Decree Absolute for UK

[Linababe 0]

Just forward planning yet again! .... I heard that the Decree Absolute for the UKC is sometimes not sufficient enough for the K1 process and some applicants get RFE because they want something official. Well I was married before and all I have is the Decree Absoulte which is 1 sheet of paper that states the marriage between my ex and me has been disolved on .. (date). It has the court stamp on it in red ink. But in my case they had spelt my name wrong so a few years later I asked for that to be changed and they asked for me to send this paper back to them - all they did was to write in pen my correct spelling and the date that it was amended and stamped it again with the court stamp. Now I am worried... did anyone get a RFE because they wanted an offical paper? If so how offical can we get? what should I be asking for? any ideas anyone??

Lina (UKC)

[rebeccajo 14]

Well, your decree absolute is THE paper they want to see, so I am not sure that your separation agreement, etc. is necessary at all - somebody else step up to the plate here and PLEASE correct me if I am wrong. You have the paper that shows you are free to marry. And it needs to be included with the I-129F when it is filed - not just produced at the consulate stage.

Regarding the mis-spell, send the decree absolute with the I-129F and include a cover letter stating what you just told us. The second court seal is on the document and it backs up your story - I think you will be fine.

The only other thing I can think of you could do is go to your registrar's office and ask them for some other 'official' type of proof. I am a legal secretary here in the states, and while I am familiar with record retention here, I don't know a thing about the UK. Here there are master books that are kept in courthouses that show names, dates, etc. of domestic court proceedings and the little courthouse here would be happy to help someone out - don't know about your situation.

The second thing I might suggest is that you e-mail the London consulate with your question. You will need to take the ORIGINAL decree absolute the day of your interview (your fiance can send a photocopy with his I-129F petition). I am sure they can give you the answer as to whether or not the name problem and/or the lack of any supporting documents will be a problem.

The email for the embassy is londonconsular.state.gov.

Sorry...e-mail is LondonConsular@state.gov.

Edited February 26, 2006 by rebeccajo

[ladybird216 2]

We did get an RFE for NOT sending in the final divorce decree....but we DID send it (photocopy of course as that is what they required for the initial filing of the I-129F). What we did was send it again and highlight the words DECREE ABSOLUTE on the bottom of the document and it was accepted then.

I just don't think they knew what they were looking at the first time because the decree absolute doesn't look very impressive...so I suggest doing the highlight thingy and see if that works. Good luck

Jen

[digbeezgrl 0]

When I sent off for a Decree, not only was my name spelled wrong (a one-letter error) but my birth year

was incorrect by one year as well. I called the 800 number for USCIS and was told that it needs to be exact... my fiance is British as well.

SO..... I spent another $75 getting a new copy of my marriage certificate. I was then told to send BOTH back to the NYS Vital Statistics Bureau, wherein they would examine the marriage certificate and the divorce decree, and send me an AMENDED divorce decree. If it comes back with PEN marks on it, I have to admit I'll be livid. These types of mistakes are easy enough to make, fair enough, but SHEESH> Just another hold up. And the pen marks, if that's all they do, had better be damn well good enough to prove whatever. I am getting sick of this already!

I was told 2-4 weeks to receive my 'amended' divorce decree, which therein proves without a doubt your ablility to remarry freely.

They do NOT want to see separation agreements, and all that stuff. I asked. Just the decree. Hope this helps!

~Signed,

Someone Who Feels Your Pain

[rebeccajo 14]

When I sent off for a Decree, not only was my name spelled wrong (a one-letter error) but my birth year

was incorrect by one year as well. I called the 800 number for USCIS and was told that it needs to be exact... my fiance is British as well.

SO..... I spent another $75 getting a new copy of my marriage certificate. I was then told to send BOTH back to the NYS Vital Statistics Bureau, wherein they would examine the marriage certificate and the divorce decree, and send me an AMENDED divorce decree. If it comes back with PEN marks on it, I have to admit I'll be livid. These types of mistakes are easy enough to make, fair enough, but SHEESH> Just another hold up. And the pen marks, if that's all they do, had better be damn well good enough to prove whatever. I am getting sick of this already!

I was told 2-4 weeks to receive my 'amended' divorce decree, which therein proves without a doubt your ablility to remarry freely.

They do NOT want to see separation agreements, and all that stuff. I asked. Just the decree. Hope this helps!

~Signed,

Someone Who Feels Your Pain

Well, to those of you who are new here, the 800 number is affectionately known on VJ as 'the mis-information line', so what you were told may not have been necessarily true.

