Privious marrage or Out of Wedlock

[HaoRan 0]

A legal marriage in any country is recognized by other counties unless multiple spouses are involved.

The important thing is to tell the truth. If she was "married" (married is married) before and you filed a petition saying she was not, do not let her go to an interview and swear to that lie under oath. It could result in a lifetime ban from entering the USA. If she was not married, no problem. You need to undoofus really fast here as doofusism is no excuse for making a material misrepresentation during the immigration process. If she has a previous "husband" to whom she is still married, withdraw the petition. Both of you contact the Consulate by email and inform them you are not going through with the visa process. Send a letter to USCIS "withdrawing" the petition or petitions you filed. If you married in China, get that marriage ended. End her marriage to her former husband, remarry your girlfriend and file again.

Thank you pushbrk for a clear and informative post. I will follow up.

[pushbrk 12,182]

A legal marriage in any country is recognized by other counties unless multiple spouses are involved.

The important thing is to tell the truth. If she was "married" (married is married) before and you filed a petition saying she was not, do not let her go to an interview and swear to that lie under oath. It could result in a lifetime ban from entering the USA. If she was not married, no problem. You need to undoofus really fast here as doofusism is no excuse for making a material misrepresentation during the immigration process. If she has a previous "husband" to whom she is still married, withdraw the petition. Both of you contact the Consulate by email and inform them you are not going through with the visa process. Send a letter to USCIS "withdrawing" the petition or petitions you filed. If you married in China, get that marriage ended. End her marriage to her former husband, remarry your girlfriend and file again.

Thank you pushbrk for a clear and informative post. I will follow up.

You're welcome. Be very careful how you handle this.

[HaoRan 0]

You're welcome. Be very careful how you handle this.

In the event her previous husband (if she was indeed married 'officially') annulled the marriage where would we stand at this point? Still need to start over?

tks...

[pushbrk 12,182]

You're welcome. Be very careful how you handle this.

In the event her previous husband (if she was indeed married 'officially') annulled the marriage where would we stand at this point? Still need to start over?

tks...

As long as any annullment or divorce was finalized before the date of your current marriage, you don't need to end any marriage but the problem is you still failed to disclose a previous marriage (annulled or not). That's a material misrepresentation but until she goes to the Consulate and takes an oath, she isn't subject to such a finding. Yes you must start over in any event or risk her permanent ban.

I'd add an explanation to your next finding indicating she thought she was never married or thought the marriage was annulled, (whichever is the truth) and that you learned during this current process that wasn't correct. You then withdrew the petition and took the following actions before filing again. They'll understand there was a mistake and you did everything you needed to do to correct it before filing again.

Edited February 11, 2009 by pushbrk

[iwannaplay54 985]

So you failed to list previous marriages and you failed to disclose proof of termination of previous marriages? So far YOU, the USC, is the one who has (already) committed fraud here.

Did you miss this part on the bottom of the I-130? If your "wife" was married, and failed to legally terminate her previous marriage, do you understand that ceremony aside you are not actually legally married under US law (this is equivalent to a reversed polygamy where your wife now has more than one marriage) and therefore you are not eligible to even file an I-130? If your wife was married, and terminated her marriage, do you understand that leaving that information off of the petition is "concealing a material fact?"

The part you missed on the I-130 - this applies to the USC petitioner who is filing the petition:

PENALTIES: By law, you may be imprisoned for not more than five years or fined $250,000, or both, for entering into a marriage contract for the

purpose of evading any provision of the immigration laws. In addition, you may be fined up to $10,000 and imprisoned for up to five years, or both, for

knowingly and willfully falsifying or concealing a material fact or using any false document in submitting this petition.YOUR CERTIFICATION: I certify, under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America, that the foregoing is true and correct.

Furthermore, I authorize the release of any information from my records that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services needs to determine eligiblity fo

My wife spent 3 years or so in South Africa where she met her prior husband. The marriage was a nightmare but produced a son for my wife. The man was a liar, gambler and alcholic so she left him and went back to China.

That was 7 years ago and she has no idea where he is and really doesn't want to make contact with him if she did.

The question is, since she is not officially divorced, how should she handle this at the interview (we have NOA2)?

1. She could explain the situation if asked at the interview since she has a son who was born in South Africa.

or

2. She could just say her son was born out of wedlock.

Thanks to any suggestions on this question.

[HaoRan 0]

Yes, I understand this. As I mentioned before I was in a state of non-rememberance when I posted earlier. I checked with my wife and:

My wife was NOT married in South Africa. There was NO fraud commited on my application. Everything is as it should be.

Sorry for the confusion and thanks to all who posted.

Edited February 12, 2009 by HaoRan

[iwannaplay54 985]

That, my friend, is the smart answer.

Yes, I understand this. As I mentioned before I was in a state of non-rememberance when I posted earlier. I checked with my wife and:

My wife was NOT married in South Africa. There was NO fraud commited on my application. Everything is as it should be.

Sorry for the confusion and thanks to all who posted.

[HaoRan 0]

Well, I work 12 hours a day for the past 8 months plus I'm buying a house and dealing with family issues....

I had a momentary brain disfunction. Like I said, sorry for the confusion and thanks to all who posted.

[Craneman 2]

Yes, I understand this. As I mentioned before I was in a state of non-rememberance when I posted earlier. I checked with my wife and:

My wife was NOT married in South Africa. There was NO fraud commited on my application. Everything is as it should be.

Sorry for the confusion and thanks to all who posted.

Something is not right in Denmark.

You and your wife were confused as to whether she was married or not.

[frali 2]

Did you petition for the son as well?

[HaoRan 0]

Yes, petitioned for my wife and son.

As I mentioned, after discussing this with my wife I'm fully confident we are well within the law and have filed correctly.

[pushbrk 12,182]

Yes, petitioned for my wife and son.

As I mentioned, after discussing this with my wife I'm fully confident we are well within the law and have filed correctly.

Those of us with Chinese wives are keenly aware of how things get lost in translation. My wife refers to me as Laogong. While the closest translation may by husband and it is typically what many Chinese women will call their husband, it's literal meaning is more like "sweetheart" or "significant other". I call her "Laopo" which is the female version of Laogong but "Ti Ti" is literally "wife".

While "married" is married, "unmarried" is also unmarried for immigration purposes, an amazing number of people have different ways of thinking about what is married than USCIS and Consular officers do. For instance, US States may recognize "common law marriage" but USCIS and Consular officers do not.

I'm helping a couple with a K1 case through Vietnam, where their communication evidence shows them referring to each other as husband and wife. They are not but if you check the law for common law marriage in Texas, you'll see that if they did this in Texas, the ARE married in the eyes of the State of Texas with no minimum cohabitation time.