Partnees ex wants to take child to America to live.

She will probably win, unless he is prepared to take full residency

Yes and no.

If she gets the child out there on a tourist visa and he doesn’t see his child for several months then it’ll strengthen her case that it doesn’t harm her to not see him. She’ll have successfully obliterated the relationship he’s relying on as the reason to refuse the move.

He should definitely stop the passport

Not necessarily true. Contrary to numerous posts on this thread, it isn't exactly difficult to get a visa when it's family based immigration.

Firstly, what rules has Trump changed exactly? Or just jumping on the bandwagon?
For Consular Processing there has been no change to the process at all.
The only minor thing to happen was Trump removing the requirement to have had a Covid jab within 12 months of the medical exam (winner, that saved £90).

She has potentially 2 realistic legal avenues and one not so legal avenue.
First option is if they get engaged, they go through the K1 (Fiance) visa. Takes around 6-9 months to process and as long as they can prove they have met at least once in person, then pending any criminal issues, it'll most likely be approved. She can move, get married within 90 days and then adjust status.
Second option is the spousal visa through consular processing. Probably about 18.5-19 months in total (14.5 for I-130 approval and another 4-4.5 for NVC/Medical/interview). Again, unless any significant criminal history then it'll get approved.

Third, not so legal option is travel on an Esta, overstay, get married and adjust status. Technically, although it is immigration fraud and illegal, an overstay is forgiven when married to a US citizen.

However, the wild card option is employment based. If she is a nurse, then it is possible. They are crying out for nurses here and to the point where job adverts are encouraging overseas applications and that they'll cover all immigration costs.
Chances are they'd do the H1B visa first to get the nurse in the job (2-8 months processing time or 15 days if using premium) and then turn it permanent with the I-140 after being there in the job.

Presumably, a boyfriend she's just met isn't going to pay for her upkeep!

@Tornad Exactly. The OP's partner has some time on his side, because his ex can't just go over and do the paperwork there.

I have a fairly silly acquaintance who was a teacher, quit her job to move to the US with a man she’d met four months prior.

She assumed she could just work as a teacher there and sort out her working visa whilst staying there on a tourist visa. She moved out there last year only to discover that moving there on a “tourist visa” is considered visa fraud and you can’t apply for a long-term visa whilst in the country.

She’s now back in the UK trying to sort a long-term visa, having sold her house and dragged her children back and forth. But she’s not that likely to get a visa because she violated the terms of her tourist visa (because she wasn’t a tourist).

People just don’t seem to think these things through.

@cherish123 There's something called a finance visa whereby her partner can sponsor her by proving that he has sufficient income to support her (and her DD if she comes). They'd also need to get married within a certain timeframe. She'll need to go through the background and medical checks as others have said and if either of them has medical conditions, her partner may need to prove that he can cover all related costs, i.e. that she won't be a burden on the public purse. It'll take several months to get her visa approved.

I don’t see how you don’t see the issue. The problem isn’t the ex having a new partner, it’s the ex wanting to move to a different continent and take their joint child away from a loving, involved parent (along with everything she knows).

The new partner is completely irrelevant. It’d be the same if she moved there for the scenery, to try and be a movie star or because she likes cowboy hats.

The dad’s behaviour isn’t selfish because he isn’t threatening to take their joint child to another continent. Is this not incredibly obvious?

He needs to put a block on the child's passport to stop her leaving before the court date... its quite easy to do by contacting the passport office and will hopefully block any entry to the US if she is flagged as a child at risk.

Would she not need a job offer to be allowed to move there?

There was a poster on here some years back who wanted to move abroad with her child - it was somewhere in Europe.

She slagged the dad off like anything on here, the new wife, etc etc and swore she’d be moving abroad with said child to be with her partner who,, to be fair, was an established relationship. Wedding was booked and everything.

The courts found in his favour and she moved without the child, and suddenly the father was the best father ever and the child was going to be looked after.

