International Cases
Introduction
With the passage of the 2014 Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act by the federal government, all jurisdictions were mandated to enact the 2008 amendments to the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA) as a condition of continuing to receive federal funds for state child support programs. The 2008 Amendments established uniform procedures for the processing of international child support cases pursuant to the Hague Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance.
PRWORA allows individual states to continue agreements they may have established with foreign countries and continue to negotiate international agreements where a foreign country would facilitate securing applications and forward them to the appropriate state for the provision of child support services outside of the Hague.
Countries that are signatories to the Hague Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance are referred to as “Hague Convention countries”. Countries and provinces that have bilateral arrangements with New Jersey and/or the U.S. government and have not joined the Hague Convention are referred to as “Foreign reciprocating countries (FRC)”.
Forms were developed to comply with the Convention and reduce the complexity of international cases processing for all Hague Convention countries. The forms are as follows:
Mandatory Transmittal and Acknowledgement
1. Annex 1: Transmittal Form under Article 12(2).pdf
This form must accompany all outgoing applications to Hague countries.
2. Annex 2: Acknowledgement Form under Article 12(3).pdf
This form must be used to acknowledge all incoming applications from Hague countries.
Application for Recognition and Enforcement of a Decision
3. A1: Application for Recognition or Recognition and Enforcement.pdf
This form is used for applications for recognition or recognition and enforcement of child support decisions, and includes the option to provide personal information separately.
4. A2: Abstract of a Decision.pdf
This form may accompany an application to recognize or to recognize and enforce a decision where the requested country has specified that it will accept an abstract of the child support decision. The form must be completed by the competent authority of the country of origin.
5. A3: Statement of Enforceability of a Decision.pdf
This form may accompany an application to recognize or to recognize and enforce a decision and confirms that the decision is enforceable in the country of origin. The Statement of Enforceability is completed by the competent authority of the country of origin.
6. A4: Statement of Proper Notice.pdf
This form may accompany an application to recognize or to recognize and enforce a decision and indicates that the respondent did not appear and was not represented in the proceedings in the country of origin but had proper notice of the proceedings and an opportunity to be heard or had proper notice of the decision and an opportunity to challenge it on fact and law. The Statement of Proper Notice is completed by the competent authority of the country of origin.
7. A5: Status of Application Report (Recognition and Enforcement).pdf
This form can be used by the requested country to update the Central Authority in the requesting country about progress in a case for recognition or recognition and enforcement.
Application for Enforcement of a Decision Made or Recognized in the Requested State
8. B1: Application for Enforcement of a Decision Made or Recognized in the Requested State.pdf
This form is used for applications for enforcement of a decision made or recognized in a requested country, and includes the option to provide personal information separately.
This form can be used by the requested country to update the Central Authority in the requesting country about progress in a case for enforcement of a decision made or recognized in a requested country.
Application for Establishment of a Decision
10. C1: Application for Establishment of a Decision.pdf
This form is used for applications to establish a child support decision, and includes the option to provide personal information separately.
11. C2: Status of Application Report (Establishment).pdf
This form can be used by the requested country to update the Central Authority in the requesting country about progress in a case for establishment of a decision.
Application for Modification of a Decision
12. D1: Application for Modification of a Decision.pdf
This form is used for applications to modify a child support decision, and includes the option to provide personal information separately. The same form can be used whether the applicant is the creditor or the debtor.
13. D2: Status of Application Report (Modification).pdf
This form can be used by the requested country to update the Central Authority in the requesting country about progress in a case for modification of a decision.
Financial Circumstances Form
14. E1: Financial Circumstances Form.pdf
This form can be used with any of the applications under the Convention. However, the form does not have to be completed in full for each application.
Foreign Enforcement Procedures
OCSE policy recognizes that there are no constraints prohibiting individuals in foreign countries from filing for IV-D services. N.J.A.C. 10:110-2.2 requires that a request for IV-D services received from a foreign country shall be treated as a request from another state. However, it is important to remember that federal IV-D regulations and statutes apply only to states that are receiving IV-D funds.
International non-Hague cases are handled on a case-by-case basis. In those cases involving the determination of parentage and the establishment of a support obligation, the law where the case is heard applies. The jurisdiction enforcing the order determines how it is enforced. Challenges to the validity and enforcement of a foreign order may arise. When challenges occur, the foreign order should be enforced unless the facts of the case indicate that jurisdiction would have been improper under U.S. due process standards.
When working an international case, any questions or problems that may arise should be immediately reported to a supervisor, who will then refer the matter to the OCSS in the DFD. The OCSS will research the matter and provide guidance and direction on how best to proceed based on the facts of the individual case.
Note: New Jersey has reciprocity agreements with some countries that do not have agreements with the United States.
- Bermuda
- Canada (Quebec)
- Dominican Republic
- Jamaica
- Mexico
- South Africa
Related Information
- For more information and guidance, please refer to Informational Transmittal IT-11-76: Use of Federal Intergovernmental Forms by Foreign Reciprocating Countries.
- United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Child Support Enforcement