Is islamic divorce from india recognized as legal for immigration?

[Starlight95 1]

Hi folks,

I am in a pretty difficult dilemma. My divorce happened in India and per indian law islamic divorces are considered legal in india. Recently, I got an RFE to submit:

legible final divorce decree from civil authorities with proof of filing for X and Y (not including names)

On the department of states website it clearly states that muslim divorces from India do not need to be registerd through the court. I was going to submit this as my proof along with a statment from an attorney in India that per Shariah Law I am divorced and this is considered a legal divorce in India. To wait for the final divorce decree would take more time and I may not be able to make the RFE deadline. My attorney says that would be suffice and than we would not need the divorce decree from civil authorities. We are trying our best to get that, but I dont' want to take any risks by submitting other evidence that my deny my case. I am really worried. If anyone know about somthing similar and can help me. I would really appreciate your help.

What do you think will be my best option?

[Ihavequestions 419]

I think this question would be better served in the forum specifically related to India. Maybe one of the mods could move it?

[Starlight95 1]

I think this question would be better served in the forum specifically related to India. Maybe one of the mods could move it?

Thanks I will try to contact them so they can move it.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

moved from MENA regional forum

[trinket 30]

I am not sure about divorce but we had kind of a similar situation with our marriage certificate. We married at Arya samaj according to Hindu marriage law but we never registered the marriage. At the time of the wedding we were told Arya samaj wedding is legal according to Indian government and so it should be legal anywhere in the world.

We filed for i-130 petition 4 years after the wedding and the lack of civil certificate was an issue but our lawyer did make my husband make a notarized statement stating how Arya samaj wedding is legal in India, our lawyer also attested Arya samaj Marriage Validation Act XIX of 1937.

We didn't have any problem at USCIS and NVC, but at Mumbai consulate I was given a bit of hard time by Indian CO about civil certificate, but no questions where asked when I went for the actual interview with American CO.

[Starlight95 1]

I am not sure about divorce but we had kind of a similar situation with our marriage certificate. We married at Arya samaj according to Hindu marriage law but we never registered the marriage. At the time of the wedding we were told Arya samaj wedding is legal according to Indian government and so it should be legal anywhere in the world.

We filed for i-130 petition 4 years after the wedding and the lack of civil certificate was an issue but our lawyer did make my husband make a notarized statement stating how Arya samaj wedding is legal in India, our lawyer also attested Arya samaj Marriage Validation Act XIX of 1937.

We didn't have any problem at USCIS and NVC, but at Mumbai consulate I was given a bit of hard time by Indian CO about civil certificate, but no questions where asked when I went for the actual interview with American CO.

Thank you so much for your response gives me a bit more confident. My lawyer is suggesting a similar thing I am going to make a statement stating that my divorce is legal according to islamic law. Than including a statement from a religious authority stating that my divorce according to indian law is legal. This is the only option I have right now as getting the actual decree is going to take months, and we had no need to register it to civil authorities since it was a legal divorce.