Some help with Venezuelan Divorce

[Krisnet55 0]

Hey guys need some help here on what to do.

My current girlfriend soon to be wife was previously married in Venezuela. Before moving to the US with me she started the divorce process and finalized it here in the US.

Now the problem is that in order to get married and start immigration procedures for the green card I believe they both require (not sure needed to get married)a divorce document, where the problem lies is that immigration asks that the divorce document has to be apostilled if the divorce has been done abroad. We went to the Venezuelan embassy and they told us that it needs to be done there, apostilled in Venezuela. Is there anythin we can do without her going back to Venezuela? She has over lapsed her stay so if she leaves she wont be able to get back in the US.

Some help please

[Krisnet55 0]

anyone?

[Deputy Purple 1,294]

Surely she has family there who can do it for her with a power of attorney...

[desert_fox 32]

Hey guys need some help here on what to do.

My current girlfriend soon to be wife was previously married in Venezuela. Before moving to the US with me she started the divorce process and finalized it here in the US.

Now the problem is that in order to get married and start immigration procedures for the green card I believe they both require (not sure needed to get married)a divorce document, where the problem lies is that immigration asks that the divorce document has to be apostilled if the divorce has been done abroad. We went to the Venezuelan embassy and they told us that it needs to be done there, apostilled in Venezuela. Is there anythin we can do without her going back to Venezuela? She has over lapsed her stay so if she leaves she wont be able to get back in the US.

Some help please

What are the plans....marriage and adjust status???

If she is a visa overstayer now....Its my understanding that they will not allow her to adjust staus without legally being in the US..

How did she arrive her???

[NickD 203]

Since my wife is from Venezuela, became very familiar with their courts and procedures, practically every attorney and judge has bank accounts in Miami where beside paying the regular fees to Venezuela, they want a little extra in their Miami banks accounts so they won't delay the court proceedings by 2--4 years. My wife has friends that came here and got a divorce in the likes of Las Vegas that was accepted by the USCIS. But in general, while the USA does recognize these divorces, countries like Colombia and Venezuela do not unless you get a divorce in those countries. So should work if your potential wife is never planning on going to Venezuela ever again.

Even with US citizenship and a US passport, the Venezuelan can't go back because on your US Passport, they put your place of birth on it, and if it is Venezuela, they won't let you in unless you have a Venezuelan passport. And since my wife still owns property there, but namely has an unmarried son over 21 I could not petition for, we had no choice but to have her get her divorce in Venezuela. It is taking us years for us to get her son here, but that is a different story. Then you learn the Venezuelan consulate isn't exactly helpful because they consider that a Venezuelan that comes to the USA is a traitor to their county. Think you are learning that as well.

Power of attorneys may be a solution, but again that has to be done with your Venezuelan consulate, you may not find them helpful. We had other complications as my wife never divorced her spouse because he left the country to avoid being arrested for both child and wife physical abuse, we had to locate him to satisfy the courts in Venezuela. She never applied for the divorce because under Venezuelan law, he owns the property and she thought with the divorce she and her kids would be thrown out on the street. But she was incorrect on that as they won't do that with minor children. Had a very strange relationship with her, we grew extremely dependent on each other for moral support, and maintained daily communication for over nine months until we finally met, was definitely love at first sight. But took another 15 months of all this legal stuff before she was free to come here. And yes, I fed their crooked attorneys and judges to get it done in that period of time rather than wait for years. Only to have to deal with the USCIS for another 4 1/2 years until that was finally over with even more stress and expense. And of course, my wife didn't want to part with her daughter,that was yet another mess to deal with. Our love for each other was certainly tested, to the extremes. But it all was worth it, we were really made for each other.

So to answer your question, I do know of Venezuelan women that got a divorce here that is recognized by the USCIS, but that ends their relationship with with Venezuela. In our last trip there, we met the parents of her lifetime friend that did that, they miss their daughter, as she can't come home to visit them. But are happy for her that she has a new life her.

Also learned in Venezuela and Colombia, typical for people staying there with unhappy marriages do not bother with a divorce, just separate and live with someone else. Not to long ago Venezuela and Colombia were one country, wife has relatives in Colombia and talk about her getting an inheritance from one of her relatives. We were told we should have our marriage registered into Colombia only to learn the Colombia does not recognized a Venezuelan divorce. No problem, they will go to Colombia and get a copy of the original divorce papers we have, let a judge read it over to make sure it complies with Colombian law, then will recognize it. All I have to do is to transfer some $4,000.00 in US funds from my bank account to a Miami bank. Kicking that around right now, we have all we need here, and just seems like more problems.

What can lead to a minor form of temptation, and believe me, this was only a short thought, even a more effective piece of paper with the USCIS is a death certificate than a divorce decree. Easy to do down there, but we sure didn't want that on our conscious. Met a lot of very wonderful people in both Venezuela and Colombia, but both have very corrupt governments, our USCIS seemed tame compared to them.

If your potential wife wants to maintain contact with her home country, she has no choice but to get her divorce there, have to think about the long term, it wasn't easy for us either, but our love for each other pulled us through.