**Really worried*** Just found out

[Vero77 0]

That my husband was still married when we got married. I've been legal resident (based on marriage with a US citizen) for more than 6 years... I'm ready to become a US citizen and file my N-400 BUT.... they ask me for divorce papers from my husband's prior marriages (he is my first and only husband)

now he is a Vietnam vet and suffers from all kind of mental illneses PTSD, flashbacks, etc.

So he says that he doesn't remember when he got married or divorced or nothing. I know that he was still married because we just found out his ex and she told us. She lives in GA and we live in CA.

Now...not sure if I really need his divorce papers when I file based on ... I got into marriage in good faith and we've been married since 2000.

I cannot pay a lawyer, I was ready to do the paper but now I really don't know...

If anybody knows if the divorce papers after 5 years of being resident will delay my citizenship from going through...

i'm really scarred to get caught and being deported. And everything will be FINITO!!!

Please help!!!

[yogib37 3]

That my husband was still married when we got married. I've been legal resident (based on marriage with a US citizen) for more than 6 years... I'm ready to become a US citizen and file my N-400 BUT.... they ask me for divorce papers from my husband's prior marriages (he is my first and only husband)

now he is a Vietnam vet and suffers from all kind of mental illneses PTSD, flashbacks, etc.

So he says that he doesn't remember when he got married or divorced or nothing. I know that he was still married because we just found out his ex and she told us. She lives in GA and we live in CA.

Now...not sure if I really need his divorce papers when I file based on ... I got into marriage in good faith and we've been married since 2000.

I cannot pay a lawyer, I was ready to do the paper but now I really don't know...

If anybody knows if the divorce papers after 5 years of being resident will delay my citizenship from going through...

i'm really scarred to get caught and being deported. And everything will be FINITO!!!

Please help!!!

Get YOURSELF A GOOD LAWYER

Cause if he was married when you two got married, Guess what? you are not Legaly married and maybe out of Staus. Get a GOOD Lawyer

Good Luck

Yogi

[Sylvia_n_Joseph 3]

It isn't impossible to straight this out. My second husband had the same issues. The divorce had been filed but he married again without ever completing the divorce. They can do something that backdates the divorce . I know he paid lots of money to have it done. But is made everything valid. See if there was ever a divorce filing and how far it got.

[~Laura and Nick~ 5]

I just wanted to say I'm sorry.

I wish you much luck and strength during this hard time.

[Nanusia & Lukaszek 0]

That my husband was still married when we got married. I've been legal resident (based on marriage with a US citizen) for more than 6 years... I'm ready to become a US citizen

You became an LPR based on marriage, right? So you had to have gone through the AOS process. They would have checked the dates on the divorce decree and caused problems at that time and not issued a green card.

[mawilson 2,133]

Bury it. It'll be our little secret.

Seriously though - you'll be risking a lot trying to sort this mess out and may end up getting

deported. It may be easier to just bury it and live with the secret.

Edited January 4, 2008 by mawilson

[*JG* 2]

That my husband was still married when we got married. I've been legal resident (based on marriage with a US citizen) for more than 6 years... I'm ready to become a US citizen

You became an LPR based on marriage, right? So you had to have gone through the AOS process. They would have checked the dates on the divorce decree and caused problems at that time and not issued a green card.

Hmmmmm.....this makes sense. First thing I would do is track down a copy of the divorce decree. In Missouri, we have a Missouri Courts website where all you have to do is type in a name and it brings up all cases. I found my own divorce dispostion on there. Maybe you can use something like that to start.

[mawilson 2,133]

That my husband was still married when we got married. I've been legal resident (based on marriage with a US citizen) for more than 6 years... I'm ready to become a US citizen

You became an LPR based on marriage, right? So you had to have gone through the AOS process. They would have checked the dates on the divorce decree and caused problems at that time and not issued a green card.

I'm guessing they didn't submit the divorce decree because her husband didn't realise

he was married.

USCIS have no way of checking a person's marital status (too many states, too many

registries), so they have to go on the information supplied by the applicant.

[sparkofcreation 0]

Bury it. It'll be our little secret.

Seriously though - you'll be risking a lot trying to sort this mess out and may end up getting

deported. It may be easier to just bury it and live with the secret.

Except that if they EVER find out, even AFTER her citizenship is approved, her citizenship will be REVOKED and she will be DEPORTED and BANNED FOR LIFE.

To make a mistake, find out, and admit it is expensive and time-consuming to fix. To lie on the N-400 by putting a false divorce date in the "Date Spouse's Prior Marriage Ended" box is grounds for revocation of citizenship and a lifetime ban.

