Husband's divorce not final yet - CR1 Removing of COnditions Status

[qcgirlincali 0]

I don't know how to begin this. I am very confused right now. My husband and I got married in the Philippines three years ago. I got my greencard in 2011, and we will be having the removing of conditions done in a few months. However, we just found out yesterday (and you may find this hard to believe), that his previous marriage was not finalized. When he applied for I-130, he declared he was divorce in 2004 and submitted all the papers he had during the trial (e.g. forms on petition for dissolution of marriage, with court case number, etc). We never received an RFE (for a divorce decree or certificate of divorce) from the USCIS, NVC nor the embassy, so this is such a big shock for us after finding out that his divorce is not yet completed. Now, he is going to finish all the steps needed to finalize the previous marriage. In fact, we were able to locate his first wife's residence yesterday evening, and she was shocked too about the situation. The divorce papers will be served to her once my husband is done with the remaining paperwork.

I just have no idea what would be the repercussions of this to the legality of our marriage. Do I have to go back to the Philippines and annul our marriage (since it is technically void), and re-marry each other? Should we still go ahead with the process of the removing of conditions while his divorce is being finalized? Will I get deported by USCIS?

My husband and I married in good faith, and he never intended to put our marriage in jeopardy. All this time, he knew that he was divorced since that was his lawyer told him in court (he was adviced by his lawyer to divorce his wife on the ground of incurable insanity so he could get custody of their child, so that was what they did. Both him and the ex signed the papers and were told that they were divorced).

Any advice or tip would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my post. God bless us all.

P.S. By the way, when we got married in the Philippines, he declared he was divorced on the application for marriage for license, but the city hall didn't ask for his divorce decree either. We just submitted those other required documents like valid identification, affidavit of capacity from the embassy, etc)

[aaron2020 11,651]

You need a good immigration lawyer.

This is not a do-it-yourself situation. Your case is beyond the knowledge of this forum.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

First, how did he find out the divorce wasn't finalised? That's a pretty huge mistake on the part of the lawyer and pretty hard to mistake. Are you 100% sure?

To answer your questions, IF it's true and your husband has committed bigamy (which is illegal here AND in the Philippines), in the eyes of USCIS you have committed fraud (accidentally or not). Your marriage is invalid (as in, he is NOT your husband), your visa was invalid, your GC is invalid, ROC would be invalid. You could face a ban for misrepresentation (lying) on the immigration paperwork. Yes you could face deportation.

As Aaron stated above, this is something you need a GOOD immigration attorney for. You are/will be in a lot of trouble. You need to fix this NOW, as in Monday you need to speak to an attorney and get started on fixing it.