Red Defense

How did the Embassy ever found out about your wife's previous marriage? Was she staying in Singapore for a long time? Did she get her visa by now?

Sorry for delayed response. They found out because during my wife's previous marriage, she attempted to travel to the US with her husband at that time, and she was denied. This naturally created a paper trail, which she foolishly thought would be on his name, not hers. She lived in Singapore for about 3 years, but not consistently. She made various return trips back to Indonesia, and never applied for PR status in Singapore. She also never registered her marriage with the Indonesian embassy there, thus she was still "single" when I met her. Sadly, almost a year later, she still does not have her visa. We are in the process of filing for her divorce, and her lazy ex is hiding from having to go to court because he doesn't want to pay for anything. We're not looking to sue him or anything, but apparently Singapore courts require his notification before continuing with the divorce process. I can't do anything until the divorce is finalized.

The marriage may not have been legal for the Indonesian government, but it was for the USA, which recognises foreign marriages. She will therefor need to find some way to get divorce or annul the marriage. How to do that will depend on the country- in many countries, if you can proof you have made a reasonable effort to find your estrange husband (adverts in the newspaper etc), you can get a divorce in absentia. Another option may be an annullment based on abandonment- again, it depends on the law of Singapore.

Your wife should not be afraid to call the US embassy. While they cannot waive the need for a divorce/ annulment, they may have some tips on how to obtain one.

Well, 2 months later, at the tail end of the December deadline, and I have an update.

I call the US embassy in Jakarta, and explained the situation all over. The woman was kind enough to listen, and she asked me to type it all up, and email it to her. Then call her back after an hour. I did, she said she got the email, and that she would like to schedule an appointment for my wife to come in and be interviewed ((about this situation, we already completed our original interview months ago))

My hopes are up! But I'm not sure if they should be....this is no guarantee or anything. But they are willing to listen. My poor wife will be nervous as hell, because she's going to have to explain why she left this guy, explain the abuse, the stealing, etc. And now I won't be able to accompany her, because I'm back in the US.

But any thoughts? She has an appointment this month to go meet with them, and I'm assuming there will be an American officer there to interview her about it. They've changed their website, but I noticed that they can issue waivers for "certain circumstances" and I believe this certainly qualifies. We've completed EVERY other document that was required. It was turned in, on time, fees were paid, background/security checks were all clear....green light on everything. Until this mess started, and they asked for a divorce certificate, a letter from the police in Singapore stating she had no criminal activity, and a letter from the police in Japan stating the same thing. Well, she got those last 2 letters, she's good. It's just this damn divorce certificate....this guy is unreachable.

I've already explained it all, at length, both over the phone and in a 2-3 page email to the embassy. She'll likely be going in to do the same for her interview. There are no lies or stories we're feeding, this is all the truth. So I just hope there is something they can do. If they can't process the visa, and they can't offer a waiver, then I hope they'll atleast offer SOME other solution as to what she should do next.

What do you guys think?

And sorry for bringing an old thread back from the dead, but it's still an on going battle in my world.

So way back in March 2009 I was living/working in Indonesia, and I got married and started the DCF process. It went rather smoothly, and was ALMOST completed, until the very end. The embassy discovered a previous marriage from my wife, but it was done in ANOTHER country ((Singapore)). Long story short, she left the man because of abuse, and it was long before ever meeting me. She tried to get the divorce done, but she could not and still can not find this man to begin the paperwork, and lawyers for this kind of thing can cost as much as $5,000 usd!!! So it was just not affordable. Because this previous marriage was done in Singapore, and it was NEVER registered with her home country of Indonesia, it was perfectly legal for us to get married in Indonesia. According to her Indonesian government, she was still single. So we got married, no problems. But at the last minute, AFTER all the other paperwork was completed for the DCF, the embassy asks her to get the divorce certificate. We can't!!!! I don't know what else to do, does anyone have any helpful advice? Are there any substitutes for this? My wife is too afraid to call the US embassy and explain, and I'm not too sure what to tell them either. Would they even bother listening? Do I need to talk to someone specific? Thanks in advice.