[diadromous mermaid 36]

That my husband was still married when we got married. I've been legal resident (based on marriage with a US citizen) for more than 6 years... I'm ready to become a US citizen and file my N-400 BUT.... they ask me for divorce papers from my husband's prior marriages (he is my first and only husband)

now he is a Vietnam vet and suffers from all kind of mental illneses PTSD, flashbacks, etc.

So he says that he doesn't remember when he got married or divorced or nothing. I know that he was still married because we just found out his ex and she told us. She lives in GA and we live in CA.

Now...not sure if I really need his divorce papers when I file based on ... I got into marriage in good faith and we've been married since 2000.

I cannot pay a lawyer, I was ready to do the paper but now I really don't know...

If anybody knows if the divorce papers after 5 years of being resident will delay my citizenship from going through...

i'm really scarred to get caught and being deported. And everything will be FINITO!!!

Please help!!!

Relying on the word of an ex-wife, as to what his purported marital status was when you married, might be unwise. Has she any reason to want to cause him concern?

[diadromous mermaid 36]

That my husband was still married when we got married. I've been legal resident (based on marriage with a US citizen) for more than 6 years... I'm ready to become a US citizen and file my N-400 BUT.... they ask me for divorce papers from my husband's prior marriages (he is my first and only husband)

now he is a Vietnam vet and suffers from all kind of mental illneses PTSD, flashbacks, etc.

So he says that he doesn't remember when he got married or divorced or nothing. I know that he was still married because we just found out his ex and she told us. She lives in GA and we live in CA.

Now...not sure if I really need his divorce papers when I file based on ... I got into marriage in good faith and we've been married since 2000.

I cannot pay a lawyer, I was ready to do the paper but now I really don't know...

If anybody knows if the divorce papers after 5 years of being resident will delay my citizenship from going through...

i'm really scarred to get caught and being deported. And everything will be FINITO!!!

Please help!!!

If your marriage to him were to be discovered and determined void, having been in the USA for 6 years unlawfully would trigger a 10 year bar if you should ever leave the country. Whatever you do, decide before leaving the USA. There's a chance that if your marriage is legally void (because he was not yet divorced when he married you) it might be possible to remarry. There are lawyers that provide pro bono services, but for a complicated case such as this, they might be limited. I'd consider a consultation.

[pj1959us 0]

That my husband was still married when we got married. I've been legal resident (based on marriage with a US citizen) for more than 6 years... I'm ready to become a US citizen and file my N-400 BUT.... they ask me for divorce papers from my husband's prior marriages (he is my first and only husband)

now he is a Vietnam vet and suffers from all kind of mental illneses PTSD, flashbacks, etc.

So he says that he doesn't remember when he got married or divorced or nothing. I know that he was still married because we just found out his ex and she told us. She lives in GA and we live in CA.

Now...not sure if I really need his divorce papers when I file based on ... I got into marriage in good faith and we've been married since 2000.

I cannot pay a lawyer, I was ready to do the paper but now I really don't know...

If anybody knows if the divorce papers after 5 years of being resident will delay my citizenship from going through...

i'm really scarred to get caught and being deported. And everything will be FINITO!!!

Please help!!!

This doesn't make sense. If you are LPR based on marriage, the question regarding any marriages/divorces came up at that time as well. What did you put on the original paperwork, and with what supporting documentation, when your permanent residency was approved in the first place?

PJ

[raymaga 25]

That my husband was still married when we got married. I've been legal resident (based on marriage with a US citizen) for more than 6 years... I'm ready to become a US citizen and file my N-400 BUT.... they ask me for divorce papers from my husband's prior marriages (he is my first and only husband)

now he is a Vietnam vet and suffers from all kind of mental illneses PTSD, flashbacks, etc.

So he says that he doesn't remember when he got married or divorced or nothing. I know that he was still married because we just found out his ex and she told us. She lives in GA and we live in CA.

Now...not sure if I really need his divorce papers when I file based on ... I got into marriage in good faith and we've been married since 2000.

I cannot pay a lawyer, I was ready to do the paper but now I really don't know...

If anybody knows if the divorce papers after 5 years of being resident will delay my citizenship from going through...

i'm really scarred to get caught and being deported. And everything will be FINITO!!!

Please help!!!

This doesn't make sense. If you are LPR based on marriage, the question regarding any marriages/divorces came up at that time as well. What did you put on the original paperwork, and with what supporting documentation, when your permanent residency was approved in the first place?

PJ

I have the same question. At the time of the original visa application and at the AOS stage, you were asked if either of you had been married previously and if so, to provide the divorce documents. What did you do at those stages? Did you say your husband had been married before, or did you say neither of you had been married before?

Does your husband acknowledge that he got married to his ex or does he not remember marrying her? I'm not clear on this point.