Divorce Waiting Period?

[drnick 0]

My girlfriends divorce has just come through, Texas law states that she has to wait 30 days until she can get re-married.

Obviously a K-1 visa takes much longer than 30 but the question is can we file the initial K1 application now, or do we have to wait 30 days?

Thank you in advance for any information. We've waited soooo long for her divorce to be settled, now we just want to get on with things ASAP

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

You have to wait the 30 days You both must be free to marry and she isn't for 30 days

[Extreme happiness 9]

You can file the i129f once you have the divorce decree...by the time you are ready to get married it will be well past the 30 days...as you said you must wait 30 dys to remarry...not 30 dys before planning to get married...once you receive the divorce decree then old marriage is offically over

[drnick 0]

That's what I thought Extreme Happiness, from what I read we have to file the decree as evidence that the marriage is over, but there is nothing to say anything about the 30 waiting period. The period isn't mentioned on the decree, it only come into effect once you try and get a marriage license in the state of Texas.

But the other post is correct with the terminology, we must be free to marry.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

There has been at least one denial ( with no fee refund ) because someone didn't wait out the waiting period. Roll if dice if you wish but 30 days isn't long to wait to be sure you won't be denied ( and they may not deny it or it may be months later) The instructions state that you both must be free to marry. If it only counted at the end why wait for the divorce ?

[drnick 0]

Thanks NigeriaorBust, probably best to air on the side of caution, not worth the risk for the sake of 30 days.

[Anna Grant 169]

There has been at least one denial ( with no fee refund ) because someone didn't wait out the waiting period. Roll if dice if you wish but 30 days isn't long to wait to be sure you won't be denied ( and they may not deny it or it may be months later) The instructions state that you both must be free to marry. If it only counted at the end why wait for the divorce ?

I agree that it is probably not worth it for the sake of 30 days but the applicants only have to be 'free to marry' when the submit the application. It doesn't have to be in the state where they live. There are other states that have no waiting period (and some that have longer periods! Wisconsin is 6 months!)

For instance, we live in Illinois (no waiting period) but married in Wisconsin (6 month waiting period). When we submitted out I-129F, my husband had only been divorced for 2 months. But we then married in Wisconsin. Does that mean we should have not submitted our petition until 6 months had elapsed? No.

Here's the waiting periods for each state:

http://marriage.about.com/od/us/a/waitdivorce.htm

Don't use this page for definitive proof - check further.

Edited November 29, 2013 by Anna Grant

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

You can file the i129f once you have the divorce decree...by the time you are ready to get married it will be well past the 30 days...as you said you must wait 30 dys to remarry...not 30 dys before planning to get married...once you receive the divorce decree then old marriage is offically over

No, you have to wait the full waiting period after the decree. There have been denials for this. You must be 100% free to marry at the time the petition is sent.

[SoCalMark 49]

This is how mine worked well for me -- California judge will stamp your paperwork with six months in advance with a final date, when I was roughly three months close to that date I filed the I129 -- your paperwork takes at least that long anyhow but the STAMPED FINAL DECREE was sent. It was approved without a problem. In other words - "they crossed in the mail".

No, you have to wait the full waiting period after the decree. There have been denials for this. You must be 100% free to marry at the time the petition is sent.

Sorry ... you are not entirely right.

Edited November 29, 2013 by SoCalMark

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

This is how mine worked well for me -- California judge will stamp your paperwork with six months in advance with a final date, when I was roughly three months close to that date I filed the I129 -- your paperwork takes at least that long anyhow but the STAMPED FINAL DECREE was sent. It was approved without a problem. In other words - "they crossed in the mail".

Sorry ... you are not entirely right.

You were lucky as the rules states you must be free to marry when you file and your weren't even divorced. However that fact you got luck at step 1 could come back to bite you at ROC or citizenship

[Zedayn 485]

I agree that it is probably not worth it for the sake of 30 days but the applicants only have to be 'free to marry' when the submit the application. It doesn't have to be in the state where they live. There are other states that have no waiting period (and some that have longer periods! Wisconsin is 6 months!)

For instance, we live in Illinois (no waiting period) but married in Wisconsin (6 month waiting period). When we submitted out I-129F, my husband had only been divorced for 2 months. But we then married in Wisconsin. Does that mean we should have not submitted our petition until 6 months had elapsed? No.

Here's the waiting periods for each state:

http://marriage.about.com/od/us/a/waitdivorce.htm

Don't use this page for definitive proof - check further.

Your divorce isn't final until after the waiting period is over. If you divorce in a state where there is a waiting period, it does not mean you can remarry in a state that does not have a waiting period--you STILL have to wait until your waiting period is over before you can remarry.

No, you have to wait the full waiting period after the decree. There have been denials for this. You must be 100% free to marry at the time the petition is sent.

I completely agree with this. If anyone has been approved by not being 100% free to marry at the time of filing, you were basically lucky. However it will come back to bite you when someone catches the mistake later in the future.

[KayDeeCee 4,896]

This is how mine worked well for me -- California judge will stamp your paperwork with six months in advance with a final date, when I was roughly three months close to that date I filed the I129 -- your paperwork takes at least that long anyhow but the STAMPED FINAL DECREE was sent. It was approved without a problem. In other words - "they crossed in the mail".

Sorry ... you are not entirely right.

You were lucky and slipped through the cracks of the requirements. What if the adjudicator that looked at your case was a different person and paid attention the dates on your divorce decree, noticed you were not actually free to marry when you filed and denied you? Harpa is entirely correct. You must be free to marry at the time of filing. If you have a waiting period from your divorce, then you must wait till that period is over before filing the I-129F. Free to marry at the time of filing, means just that.

What if someone had a 3 month waiting period and filed anyway, but just so happened to get the speedy adjudication and had their file looked at 30 days after filing? Oops, they still have 2 months left on their waiting period and are not free to marry. The requirement is clear. It is not free to marry when you think the adjudicator might look at your case. It is free to marry when you actually file and place the I-129F in the mail.

[SparklePony 238]

30 days isn't that long. I would wait just on the side of caution. Gather everything in the meantime, prepare everything, and post that packet on the 31st day.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

This is how mine worked well for me -- California judge will stamp your paperwork with six months in advance with a final date, when I was roughly three months close to that date I filed the I129 -- your paperwork takes at least that long anyhow but the STAMPED FINAL DECREE was sent. It was approved without a problem. In other words - "they crossed in the mail".

Sorry ... you are not entirely right.

Were you ever issued a K-1 visa? From your timeline it looks like you never got it. Petition approval and visa approval are two different things.

There are stories on VJ of this exact issue causing denials, and this fact is clearly laid out in the laws.

[agrabs 250]

Agreed! There was a post on here back when I first sent our K1 application in 2011, where a couple was denied because they had filed their K1 application 2 weeks before his waiting period was up. The reason given was not free to marry. You have to be free to marry when you SUBMIT the application - not by the time you might approval. I tried to search for the link but couldnt find it.