divorce and proof of relationship

[HighwayStar 0]

Yesterday I was reading the thread about an interview gone very wrong, and a doubt came suddenly to me. My fiancé got his official divorce decree about three weeks ago, which means we started our relationship when he was still not free in a strictly legal sense. We met online in the spring of 2006, and met in person for the first time in October of the same year, when he had been legally separated for about three months. He was married in North Carolina, and is now a resident of Virginia - both states in which a full year of separation is mandatory before one can file divorce papers.

From what I have been reading here, it seems to be rather common for people to start relationships during the period leading to a divorce, and to have to wait until the divorce is final before they can file for a K-1. However, I wonder if the fact he was not free when we started our relationship may jeopardise our chances of getting a visa. Another thing is, I am almost 9 years older than him, though it should be quite evident to the adjudicators that I'm not out for a Green Card scam. (they just have to look at my current employer). Do you think either of these factors could cause problems? I would be especially grateful for contributions by 'older' members (I am 47), or those who are or were in a similar situation.

[Lona.C. 16]

Yesterday I was reading the thread about an interview gone very wrong, and a doubt came suddenly to me. My fiancé got his official divorce decree about three weeks ago, which means we started our relationship when he was still not free in a strictly legal sense. We met online in the spring of 2006, and met in person for the first time in October of the same year, when he had been legally separated for about three months. He was married in North Carolina, and is now a resident of Virginia - both states in which a full year of separation is mandatory before one can file divorce papers.

From what I have been reading here, it seems to be rather common for people to start relationships during the period leading to a divorce, and to have to wait until the divorce is final before they can file for a K-1. However, I wonder if the fact he was not free when we started our relationship may jeopardise our chances of getting a visa. Another thing is, I am almost 9 years older than him, though it should be quite evident to the adjudicators that I'm not out for a Green Card scam. (they just have to look at my current employer). Do you think either of these factors could cause problems? I would be especially grateful for contributions by 'older' members (I am 47), or those who are or were in a similar situation.

as long as you can prove that both where legaly divorced when you filled the I 129f , there is no problem , I met my husband when both of us where legaly seperated and where going trough divorces , just include a copy of the divorce certificates ,

as to the age I dont see it as a problem neather both of you are of age and legaly able to get married without parental aproval , so good luck

[franklie 0]

The only requirement. as far as I am aware, is that both individuals are free to marry based on the local laws of where they live. IOW, if you are free to marry based on the laws of Italy and your fiance is free to marry based on the laws of Virginia when the application is sent in to USCIS then there is no issue for the USCIS.

The requirements of marriagability (I hope it is a word) are to prevent bigamy which is a crime in the United states.

[pushbrk 13,172]

The only requirement. as far as I am aware, is that both individuals are free to marry based on the local laws of where they live. IOW, if you are free to marry based on the laws of Italy and your fiance is free to marry based on the laws of Virginia when the application is sent in to USCIS then there is no issue for the USCIS.

The requirements of marriagability (I hope it is a word) are to prevent bigamy which is a crime in the United states.

While that's true, there's far more to obtaining a fiance(e) visa than "meeting requirements". There's a lot of subjective judgment on the part of Consular officers. On the USCIS end for "approving a petition" meeting the requirements and clearing security checks are pretty straight forward, as is the evaluation of evidence of meeting in person in the last two years.

Things are far more objective at the Consular stage. That's where evidence of an ongoing bona fide relationship is evaluated. People with potential red flags are wise to be very diligent in presenting evidence of bona fides and be prepared for tougher questioning.

After all that, you'll probably sail through with ease.

[CBR 0]

My situation is very similar. I'm the USC, 11 years older than my fiance. We started seeing each other while I was separated but not divorced yet. Filed the i-129f 6 months after the divorce though.

I'm currently waiting for NOA2 (going crazy with worry!). If you are interested you can PM me and I'll let you know what happens with us.

Did you file already?

[HighwayStar 0]

No, I haven't filed yet - I sent my own part of the paperwork (plus quite a bit of evidence I had been keeping at home) to my fiancé a few days ago, and he'll send the petition when he gets all that. It should be a question of days now.

I've never been married, so the problem is not on my side of things. However, we shouldn't have any problems in proving either that we have met in the past two years (I even have boarding cards in both our names, showing that we took the same flight from Europe to DC in July), or that we have a bonafide relationship. In the coming months he should come to see me at least once, and then we have plenty of emails and MSN chat logs to prove we keep in touch regularly.

[CBR 0]

Well that all sounds good to me. And he is past the 1 year waiting period? Shouldn't be a problem at all then.

