03/29/2022 IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF TENNESSEE AT NASHVILLE December 2, 2021 Session IN RE AUTUMN H. Appeal from the Juvenile Court for Williamson County No. 35423 Sharon Guffee, Judge ___________________________________ No. M2020-01214-COA-R3-JV ___________________________________ This appeal involves a mother’s petition seeking to relocate to Canada with the parties’ minor child. Determining relocation to Canada with the mother to be in the child’s best interest, the juvenile court approved the mother’s petition, and the father appealed to this Court. Discerning no error, we affirm. Tenn. R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Juvenile Court Affirmed; Case Remanded D. MICHAEL SWINEY, C.J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which JOHN W. MCCLARTY and THOMAS R. FRIERSON, II, JJ., joined. Casey A. Long, Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, for the appellant, John G. Joanne H., London, Ontario, Canada, Pro Se. OPINION Background The mother, Joanne H. (“Mother”), is a Canadian citizen who came to the United States legally in 2006 or 2007. The minor child, Autumn H. (“the Child”), was born in July 2014 to Mother and the child’s father, John G. (“Father”). Mother and Father were never married. Mother testified that she had been a stay-at-home mother since the Child was born. At some point, a temporary restraining order was entered prohibiting Mother from leaving the state of Tennessee with the Child. In December 2015, the Williamson County Juvenile Court (“Juvenile Court”) entered an order leaving the temporary restraining order in effect but allowing Mother to take the Child to visit Mother’s family in Canada during the Christmas holiday but directing Mother to return the Child to this jurisdiction for further proceedings. Subsequently, Mother was unable to renew her work visa, and it expired in March 2016. Mother testified that she had a six-month grace period to leave the country. Mother and Father obtained a marriage license in June 2016, but the marriage did not happen. The parties subsequently entered into an agreed permanent parenting plan in September 2016, wherein the parents were to spend equal parenting time with the Child. Mother sent a certified letter to Father in May 2017, informing him of her intended relocation with the Child to Canada. According to Mother, Father again asked her to marry him and gave her a ring. Father obtained a second marriage license but let it expire. Mother was unable to change her residency status in this country. She was unable to gain employment or obtain a driver’s license in the United States. In February 2018, Mother filed a petition seeking approval by the Juvenile Court to move with the Child to Canada and to modify the parties’ current permanent parenting plan. The petition states, inter alia, that (1) the parents had been awarded equal parenting time with the child by previous court order, (2) Mother provided Father with notice of her intent to relocate to Mississauga, Ontario via certified mail and hand delivery in May 2017, and (3) Father had failed to file a petition opposing the move. …
Original document
Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals