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My children have dual citizenship in a south american country.  If wife was awarded children, does that mean they could possibly be allowed to go my BPDw home country? 

My son also has dual citizenship. Even if your wife was not awarded the kids (I'm guessing you mean sole custody?), she could travel with them to her home country. If you think she's a flight risk, there are other things you can do.

Custody is:

Physical custody

Legal custody

Then there is:

Visitation

Then there is the stuff you and your ex figure out in a custody order, like travel to foreign countries with the kids. In my temporary order (which became permanent), I made sure it said in clear language that I could travel to my home country with S12 for two weeks. For me to do that, N/BPDx would have to sign a notarized letter of consent giving me permission to travel across the border. Even during my marriage, I was not able to travel with S12 unless I had that notarized letter of consent.

It might be different for your country. My country is Canada, and apparently there are enough parents trying to dodge custody issues that it's a fairly hard border to cross unless you have parental permission.

If you are worried that she might flee with the kids, or go there with your permission and not come home, check into the laws and see if the country is part of the Hague Convention. Maybe you can get a cheap consultation with an international lawyer who specializes in family law. If her country is part of the Hague, then it will have agreed to a set of protocols for what you can do if she flees. Most countries that are part of the Hague say that they will recognize the custody order where it was initially drawn up. The problem is that it's a very stressful and expensive process to get the kids returned, if you can find them.

Better idea is to set up an alert with US customs so that when she tries to cross with them, you'll be notified. Or, have it entered into your custody order that if she travels with the kids to her home country, she must post a bond that she gets back when she returns. If she doesn't return, then you have money to pay for an investigation into where she is. If she tries to enter her country and gets caught at the border, you could file a motion for contempt against her.

Do the kids have US passports? If not, you'll both have to sign the forms to get them for your kids. Not just now, but later too, when they have to renew their passports.

Sorry if that's confusing. Basically, you could get primary physical custody, joint legal custody, and the kids might see you 50% of the time, and they would still be able to travel to her home country with her -- if you want some say in whether she can do that, you have to include that item in your custody order.

It's hard to set boundaries with a person who can easily decide to ignore the court orders or whose court is reluctant to see the risks of flight outside the court's jurisdiction and set firm limits.  It's even more problematic when dealing with the potential actions on an international level.

Even if a country is a signatory to the Hague Convention, that doesn't mean the country truly cooperates with enforcement.  Best to make a few searches on the internet and see what reputation for cooperation her country has.

Great Info.  Thank you so much. Gave me great direction.  I am US and my BPDw has the dual citizenship as do my children. 

Thank you Forever Dad

Thank you so much livedandlearnd!   I really appreciate it. 

Another thing you might consider doing -- depending on the age of your kids. If they have smartphones, install tracking software.

If you pay for the phone and service, it's legal to install on your kids' phones. High surveillance software costs about $150 and you can see all incoming/outgoing text messages, hear all voicemails, read emails, see what is uploaded/downloaded. Cheaper software is about $35 and allows you to track the location of the phone from your computer.

Check with a lawyer first before you do it, but in my state, if I own the phone and S12 uses it, I can legally install the software.

I never did it, though.