how long must people be residents in nys during a pending divorce until free to move elsewhere

Once the divorce has been commenced by the filing of the Summons with Notice or Summons and Complaint, then as long as New York State had jurisdiction to hear the divorce at the time of filing, then the parties are still free to move elsewhere while the divorce is pending.   However, a few things must be kept in mind.   First, if the party seeking to relocate plans on taking the children with them, before the divorce has been heard, then they may be ordered to return to the state. Secondly, if the parties are unable to proceed with an uncontested divorce, then they will have to appear in court on the contested divorce calendar.  So, if a party moves out of the state after the divorce was commenced in New York State, they would still have to travel back to New York for every court appearance.