What happens if at interview our marriage turns out to be not valid?

[tuesdaysgone 0]

Please can you advise me regarding my situation. My wife and I were advised at the interview that their is a clause in my wifes divorce papers. It says she cannot remarry for 60 days. We were under the impression this had applied to the state of Alabama(the state she had her divorce and the state we are residents in), and that some states like Florida and Nevada do not recognise this waiting period and will marry people regardless.

At that time my wife contacted the Florida courthouse to check this information and she was advised that this was correct.

25 days after the final day of judgement on her divorce papers, we travelled to Florida and got married, at the time of the marriage we brought the divorce papers to the courthouse to show my wife was now legally divorced and able to be remarried. We have the marriage certificate and marriage license.

The USCIS interviewing officer said she was unsure of this and she would be contacting an immigration attorney to check this out.

I have been trying to research this scenario on the internet and I have a bad feeling that regardless of what state you remarry in, the 60 days applies to all states, which may mean our marriage is not valid.

If this is the case, where do I stand? Do I need to remarry now? Will I have to apply to adjust status completely? Will I be able to adjust status as originally I entered on a student visa, I am no longer a student and have withdrawn my status so will I have to go back to my home country and apply for a different visa completely?

[Otto 83]

Well that is indeed a good question ("What happens if...")... I presume the divorce decree contains language to the effect "Must wait x-days/months to remarry" and this is what is 'confusing' the IO (some states have no waiting period, some do but do not have it in the language of the divorce decree) - I would think your marriage is valid in the state you married in (FL) and hopefully USCIS will see it that way too. I don't know the answer - sounds like the IO didn't aether. Did they tell you they would be in contact with you?

(By the way - your profile indicates you're filing a K-3, when in fact you're not - to avoid confusion from folks that may try to help, it would be great if you changed your profile and added the correct timelines as seen in your signature..)

[tuesdaysgone 0]

Yes she said that it will be passed on to an immigration attorney to check. I really hope your right, we checked it at the time and was definately advised we could indeed marry due to being out of state.

[tuesdaysgone 0]

I had a look at my profile but cannot see where it says K3? Sure its my profile?

[tuesdaysgone 0]

Right we have spoken to the lady that married us, she has said there is no waiting period in Florida to remarry. We did provide her with my wife's divorce documents and that our marriage in Florida was 100% legal.

The question is that, is our marriage legal in Alabama? Which state supercides who and how will USCIS perceive it?

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

In the USA, a contractual clause pertaining to a time frame when one party is allowed to remarry has only validity in regard to the contents of the contract itself, i.e., "if you re-marry earlier than 60 days, you won't get a penny of the millions I have set up for you to be paid as spousal support," but it does not affect the legality of a new marriage.

Edited September 14, 2009 by Just Bob