It’s unlikely the courts will grant permission for the child to be moved abroad like that. In fact they’ve started to be harder even on parents wanting to move further away in the UK let alone abroad.

TBH I understand re the 50/50 access. Plenty of posters on here who criticise 50/50 so let’s not pretend that seeing the child every weekend instead of one week on one week off isn’t something which most posters on here don’t agree with.

Your partner is doing the right things and as others have said, the process takes ages anyway. My DH is American, and we moved over with the children so no issues with consent or visas for them. Even then, it was a real faff to get my visa, it took months, so he went ahead and started his new job while I waited until it came through.

In the present climate, I think it'll take even longer. Would she even be eligible for a visa?

Legal aid is not available for cases like this unless there is evidence of domestic violence.

The child never talks to the judge. As the child is only 8, what she wants will only be a minor consideration in determining the case and may well be completely ignored.

Your dh could apply for legal aid for the dd and tgere could be a hearing where thechild could talk to the judge and the Judge could deicide if the child wanted to stay with her df in her usual familiar surroundings.

Correct. It would be most unusual for an 8 year old's wishes would be taken into consideration

As the daughter is 8, her wishes and feelings will be considered but are unlikely to carry much weight. And there is, of course, no guarantee that moving to the USE would provide a better life, housing, etc.

This and file it an as emergency order to stop it.

can’t happen without a court.

What does the daughter want. If its a better life housing and everything then most likely will be approved.

He needs to make sure he’s clear in his argument that the reason he accepted the change was because discussion was that was in the child’s best interest.

This. She will almost definitely have to marry her boyfriend first, in order to even start the steps towards obtaining a spousal visa. Then he has to prove he earns enough to support her and her child in the USA. The process is long and complicated - takes at least 18 months, involving medicals and multiple trips to the US embassy in London - and that was before Trump stepped in and changed the rules!

Unless the father agrees to the move, the mother needs to issue a "Leave to Remove" application in the family court. I was a family lawyer with experience in these. If she takes without the father's permission, this is considered abduction in the eyes of the family court and the mother could be arrested upon return to the UK. Leave to Remove cases are difficult but not impossible to be successful. A stable family unit with the new partner would be to her advantage compared to her just wanting to move alone. Parent applying has to show it's in the child's best interests to move. Mother has to build a very strong case including a plan for how relationship with parent left behind will be encouraged. Essentially the pros to the child must outweigh the cons of uprooting. At 8 years, the child is likely to be on the cusp of where the court will give much weight to their views but a court appointed social worker would spend time with the parents and child and would make a recommendation which the judge will take into account along with evidence from the parents. Suggest to see a good mediator.

As others have said, he needs to apply for a prohibited steps order to stop his daughter being taken out of the country. Technically he doesn't need one if he has PR as his ex cannot take his daughter out of the country without his consent, but having a PSO emphasises this.

I would be very surprised if she gets an order for the child to live with her full time. Given the history, he stands a better chance of getting an order returning it to 50/50 than she has of getting the order she wants.

Regarding moving to the USA, the courts will consider what is in his daughter's best interests. A move that leaves her with no contact with her father will not be acceptable. At a minimum, before allowing your partner's ex to move to the USA with her the courts would want to be happy that the move has been thought through properly, including arrangements for ongoing contact .

Your partner needs to see a lawyer ASAP if he hasn't already done so. On the information you've given here, I think there is a good chance your partner would be able to prevent his ex moving their daughter to the USA.

it's sad she would do this to him for her own selfish needs

I don't necessarily agree with her seeking to move her child abroad with a new partner. However, things like this really get my back up. Your partner has moved on, with you, and is presumably living a happy life. Are you calling him selfish? Or is it just her? Wanting to be happy and settled with a partner works both ways.

Are you happy and able to have the child full-time?

The reality is that he can't stop his ex going, but he can stop her taking their child. Obviously if she chooses to go regardless, he'll have to parent full-time.