Original Marriage Certificate Insufficient but Already filed I-130 - Remarrying soon. What to do next?

[Zayd 0]

Hi All.

Sorry to always have to post things that are complicated, convoluted, and not as upbeat as others. My question centers around the I-130 petition for my wife. My wife and I were married in November 2007 in the UK. We had a religious ceremony in a mosque in London, and we thought it was valid (the cleric in the mosque said so, and our lawyer agreed) and sufficient for immigration according to the laws of the UK. However, we later came to find out this wasn't the case and are now going to get remarried in another ceremony in Pakistan hoping to get it right this time.

However, our confusion and concern arises from the fact that we have already submitted our I-130 petition for a CR-1 visa. We have not heard anything back from the CSC yet, but we expect we may soon. The petition was honestly filed in good faith on the advice of our counsel (who we have now dismissed). We are not sure what to do now. Is the first petition totally invalid and we have to start over again? Can we amend the first petition with the new contract (which we are doing as a precaution) when we get the new certificate in the middle of March? We don't know if we should file a new I-130 petition with the revised information just to be safe. We spoke to two new lawyers about the problem, and neither knew what to do or what was the solution. I am not sure if CIS would be willing to help us straighten this out or not or even if I should call them. We are genuinely unsure about what to do.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[trailmix 77]

My personal opinion is that you need to call the USCIS, or make an info pass and go and see them (if you are in the U.S.).

I understand your hesitancy in calling them - "hi this is - you - and our marriage certificate is not valid, in fact legally we aren't really married, what should we do'?

But - by not contacting them you are just asking for more problems, I think - you need to contact them and give them the facts.

You will get married - then what - you show up at the interview with a completely different marriage certificate or you submit it to NVC where it sits on someones desk because they aren't sure what to do with it either.

It will probably work out one of 2 ways, they will either tell you to cancel the petition and start over or they will allow you to submit the new marriage certificate - but you won't know until you contact them.

Good luck

[Kez/JWolf 6]

Hi All.

Sorry to always have to post things that are complicated, convoluted, and not as upbeat as others. My question centers around the I-130 petition for my wife. My wife and I were married in November 2007 in the UK. We had a religious ceremony in a mosque in London, and we thought it was valid (the cleric in the mosque said so, and our lawyer agreed) and sufficient for immigration according to the laws of the UK. However, we later came to find out this wasn't the case and are now going to get remarried in another ceremony in Pakistan hoping to get it right this time.

However, our confusion and concern arises from the fact that we have already submitted our I-130 petition for a CR-1 visa. We have not heard anything back from the CSC yet, but we expect we may soon. The petition was honestly filed in good faith on the advice of our counsel (who we have now dismissed). We are not sure what to do now. Is the first petition totally invalid and we have to start over again? Can we amend the first petition with the new contract (which we are doing as a precaution) when we get the new certificate in the middle of March? We don't know if we should file a new I-130 petition with the revised information just to be safe. We spoke to two new lawyers about the problem, and neither knew what to do or what was the solution. I am not sure if CIS would be willing to help us straighten this out or not or even if I should call them. We are genuinely unsure about what to do.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

What marriage certificate did you file with your I-130???

Kez

[Lansbury 19]

If I recall correctly from the question you posted originally, your marriage is in accordance with your faith, so in the eyes of your faith you are legally married. What you didn't do was have a registrar present or register you marriage to meet the requirements of English law. At the time you were visitors to the UK.

If you are still in the UK why not go to your local registry office explain the situation and ask them what is necessary to make your marriage legal in the UK. My guess is a simple civic ceremony will do it. That way you have complied with your faith and UK law.

When we filed our I-130 we included what we thought was our marriage certificate but which wasn't the legal document. Nobody noticed and it was accepted as proof we were married. My guess, as good as any ones, is let the application carry on and if the certificate you sent is questioned produce the new legal one to support it.

[Zayd 0]

Hi Lansbury,

You have an excellent memory. Thanks for your help. Unfortunately, neither of us are still in the UK. One of her siblings is still in the UK and is working with the Office of Registrars to complete it. We are not sure if we will be successful though so we are trying to cover all of our possibilities to prevent any unnecessary delays. Do you know if we will need to give her sibling power of attorney or anything else we need to do to make sure this is completed properly in the UK?

Thanks for your advice on the case. I will follow your advice. You are very helpful.

