Word of warning on foreign divorces:

[Jeanna 21]

Salaam and hi all. My fiance was thankfully approved but I wanted to give a word of warning to anyone else with a foreign divorce. My divorce was done in India; since there are several religious groups in India the government recognizes the right of each religion to handle their own affairs such as marriages, divorces, etc. Now they have to be registered at the appropriate government office but they are legal and binding.

I had a divorce from Mumbai, India in 2009. I was not present as the woman is not required to be present in an Islamic divorce proceeding. My paper was stamped by the head Qazi's office (Islamic judge) in Mumbai and on letterhead but was hand-written. I simply had it translated per USCIS requirements and didn't think anything of it.

When my fiance went for his interview he was temporarily denied based on this divorce. They were saying it was not proof of divorce and I needed a paper from the US as well. Understandably we were crushed! I sent the embassy an email showing that on the State Dept website they said they accept foreign divorce decrees but it took the embassy a week to accept it.

my thoughts to you is to contact a lawyer in your home state and make sure your foreign divorce is accepted there. Had I know it was a potential problem I would have paid to have it adjudicated here in the states. I know sometimes one little thing can tip the scale the wrong way and I don't want anyone to be apart longer than they have to. Just be sure you double check with an attorney that your state accepts the foreign decree and if, like mine, it is an Islamic court divorce and you were not present or it is in a different format than a "typical" American divorce decree, you might want to consider getting it adjudicated or whatever your local attorney suggests.

We were really afraid he would be denied and I just shudder to think what could have happened had the CO not been in a good mood that day or didn't like us for some reason.

Hopefully my fiance will get his visa within a week or two and he'll be on his way!