That said though, I DO think getting corrected court copies is a good idea. I personally would feel better having them.

I also now remember that I didn't send my US separation agreement. My decree was 15 pages - mentally I was getting them mixed in my brain.

What would be the procedure in the UK for getting corrected copies of the Decree Absolute though?

Edited February 26, 2006 by rebeccajo

[Linababe 0]

WEll when my name was mispelled as I said in my first post I rang the court place and told them there was a typing error and could they ammend it all they told me was to send my original in and they ammended it with a pen and stamped it. I got it back in like approx 3 weeks.

What would be the procedure in the UK for getting corrected copies of the Decree Absolute though?

Thank you all for your comments _ i really just wanted to hear from the UKC's on what they did. Im gonna speak to my fiance today and see if he hasnt mailed the application in yet and if it is possible for him to highlight the bit on the bottom of my paper where it says "Certificate making Decree Nisi Absolute (Divorce)" Thats the only thing i can see that shows that this one single sheet of paper is my decree absolute and I am free to marry. IF he has already mailed it then well I guess I shall have to wait for the RFE LOL

Lina (UKC)

[rebeccajo 14]

Lina, most of the responses you will get here will be from USC's.

That doesn't mean we can't help you. Or at least it shouldn't.

Edited February 26, 2006 by rebeccajo

[Linababe 0]

Lina, most of the responses you will get here will be from USC's.

That doesn't mean we can't help you. Or at least it shouldn't.

Oh understand and I am sorry if I offended anyone, maybe i didnt word it right I meant the UK part of the couple i guess. I know that every piece of advice, comments are very useful and I thank everyone for that, it is very much appreciated.

Lina (UKC)

[Jaylen Brit 0]

Lina - I havent got as far as NOA2 yet myself - so I dont know what they will make of the one page Absolute doc..I may take a copy of the NISI into interview as well if they dont RFE the Absolute just to be on safe side.

Personally if you've already had the ABSOLUTE annotated by a court appointed person / agent and stamped with their seal that SHOULD be enough - I Don't THINK the registar at the court WILL produce a new document - the only other avenue would be to go back to your original solicitor and ask if the document can be re-generated but that will probably cost alot

[Freda 0]

Hey there,

Not sure if my response will be of any help. I am a Canadian citizen and my USC fiance also had a Decree Absolute. His didn't have any missplellings or wrong dates but it was over 20 years old and in really bad condition very faded and hard to read. We sent a photo copy of it with the I-129F and I was also worried about getting an RFE over it. We didn't get any RFE's and we are now waiting on our packet 4 from Montreal. I am having him send the original to me to take with me to Montreal to the interview just incase but so far no one seems to have had a problem with it. Hope it helps.

[Daisy 0]

My decree absolute is a poor photocopy with no seal on it.

Use the following link to the UK county courts service. You have a choice to apply to central archives or directly to the court that granted your original decree absolute.

www.hmcourts-service.gsi.gov.uk

Explain your situation re amended paperwork with your request.

Good Luck.

with best wishes, daisy

[rebeccajo 14]

My decree absolute is a poor photocopy with no seal on it.

Use the following link to the UK county courts service. You have a choice to apply to central archives or directly to the court that granted your original decree absolute.

www.hmcourts-service.gsi.gov.uk

Explain your situation re amended paperwork with your request.

Good Luck.

with best wishes, daisy

And that, Daisy, sounds like the answer we may have been looking for!

[Peter Miami 0]

Yes!

[annelizabeth 1]

I agree, the UK decree absolute isn't very impressive, but mine was accepted without any problem.

You should see the police clearance certificate too! It is so pathetic that I was convinced it wasn't the real thing at all and simply an acknowledgement! (Advance warning for when you get to that stage!)

[Sacha 0]

Has anyone encountered this situation.....the surname on the Decree Absolut is the married name instead of the maiden name.

Basically, when the divorce was filed, it was filed as "Sacha Jones versus Steven Jones" instead of Sacha Smith (maiden name) versus Steven Jones. So obviously the Decree Absolut came back as Sacha Jones, which is all fine until....

My fiance started the application for my K1 visa where the name we used on the application was Sacha Smith (maiden name) instead of Sacha Jones. And having sent alone with it, the Decree Absolut which said Sacha Jones, I believe they may require some proof that my name has officially been reverted back?

I have applied to have my name officially changed back to my maiden name (via UK deed poll), but can you tell me whether this is necessary for the application?

Edited February 27, 2006 by Sacha