[Lansbury 19]

Hi Lansbury,

You have an excellent memory. Thanks for your help. Unfortunately, neither of us are still in the UK. One of her siblings is still in the UK and is working with the Office of Registrars to complete it. We are not sure if we will be successful though so we are trying to cover all of our possibilities to prevent any unnecessary delays. Do you know if we will need to give her sibling power of attorney or anything else we need to do to make sure this is completed properly in the UK?

Thanks for your advice on the case. I will follow your advice. You are very helpful.

Thought perhaps you might no longer be in the UK.

I don't know about the power of attorney or if it would be necessary, hopefully the Office of Registrars will advice on what is required.

My bet is the USCIS have no more idea of what is a legal UK marriage certificate then they do a US one. Certainly our one wasn't a legal document, but we were legally married, and not only was it accepted for my visa my wife used it as proof for the name change in her US passport.

However having said that you should take the steps to make sure your marriage is legal by law, and not just in your faith, otherwise at sometime in the future it could cause serious problems.

Edited February 2, 2008 by Lansbury

[diadromous mermaid 36]

Hi All.

Sorry to always have to post things that are complicated, convoluted, and not as upbeat as others. My question centers around the I-130 petition for my wife. My wife and I were married in November 2007 in the UK. We had a religious ceremony in a mosque in London, and we thought it was valid (the cleric in the mosque said so, and our lawyer agreed) and sufficient for immigration according to the laws of the UK. However, we later came to find out this wasn't the case and are now going to get remarried in another ceremony in Pakistan hoping to get it right this time.

However, our confusion and concern arises from the fact that we have already submitted our I-130 petition for a CR-1 visa. We have not heard anything back from the CSC yet, but we expect we may soon. The petition was honestly filed in good faith on the advice of our counsel (who we have now dismissed). We are not sure what to do now. Is the first petition totally invalid and we have to start over again? Can we amend the first petition with the new contract (which we are doing as a precaution) when we get the new certificate in the middle of March? We don't know if we should file a new I-130 petition with the revised information just to be safe. We spoke to two new lawyers about the problem, and neither knew what to do or what was the solution. I am not sure if CIS would be willing to help us straighten this out or not or even if I should call them. We are genuinely unsure about what to do.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

How, or by what means did you later come to find out that the marriage is not sufficient for immigration?

[Zayd 0]

Hi All.

Sorry to always have to post things that are complicated, convoluted, and not as upbeat as others. My question centers around the I-130 petition for my wife. My wife and I were married in November 2007 in the UK. We had a religious ceremony in a mosque in London, and we thought it was valid (the cleric in the mosque said so, and our lawyer agreed) and sufficient for immigration according to the laws of the UK. However, we later came to find out this wasn't the case and are now going to get remarried in another ceremony in Pakistan hoping to get it right this time.

However, our confusion and concern arises from the fact that we have already submitted our I-130 petition for a CR-1 visa. We have not heard anything back from the CSC yet, but we expect we may soon. The petition was honestly filed in good faith on the advice of our counsel (who we have now dismissed). We are not sure what to do now. Is the first petition totally invalid and we have to start over again? Can we amend the first petition with the new contract (which we are doing as a precaution) when we get the new certificate in the middle of March? We don't know if we should file a new I-130 petition with the revised information just to be safe. We spoke to two new lawyers about the problem, and neither knew what to do or what was the solution. I am not sure if CIS would be willing to help us straighten this out or not or even if I should call them. We are genuinely unsure about what to do.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

How, or by what means did you later come to find out that the marriage is not sufficient for immigration?

Sorry for the delay in responding. I am traveling for work so it is difficult to come online. We found the document was insufficient when we did more research into the contract (after thinking more about the whole process and the gracious help of Lansbury). We are just afraid that we will waste all of this time and have to start over.

Once we get the new marriage document when I return from Pakistan, I am still debating whether or not to call CIS as I am still afraid the call will raise a red flag needlessly. Lansbury's experience is reassuring. Neither my wife nor I are still in the UK. I am in the US and she is in Pakistan. We spoke to the registrar's office in the UK and they said it was a home office issue and they could not help. The Home Office did not provide any assistance so it seems options to legalize this in England are not blossoming. My new lawyer thinks that since this original marriage was in good faith and we thought it wsa legal that CIS will not reject it outright or reset our priority date. He did not know for sure though and had no way to find out. So it is difficult.