Will USCIS know I was married before, even if I never filed or registered in US? (merged topics)

[goobies 79]

Hello everyone.

We hope you are all having a nice week so far.

I should share my history so that people can get some perspective....

So in 2012 I was living in Uganda and got married to a Ugandan citizen. We were married for one year before he decided he no longer wanted to be married...well, we separated but did not have money for the divorce process, so we stayed separated for over three years.

I began a relationship with someone else last year, around May, and now we are planning to do the K-1 visa. My divorce nisi was issued last week.

After reading about divorce and k-1 visa processes, I saw that USCIS requires the Divorce Agreement which must be signed by a judge...so now I am totally confused.

In Uganda, the court registrar is the one who deals with divorce. She is the one who mediates and then witnesses and stamps/seals that the divorce has been signed by both parties. There is no judge involved. We must wait 6 months before the Divorce Absolute is issued....however, I asked the registrar if the Divorce Nisi is a legal divorce, as in, am I legally allowed to list myself as now single and eligible to marry, and she said yes.

So our questions are as follows:

1). Can I begin the petition for k-1 and state that I am divorced?

2). Will it be an issue that Ugandan divorces are not signed by a judge?

3). Is the Divorce Nisi valid as making me eligible to remarry or must I wait for the Divorce Absolute?

[goobies 79]

I am an American citizen from Texas and was married in Uganda in 2012. After one year of living together, we separated, and lived apart without any communication or contact. HE is the one who requested we separate. I never filed the marriage in the US or registered it with the county clerk, or anything like that at all.

Anyway, I have just filed a divorce and was issued a divorce Nisi in Uganda. It takes 6 months to become a divorce absolute. That will be in August.

I have been dating a wonderful person for the past 10 months, and we have decided we want to apply for the K-1 fiance visa.

Now, since I never did anything to make the previous marriage known in the US, is it recognized? Will USCIS have a way to know that I was married before? If so, considering that I have already filed the divorce and been issued a Nisi, can I begin the K-1 Visa process?

If the marriage is indeed recognized and can be found out by USCIS, then would it be possible to get a divorce in Texas that would be absolute sooner than 6 months?

I am trying to find the best and quickest way to begin filing the K-1 Visa. To wait 6 months will be hell!

Hopefully USCIS will not even have record of the previous marriage since I never took any steps to have it registered in the US...

Also, I want to file taxes, and this is hindering me because I do not want to file as married. The form says if I was "married" during December 2015 I must tick that box....hopefully, again, USCIS will not know that I was married in Uganda.

In the case it is known, please tell me if I can get a divorce absolute quicker by applying for divorce in Texas.

I do hope this made sense and was easy to follow.

Please ask for any clarifications or further information to better assist me.

I do appreciate your time in reading this.

[Dohan 133]

Not sure if you can get a divorce in TX but I assure you it is a bad idea to hide anything from USCIS. They have ways of finding out so just tell the truth.

[Georgia16 2,858]

I am an American citizen from Texas and was married in Uganda in 2012. After one year of living together, we separated, and lived apart without any communication or contact. HE is the one who requested we separate. I never filed the marriage in the US or registered it with the county clerk, or anything like that at all.

Anyway, I have just filed a divorce and was issued a divorce Nisi in Uganda. It takes 6 months to become a divorce absolute. That will be in August.

I have been dating a wonderful person for the past 10 months, and we have decided we want to apply for the K-1 fiance visa.

Now, since I never did anything to make the previous marriage known in the US, is it recognized? Will USCIS have a way to know that I was married before? If so, considering that I have already filed the divorce and been issued a Nisi, can I begin the K-1 Visa process?

If the marriage is indeed recognized and can be found out by USCIS, then would it be possible to get a divorce in Texas that would be absolute sooner than 6 months?

I am trying to find the best and quickest way to begin filing the K-1 Visa. To wait 6 months will be hell!

Hopefully USCIS will not even have record of the previous marriage since I never took any steps to have it registered in the US...

Also, I want to file taxes, and this is hindering me because I do not want to file as married. The form says if I was "married" during December 2015 I must tick that box....hopefully, again, USCIS will not know that I was married in Uganda.

In the case it is known, please tell me if I can get a divorce absolute quicker by applying for divorce in Texas.

I do hope this made sense and was easy to follow.

Please ask for any clarifications or further information to better assist me.

I do appreciate your time in reading this.

Yes, they will know. And you'll be lying on the forms if you state anything else as well as the Letter of intent to marry were you state you are free to marry which you are not.

You'll have to wait till you are legally divorced.

Edited February 11, 2016 by Georgia16

[Transborderwife 4,666]

Agree. Wait for the divorce

Married is married is married

[Transborderwife 4,666]

1. Nope you need the decree

2. Don't know

3. Need the divorce absolute

[yuna628 9,680]

No matter what country you married in makes little difference. Married is married.

Divorce and move on. Why would you want to hide it, and what's the big deal if the USCIS finds out? Divorced persons re-marry all the time. You need to provide proof of your divorce with your paperwork.

