Need CR-1 advice for Indian with Prior Filipino Marriage

[newmancm 0]

I am a USC and my fiance' is Indian. He married a Filipino woman in 2010, and was wedded in the Phillipines. Next they returned to the U.A.E. where both worked. She left him within a year and moved to yet another country. Their marriage was nationally registered in the Phils, but not in India.

THE IMPORTANT PART: Now, he and I want to marry in India and I would like to bring him back to the US. Must he get a Phillipines divorce or annulment in order to marry me and move the the US with me? Or, since he is by default, legally permitted to remarry in India, is he therefore qualified for the CR-1 in the US?? His Philipino wife is being uncooperative since she would prefer to retain the status quo.

Thanks in advance!

[slvrfx576 15]

I see that a lot of people have viewed this post but not chosen to respond. Probably because anyone who understands the concept of marriage can not believe that you are so naïve as to think that you could marry in India, or anywhere, without your boyfriend first getting a divorce from his current legal wife, no matter where that marriage occurred or in what country it is registered. He is legally married. (period) Using your logic, I could just go ahead and get married in 5 different countries to 5 different women without getting any divorces beforehand. Does this make any sense to you ?

When you fill out the paperwork for the CR1 visa you will have to list ALL previous marriages and divorces. How did you plan to circumvent this ? Just forget about this previous marriage ? That is the same as a lie on your application and would no doubt get your bf banned from the US for 10yrs if not forever. Not a rosy future together.

I am sorry to be so harsh, but if it is your boyfriend who is pushing this idea of getting married without a divorce, then you should stop and take a couple of deep breaths and examine his motives. If he loves you he would get a divorce.

[Darnell 8,479]

He might be legally able to marry in India, but India ain't any arm of USCIS. Or the DoS.

USCIS and DoS will be doing some digging, and find out that the foreign spouse (yours) is a bigamist. And get denied, somewhere along the way.

How to solve? The man needs to get divorced first .

[belinda63 3,053]

US law does not permit a person to have two spouses at the same time. The US recognizes a legal (recognized by the government of that country) marriage in any country. He will have two wives at the same time if he marries you prior to ending the prior marriage. The US will not recognize the second marriage (yours).

Edited August 30, 2013 by belinda63

[aaron2020 11,652]

I am a USC and my fiance' is Indian. He married a Filipino woman in 2010, and was wedded in the Phillipines. Next they returned to the U.A.E. where both worked. She left him within a year and moved to yet another country. Their marriage was nationally registered in the Phils, but not in India.

THE IMPORTANT PART: Now, he and I want to marry in India and I would like to bring him back to the US. Must he get a Phillipines divorce or annulment in order to marry me and move the the US with me? Or, since he is by default, legally permitted to remarry in India, is he therefore qualified for the CR-1 in the US?? His Philipino wife is being uncooperative since she would prefer to retain the status quo.

Thanks in advance!

Married is married.

He marries you anywhere in the world, then he will have two wives. For countries that allows bigamy, then no problem. Unfortunately, it is illegal in India and the US.

Upon marrying you in India, your "husband" would be committing bigamy. A permanent bar to the US since it's illegal to immigrate with the intent to commit bigmy. His mere presence in the US while married to two women and being an LPR would subject him to US laws on bigamy.

He needs a divorce or annulment to marry you and get a green card. You have to disclose his prior marriages and how they end to get an immigration visa for him.

DO NOT MARRY HIM UNTIL HE GETS A DIVORCE OR ANNULMENT.

[jan22 3,174]

His mere presence in the US while married to two women and being an LPR would subject him to US laws on bigamy.

/quote]

Everything else aaron2020 says is accurate, but this one sentence isn't quite. Assuming the marriages are legal in the country where they are performed, a polygamist can, in fact, immigrate to the U.S. and not violate U.S. law -- the law is written so it is only illegal to commit bigamy IN the U.S. (i.e., be in the U.S. with two wives). To avoid that, the U.S. only recognizes the first marriage (i.e., the one in the Philipines) for immigration purposes, as it would be the only one that was legal if all of the marriages were in the U.S.

Bottom line -- as the other people have said here, he needs to divorce before you can file any petition for him.

Edited September 2, 2013 by jan22