The drafters of the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act expected that it would be primarily used in the context of interstate cases among the United States of America, however, they anticipated that there would be a need for international application of the law. As we have become a more transient globally, the situation of one state having to interpret and enforce a foreign country’s child custody determinations has become more prevalent.

As a consequence the drafters of the UCCJEA put in place a provision that allows a reviewing court of the United States to either implement a foreign court order, or should the “child custody law of the foreign country violate fundamental principles of human rights” the US state court can opt out of enforcing the foreign determination.

In general US courts apply the UCCJEA standards and respect foreign nations determinations in child custody cases, and they apply the same standards that one would expect if the case was an interstate matter.