Filed divorce but husband not in U.S

[Rinaprincess 0]

Hi guys!

I petition my husband last year. after he came to the state, he left me to lived with his sister in another states. Now I had a child and he does not want come back to live with me and take care the baby. So i had filed a divorce. The lawyer had sent a packet to him but he does not pick up the packet. Instead he went back to his country. I wasn't sure if he goes to his country just for a visit or he try to escape from the problem for now and come back to u.S later. How do i go about get divorce finale since he is not here. Before i filed a divorce i had wrote a letter to uscis stating this could be a fraud marriage.

Right now he is only 2 years green card. How is it going to effect his status? Can he claim that he is marry in good faith, because we do income tax together? i had spoke to lawyer, if he does not pick up the packet they may do advertise. please help out if someone know this situation from the previous post or from past experience. thanks

[moroccogirlny 100]

Hi guys!

I petition my husband last year. after he came to the state, he left me to lived with his sister in another states. Now I had a child and he does not want come back to live with me and take care the baby. So i had filed a divorce. The lawyer had sent a packet to him but he does not pick up the packet. Instead he went back to his country. I wasn't sure if he goes to his country just for a visit or he try to escape from the problem for now and come back to u.S later. How do i go about get divorce finale since he is not here. Before i filed a divorce i had wrote a letter to uscis stating this could be a fraud marriage.

Right now he is only 2 years green card. How is it going to effect his status? Can he claim that he is marry in good faith, because we do income tax together? i had spoke to lawyer, if he does not pick up the packet they may do advertise. please help out if someone know this situation from the previous post or from past experience. thanks

I am not 100% sure but you might not need his signature. I think you can put a notice in a public newspaper for the divorce. He can't file for the 10 year green card on his own unless he can prove that he was abused in the marriage. I'm sure others will give you more answers on this.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

I am not 100% sure but you might not need his signature. I think you can put a notice in a public newspaper for the divorce. He can't file for the 10 year green card on his own unless he can prove that he was abused in the marriage. I'm sure others will give you more answers on this.

No he doesn't have to prove abuse to get the 10 year card. He just has to file ROC with a waiver and prove a bonafide marriage.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Hi guys!

I petition my husband last year. after he came to the state, he left me to lived with his sister in another states. Now I had a child and he does not want come back to live with me and take care the baby. So i had filed a divorce. The lawyer had sent a packet to him but he does not pick up the packet. Instead he went back to his country. I wasn't sure if he goes to his country just for a visit or he try to escape from the problem for now and come back to u.S later. How do i go about get divorce finale since he is not here. Before i filed a divorce i had wrote a letter to uscis stating this could be a fraud marriage.

Right now he is only 2 years green card. How is it going to effect his status? Can he claim that he is marry in good faith, because we do income tax together? i had spoke to lawyer, if he does not pick up the packet they may do advertise. please help out if someone know this situation from the previous post or from past experience. thanks

Your lawyer is giving you good advice. You should follow it. You can get a divorce judgment "by default" without the cooperation of your husband. In most states, you just have to prove you made an honest effort to serve him with the court papers. This usually involves taking out an ad in a local paper, or some other form of public announcement. It's actually better for you to get the divorce this way because the court will usually grant any legal request you make, since your husband won't be involved to contest it.

He can ask for a waiver of the joint filing requirement, and get a 10 year green card on his own. Joint tax returns are useful for proof of good faith marriage, but he'll need more than that. He'll also need the final divorce decree.

Once you get the divorce be sure to notify USCIS that the marriage is ended. This compels them to take steps to terminate his conditional residency, and puts him in a position where he'll have to file the I-751 right away. If he's outside the US when USCIS initiates removal proceedings then he may be in for a rude shock when he tries to return.

[Tahoma 2,291]

If he's outside the US when USCIS initiates removal proceedings then he may be in for a rude shock when he tries to return.

Jim...you made a funny!

...and you gave the OP some good information too.

[Rinaprincess 0]

thanks guys for reply. Since he cannot pick up the packet here, my lawyer is now plan to sent the packet to his country. So i don't know how that goes. I have no idea whether he went back to his country just for a visit or he plan he lived there. WE have no contact he just left after i gave birth. If he still not response to the packet i don't know what the lawyer do. we have a child together, i don't know how the child support go if he lived in his country.

[Raj_Kaj 0]

thanks guys for reply. Since he cannot pick up the packet here, my lawyer is now plan to sent the packet to his country. So i don't know how that goes. I have no idea whether he went back to his country just for a visit or he plan he lived there. WE have no contact he just left after i gave birth. If he still not response to the packet i don't know what the lawyer do. we have a child together, i don't know how the child support go if he lived in his country.

Your lawyer will know the rules for service in your state as well as the rules that apply to the country your husband is currently in. Many countries are part of the Hague Convention and there are specific rules as to how to serve a Complaint (in Divorce for example) to that country. Generally service by publication is acceptable for american local courts. However, service by publication may be difficult if your husband is in a country that is difficult to deal with. The lawyer will have to publish your intention to sue for divorce in your husband's local paper and wait for a response. Assuming there is no response, the newspaper will have to send some kind of certification that they did publish the announcement and did not receive a response. You should then be able to move forward with a no fault divorce or a contested divorce depending on your state. You simply have to show proof (acceptable proof by the Court's standard) that you have exhausted all avenues of notifying your husband.

I am currently divorcing a man which I brought here on a K3 visa. He was a conditional permanent resident when he left. Fortunately, I was able to send him an "acceptance of service" with the divorce complaint to his friend's house where I knew he was staying. He signed the acceptance of service and returned it to me. That is acceptable to the Court as proof of service. The only acceptable forms of service here are the acceptance of service, service by process server or friend (with a signed and notarized affidavit) or service by publication.

If service by publication is too difficult, you could try to contact a friend in that country. Pay them to serve the papers to your husband and return to you a signed, notarized, affidavit verifying that service was made. That is usually sufficient but again your would have to verify that with the Rules for Service in your state and make sure it complies with a treaty your husband's country may or may not have with the US. My husband's country does not participate in any treaties with the US therefore I only have to follow the rules of my state.

In many cases the Rules for Service will be online from your states Rules for Civil Procedure.

By the way, if you did your husband's immigration without a lawyer, its likely you can file for divorce without a lawyer. Lawyers tend to make it more complicated than it needs to be. (Not to mention EXPENSIVE!)

[ADMIRE 3]

Thank you for posting this question.It is a wake up call for me, cos I did not know I could file a divorce against a spouse resident in Nigeria.I hope to start the divorce process sometime next week and I need to know at what stage the acknowledgement of service and waiver of jurisdiction by the respondent can be submitted. Should it be included from the very beginning of submitting the petition or is it the court that will gather this by themselves. I am resident in Atlanta ,GA and I know that my wife will not contend the suit, cos we've been separated both physically and emotionally:no children involved. since 2005

all contributions are highly welcomed , as this divorce as this divorce need to be out of the way real quick, having wasted so many months planning on going to Nigeria to initiate a divorce that was meant to be time consuming and money draining,and never ending.It is Good to know that i can file from here .Please help,anybody