Married but divorce not final

[Black Velvet 4]

Here's a complicated case. I will use alias name. In 2006, Joe was married to Mary (Mexico). Mary filed for divorce in Mexico. Joe re-married and had a child two years ago. When Joe was getting ready to file for AOS, he contacted the ex-wife to get a copy of the divorce decree. Joe found out that the attorney never filed the paperwork. Eventually, Joe's divorce became final.

Joe contacted an immigration attorney. Joe was advised to re-marry the current wife. In other words, the first marriage was not valid. He did just that and remarried the second wife/mother of his child. Now, he is worried that he will be denied because he was married to two women at the same time. I told him to explain the circumstances in a cover letter, but he is afraid that he will be deported. Does anyone have any sound advice? He can't afford to pay any legal fees.

[NancyNguyen 1,658]

This is not a Do-It-Yourself process, you need help from an experienced attorney. Many advices will make situation worse... Good luck.

[Penguin_ie 5,997]

Agree, time for an atorney, especially since both women are foreigners.

[Black Velvet 4]

The first wife is Mexican. His current wife is a U.S. citizen.

[William33 110]

The first wife is Mexican. His current wife is a U.S. citizen.

Surmising that this is "Joe's" first attempt for US immigration benefits, what type of Visa did he receive? K-1?

[Black Velvet 4]

Surmising that this is "Joe's" first attempt for US immigration benefits, what type of Visa did he receive? K-1?

Yes, this is is first attempt for US immigration benefits. "Joe" used to work on a cruise line. That's how he met his current wife (American). She's American. He came here on a B2 visa, and is now trying to adjust his status. He has a child with his wife, and does not want to risk getting deported. He admits that it was his fault for not following up. He assumed that the Mexican lawyer submitted all of the paperwork (divorce).

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

He hasn't committed any intentional fraud, so there's no issue there. He hasn't received any immigration benefits based on the first invalid marriage to his US citizen wife (e.g., he didn't get a K1 or spousal visa) so there's no issue of either immigration fraud or being ineligible for a prior immigration benefit.

As long as he's now legally married to his US citizen wife then I don't see an issue. FWIW, this is relatively common in the United States because there's no national database for marriages. Many people get married thinking they're divorced, only to find out later that the divorce was either never filed or never completed. Most states now require a copy of the divorce decree for all previous marriages in order to try to prevent this from happening. I've never heard of someone being deported for bigamy when the overlapping marriages were clearly a mistake.

[Black Velvet 4]

He hasn't committed any intentional fraud, so there's no issue there. He hasn't received any immigration benefits based on the first invalid marriage to his US citizen wife (e.g., he didn't get a K1 or spousal visa) so there's no issue of either immigration fraud or being ineligible for a prior immigration benefit.

As long as he's now legally married to his US citizen wife then I don't see an issue. FWIW, this is relatively common in the United States because there's no national database for marriages. Many people get married thinking they're divorced, only to find out later that the divorce was either never filed or never completed. Most states now require a copy of the divorce decree for all previous marriages in order to try to prevent this from happening. I've never heard of someone being deported for bigamy when the overlapping marriages were clearly a mistake.

Thanks for the clarification. Should he include a cover letter explaining his circumstance? Should he indicate marriage and divorce dates without a letter?

[LIFE'SJOURNEY 970]

What is the time gap between marrying wife #2 twice? Did they file any legals papers as hub/wife doing the time span they thought they were legally married the first time. Did they get re-married in the same court house/state ?

My concern is this what was their request to the state/court house as to what they wanted to happen to the 1st marriage attempt documents. Have they been stamped as void?