distressing since there is no remedy available
in Indian courts and the woman is not in a position to file a case
in some other country.
She is also not in a position to get information about her husband
if he moves to a new city or shifts to a new home. The legal aid
agency SevA was set up by Peshawaria to provide free legal services
for those in need, on matters pertaining to immigration issue and
Indian matrimonial law.
Lack of information and plain ignorance of the simple steps taken
to regularise their residency status in the US have often led to
situations where immigrants find themselves on the wrong side of
the immigration laws. As Peshawaria explained, a large number of
people are not aware of their rights as immigrants in the US. Anuradha
relied on her husband to handle all the documentation and later
found herself in a situation where her son was taken away from her.
She can now hope to see her son and expect some respite from the
court in America.
(Shubha Singh is a writer on the Indian diaspora and international
affairs. She can be reached at shubyat@gmail.com)
|