I just wanted to say thanks to the both of you, I appreciate it.

For anyone that was curious, this was the reply that I got:

Mr. ------,

U.S. citizen petitioners who have been resident in Indonesia or Timor Leste continuously for the past six months and have had permission to do so (KIMS or KITAS holder) are eligible to file an I-130 petition for an immediate relative at the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta. Please note that the Consulate General in Surabaya does not accept I-130 petitions, nor do they conduct immigrant visa processing or interviews. Individuals who are in Indonesia or Timor Leste on a temporary status, such as student or tourist, do not meet the residency standard. The U.S. citizen petitioner must make a personal appearance at the Embassy to file a petition in Indonesia.

To file the I-130 petition, you can come to the Immigrant Visa Unit, Monday – Friday from 0730-1100. No appointment is necessary. Please bring the completed form and document to file the petition;

1. I-130 petition

2. G-325A (completed one set with your information and the other set with your spouse information)

3. Passport (you and your wife; original and copy)

4. Birth Certificate (you and your wife; original and copy)

5. Marriage Certificate (original and copy)

6. Divorce Decree (if applicable – you and your wife; original and copy)

7. Fee of USD355.00 (payable in USD or Rupiah cash)

8. One photo of each

Immigrant Visa Unit

Embassy of the United States of America | Medan Merdeka Selatan 5 | Jakarta 10110 | Indonesia

Email: JakIV@state.gov | Fax +62 (21) 385-7189 | internet: http://jakarta.usembassy.gov

So I sent The Immigrant Visa (IV) unit of the US Embassy Jakarta this email, hoping to get some help with my DCF...

Hello, My name is Jeff and I am an American citizen currently living and working in Indonesia.  I'm going to be marrying an Indonesian woman and we plan to return to the United States in June.  I'd like to know first of all if this embassy accepts direct consular filing, and if it does, what should my first step be for filing?

...so, anybody else been through this already? I'd love to hear any advice/stories about it. You can either reply to this thread, or just toss me a message. Greatly appreciated, thanks!

Thanks for all the replies, I seem to be getting a lot of help already, so I'll continue with this thread for the time being.

My contract ends on 2010, so I'll be here for a while. I'm not returning to the US until my contract is over, so I can't file any papers there. I am planning on getting married here in Indonesia ((Bali)), so I do not intend to get married in the US. I just want to be able to take my wife to the US to live with me.

Ok, time to go research the other forums. Thanks again everyone!

Now there are two optional:

1 you can get married, then you can start apply for CRI,K3,but your wife can't go with you to the US when your contract in Jakarta is over.

2 or you can apply for national CRI in Jakarta as soon as possible, hoping that you will be approved when your contract in Jakarta is over.Then you two can start for the US together.

Your mum can cosponsor for you,and the evidences at the interview including the photos of you two, the lists of photo call, the prints of your chating massage,email on line..an so on..

1) I thought If I got either the CRI or K3 I could leave with her. Why wouldn't I be able to? I want to bring her with me to the US so we can live there.

2) Whats the National CRI?

I have looked through these forums, but perhaps I'm missing particular threads or I'm not doing a complete search, but all I've found was information about K3.

Hello everyone. I'm an American working in Jakarta, Indonesia. I am planning on getting married, but before I do so I want to take the appropriate steps so I can bring my fiancee with my to the US once my contract in Jakarta is over. I think we will need to apply for the K3 visa, but I am unsure. What would you suggest? The things I worry about are as follows:

1) I work in Jakarta, so I don't have any income coming from the States. I believe I need to prove I am above the poverty line, but I am unsure how to prove this since I do not work in the US.

2) I'm 24 years old. I do not own any property back in the US. My mother owns a house; is it possible for her to cosponsor for me?

3) I've read a lot of horror stories of couples being denied because it was deemed their marriage was not bonafide. My marriage is very sincere, what would I need to prove this at an interview?

Thank you again for taking the time to read this.