[Transborderwife 4,666]

No matter what country you married in makes little difference. Married is married.

Divorce and move on. Why would you want to hide it, and what's the big deal if the USCIS finds out? Divorced persons re-marry all the time. You need to provide proof of your divorce with your paperwork.

I think that the case is wanting to file the k1 sooner

[Loki_Go 126]

He'll need the divorce decree/papers to file with the K1 as well as the latest tax records... there's no way he can't wait for it.

[Ebunoluwa 6,136]

No. It is not ok to hide that you are married. You would be stating lie upon lie by filling out the questions on the forms and on the letter of intent.

Your marriage is legal in Uganda and that makes it legal for USCIS. A marriage overseas does not have to be registered here, there is no such thing.

If you want to play games you will have a denied visa and spend a lot more extra time coming together by having to file another petition.

6 months is nothing, get a grip and do what is right, stop the games right here and now. This will end bad if you proceed.

Uganda is not an easy embassy to go through and you will have enough troubles without adding outright lies.

Even if you would likely sail past USCIS, the embassy phase is what you need to concern yourself with.

Sometimes home field investigations are conducted by the embassy and you can get stuck in AP for a very long time if anything looks shady, they would find

out you were still married at the time you filed and bang it's over.......you spend a potential 2 years longer all to save 6 months.

[Pitaya 2,577]

~Two similar/same-themed topics merged~

~Please refrain from multiple posting of similar/same-themed topics~

Pitaya

VJ Moderation

[goobies 79]

I appreciate all the responses. We are not trying to lie, and that is not our intention. The concern was if the marriage is considered legal in the US, and if we proceed with a divorce nisi.

6 months seems like a very long time since we have not been separated for more than 1 week since we began living together in May of last year. I just arrived in the US on Monday to begin this process, so finding out that we must wait 6 months before even starting has been a HUGE shock to us.

The registrar in Uganda told us that the divorce is now final. It is only through reading things on this website that I got the idea that there is anything other than a Nisi.

Thank you for the kind responses.

For the people who replied in less-than-kind ways, perhaps proceed without judgement and if you are frustrated by someone's question, do not answer. Leave it to someone who would like to offer true help and advice. Know that getting correct information from certain countries is not easy. The registrar of Uganda herself advised us to go forward and not even mention the marriage on our papers.

I have noticed a lot of heated responses on this website. I thought we are all here to learn and then help once we have learned.

So my understanding now is that we MUST wait for the 6 month period to pass.

I did not get clarification for the tax issue...If I file as married, I must provide ex's TIN which he does not have. Have any of you dealt with this before?

[Transborderwife 4,666]

You can file married filing separately.

I understand that you may not like some peoples answers but it tends to be the way it works here. I don't forsee it changing unless it becomes abusive which is has not yet. It's best just to weed out the information that's needed and ignore as people are free to respond in their manner.

[Umka36 781]

People's answers/response is based on how your ask the question. It may sound harsh or judgmental, but in this instance I only see blunt answers. What I've learned from using/reading things on the internet is not to take it personally. The site also has a report button if you believe someone is violating the TOS.

[Ebunoluwa 6,136]

I appreciate all the responses. We are not trying to lie, and that is not our intention. The concern was if the marriage is considered legal in the US, and if we proceed with a divorce nisi.

6 months seems like a very long time since we have not been separated for more than 1 week since we began living together in May of last year. I just arrived in the US on Monday to begin this process, so finding out that we must wait 6 months before even starting has been a HUGE shock to us.

The registrar in Uganda told us that the divorce is now final. It is only through reading things on this website that I got the idea that there is anything other than a Nisi.

Thank you for the kind responses.

For the people who replied in less-than-kind ways, perhaps proceed without judgement and if you are frustrated by someone's question, do not answer. Leave it to someone who would like to offer true help and advice. Know that getting correct information from certain countries is not easy. The registrar of Uganda herself advised us to go forward and not even mention the marriage on our papers.

I have noticed a lot of heated responses on this website. I thought we are all here to learn and then help once we have learned.

So my understanding now is that we MUST wait for the 6 month period to pass.

I did not get clarification for the tax issue...If I file as married, I must provide ex's TIN which he does not have. Have any of you dealt with this before?

Then the registrar told you wrong and is not an authority about US immigration questions on what to disclose and what to "hide".

I was blunt to shake you out of a possible terrible mistake. Reality sinks in best and sugar coating things won't be helpful in the end.

Heated discussion sometimes comes from people trying to circumvent issues that will end up drowning them so consider it a life line not a judgement

because we are truly trying to help you. If I had a penny for every time someone asks for a faster way by doing such and such......faster

does not matter, honesty based on facts counts towards a successful outcome. The final divorce decree must be attached.

Sorry if I stepped on your toes. It took us 5 years to come together, including 16 months AP and a refusal and a re file, so I have

a neon sign flashing to not do silly stuff to make it faster. We had every t crossed and every i dotted and still were refused and that is why I said

6 months, considering all, is nothing compared to starting over again by hiding the marriage.

Best wishes on your journey !

Edited February 11, 2016 by Ebunoluwa