[franklie 0]

While that's true, there's far more to obtaining a fiance(e) visa than "meeting requirements". There's a lot of subjective judgment on the part of Consular officers. On the USCIS end for "approving a petition" meeting the requirements and clearing security checks are pretty straight forward, as is the evaluation of evidence of meeting in person in the last two years.

Things are far more objective at the Consular stage. That's where evidence of an ongoing bona fide relationship is evaluated. People with potential red flags are wise to be very diligent in presenting evidence of bona fides and be prepared for tougher questioning.

After all that, you'll probably sail through with ease.

Pushbrk, I completely agree with what you wrote. My response addressed only the part of the USCIS requirements regarding elegibility to marry. If you are not legally able to marry someone in your locale you definitely will not be able to receive a K1 visa. That is why they ask for signed final divorce decrees in the K1 application.

[L & P 0]

hi CRB,

Your post just got me worried. I am the foreign one here ....we met in may 06 ...we were still both married but both living separately from ex...I got my divorce in December 06...he got his in March 07 and we filed I 129 in october 07...Can we expect a problem ?

Thanks

Laurence

[snowfrostedlashes 0]

Provided that you have your final divorce decrees in hand - which you need copies of to send in with the K1 application anyway - having had a prior marriage that went tits up and meeting someone else whilst in the divorce process makes no difference. I'm pretty sure I recall people posting on these forums about mailing off a petition as soon as they had received their divorce papers - after all, some divorces take years!

As far as I can determine the interview is far more about checking that everything is in order paperwork wise and then looking at proof of a genuine relationship - which really shouldn't pose a problem to anyone in a genuine relationship. So don't worry!

I got my final divorce papers last September and Mark posted off the K1 in December, but we'd already been in a relationship for just over a year by that point (my ex dragged his feet over the divorce). If they query how we went from friends to a romantic relationship, I'm more than happy to tell the story

[DerekJ 0]

I think what people have to understand is that the USCIS does not make value judgments as to how you got where you are. It is just a matter of demonstrating that you meet the requirements and that you have a bona fide relationship. Correct me if I'm wrong but from what I understand, it doesn't even matter if the person you are petitioning for had a hand in the demise of your prior marriage. If that were the case, it is likely that a whole lot of VJers would not have gotten their visas.

[KimS 0]

I think you are refering to my fiancee's and my thread.

We finally got approved. got the call earlier today.

We have similar circumstances, met online (in a game not a dating site. they WILL ask you about this, so you need to name the service that you used).

We started our relationship while she was still legally married to her x-husband.

(note, you cannot file anything until you are both legally free from any past relationships)

Your age is of little importance, since my fiancee is 12 years older then me.

Make sure that you have a notarised copy of the divorce decree with you to the interview (VERY important).

If your primary way of communication is chat (like we had) you might want to start to print logs (make sure you remove any "personal" and for your eyes only, information).

Bring EVERYTHING regardless of how insignificant it might look.

Main thing is to be prepared. I wasn't completely prepared and it ended up in extending the decision about 1,5 weeks.

[HighwayStar 0]

OK, thank you very much for your feedback! Yes, I was indeed referring to the case of Kim and Jen, though yesterday evening I saw that everything had ended well (congrats! I'm really very happy for both of you).

Anyway, just to get a few facts straight, my fiancé is the USC - I am Italian and live in Rome. As to having a hand in the demise of his marriage, this couldn't be farther from the truth. His marriage had been on the rocks for years, and by the time we met it had to all intents and purposes disintegrated beyond repair. I never encouraged him to separate, nor did he promise me anything at all - as a matter of fact, I only learned much later how bad things really were. His wife was as unhappy as he was, and she immediately agreed to the separation. We met three months later - I would have NEVER accepted to enter into a real-life relationship with a man who wasn't at least legally separated.

Sorry about the rant, but I'd rather avoid being judged on the basis of some superficial impression.

That said, as I've been lurking around VJ for months before I finally decided to become a member, I know everything about chat logs. I have all our MSN logs saved on my HD, and I'll bring as many as I can to the interview - which is still quite a few months away! Same applies to emails and everything. Luckily, as I said, my fiancé will probably come to visit me in March, and I am sure this will count towards proving our ongoing relationship (I'll tell him to save his boarding passes). As to the site where we met, it was neither a dating nor a gaming site, but rather a music forum. As some of you will have gathered from my screen name, I'm very much into Seventies rock music. The site is quite a big one, and we are registered with most of our personal data, so it should be dead easy for them to verify.

[Jasman0717 9]

The requirement is you both must be legally able to marry. Having a relationship before the divorce final has not bearing with the petition.