Divorce decree not found

[JFH 12,190]

Both my fiancé and I have been married before. He married at the age of 19 but divorced very quickly after - they were both teenagers and didn't really know what they were doing. My divorce was finalised last year. I have my divorce decree but his cannot be located anywhere. We know it was in California. He cannot remember which county as he was living out of state at the time, separated from her, and her father sent the paperwork to him. He just signed and returned the papers, glad to be rid of her. We have contacted a few counties that we think it could be but they have not been able to find it. For a while I wondered if the divorce had actually been finalised - maybe her father lost the forms or did not receive them back in the mail. But his former wife has since married twice so she must have been divorced to be able to remarry. We had contacted her father and his former wife several times including a reply envelope so as not to inconvenience them asking them to tell us where the divorce was filed. No response.

Although we can marry without it (we do not have to show proof of divorce to obtain a marriage license in the state where we are marrying in a few weeks time), we will need it for the IR1.

What can we do?

[fcat 79]

Not sure what the answer is but don't assume she had to show a divorce decree before getting married again, i didn't when we went to get a marriage license at the courthouse in VA!

[B & G 200]

Get on Google and type California case search, divorces are a matter of public record so you might be able to find which county his divorce was filed at.

Edited January 19, 2014 by B & G

[JFH 12,190]

Not sure what the answer is but don't assume she had to show a divorce decree before getting married again, i didn't when we went to get a marriage license at the courthouse in VA!

Yes, I assume she didn't have to show anything to get married again. After all, we are able to obtain a marriage licence where he currently lives with just our word that we are legally free to marry. No proof required. But I'm thinking if she was still married when she married again it would have been discovered at some point, probably.

We have a bit of time still as we are going to do an IR1 and wait until he has finished school and earning a regular wage before we apply for my visa.

Get on Google and type California case search, divorces are a matter of public record so you might be able to find which county his divorce was filed at.

Thanks. Will try that.

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

Any chance of tracking down the ex (or her parents- being older, they are less likely to have moved), and ask them?