Filing adjustment of status from inside US, question about past divorce decrees?

[SalishSea 16,903]

3 hours ago, Tomell said:

Hi all, I've been using Boundless (Love them) and filling out all my forms and submitting documents prepping for the adjustment of status filing, and have a question.

 

I was married twice, and my most recent X-wife, I have that decree, my first wife (Divorced sometime between 2000 and 2004, fuzzy memory) I contacted the county we were divorced in and they have no record that they can find. How big a challenge might this be?

Lol……kind of a big deal.   If you have no evidence of dissolution of prior marriages, the petition will be denied.

[SalishSea 16,903]

2 hours ago, Tomell said:

Yes, she is currently here on an emergency tourist visa

So did she lie to CBP about her intentions?

[Scandi 3,979]

It always surprises me when people who pay others (lawyers or other services) to do the work for them, still come to VJ to ask their questions. You'd think whoever they hired would know these things, otherwise it seems like wasted money?

Yes you will definitely need the divorce decree. USCIS want to make sure the marriage ended, to make sure your current marriage is actually valid. If your first marriage never ended then that invalidates all "marriages" after that. 

Since your memory is fuzzy, are you sure you actually got divorced? Legally?

Edited September 11, 2023 by Scandi

[Tomell 8]

3 hours ago, SalishSea said:

So did she lie to CBP about her intentions?

No, she did plan on returning (The doctors said I needed 4 to 6 months of 24/7 family care) but the surgery was delayed and also complications, so they are saying 9 to 12 months total for the recovery (With letters from the surgeons to confirm)

[Boiler 43,755]

The Consulate and PoE obviously were not bothered so not sure why VJ should be 

[beloved_dingo 1,939]

Did you use an attorney for your first divorce? If so, contact the attorney to see if they have retained a copy and/or if they can log into the court system to retrieve it. Even though it was roughly 20 years ago, many attorneys keep important documents like this on hand, just in case a client may need it later. And, many courts have digitized old cases so that they are available to access.

 

If that isn't viable, I would go to the court in person and speak to a clerk. Considering the age of the divorce, it's very possible that whoever you spoke to could not just look it up, but these files are retained and it exists in the court records somewhere (assuming you have the county and state correct). 

[Mike E 11,727]

7 hours ago, Tomell said:

First Ex passed away about 6 years ago.

 

 

6 hours ago, Tomell said:

Yes I was

Get the death certificate and give it a try.

Logically

 

* USCIS should only care if you were free to marry your current spouse.

 

* If you were still married to spouse 1 when you married spouse 2, then the marriage to spouse 2 has no impact whether you were free to marry spouse 3

 

* since spouse 1 passed away before spouse 3, you were free to marry spouse 3

 

 

 

 

[snewbery 19]

9 hours ago, Tomell said:

First Ex passed away about 6 years ago.

 

If I got this straight, this is the marriage for which you do not have a divorce decree? If she passed away, a death certificate will fulfill the USCIS requirement. The point is to prove you are no longer married to this person and obviously a widow or widower is no longer married. 

[Boiler 43,755]

So the second marriage was bigamous?

[Mike E 11,727]

17 minutes ago, Boiler said:

So the second marriage was bigamous?

No, because bigamy requires intent.

 

If there was a divorce 1,  OP is free to marry spouse 3 because there is a decree for divorce 2.

 

If there was no divorce 1, OP is free to marry spouse 3 because marriage 2 is void and marriage 1 ended by death.

 

There are no other cases. Therefore OP was free to marry spouse 3.

 

 

Edited September 12, 2023 by Mike E

[Boiler 43,755]

If he is saying there is no Divorce from 1 then he did commit Bigamy marrying 2.

[Mike E 11,727]

3 hours ago, Boiler said:

If he is saying there is no Divorce from 1 then he did commit Bigamy marrying 2.

You are imagining things. 

[beloved_dingo 1,939]

Using the death certificate could work, but I think OP needs to continue a good faith effort to obtain the divorce decree before trying that angle. So far, it looks like he has made one phone call.

[OldUser 5,098]

8 minutes ago, beloved_dingo said:

Using the death certificate could work, but I think OP needs to continue a good faith effort to obtain the divorce decree before trying that angle. So far, it looks like he has made one phone call.

Agreed, death certificate is the last resort.

[Tomell 8]

11 hours ago, Mike E said:

You are imagining things. 

 

14 hours ago, Boiler said:

If he is saying there is no Divorce from 1 then he did commit Bigamy marrying 2.

There is a divorce certificate from marriage 1 of course, the court clerk just cant find it (called about a half dozen times, and 2 or 3 different court clerks so far)