waiting time for indonesian divorce

[kurtndisty 9]

My fiance and I are in the process of preparing our i129f package. Our brief history: I am from North Carolina and she is from Indonesia. We were both months separated in our previous marriages when we started talking and building our relationship. I flew out to meet her in April. The best 3 weeks of our lives. We knew that we were to be together. My divorce was final in May while hers has just now become final. Questions we have with our situation: 1. even though our previous marriages were over months before we starting our relationship, will this be a problem with my petition getting approval because we began our relationship before our divorces were final? 2. We have found out that Indonesian Muslim law states that she cannot marry until 90 days after her divorce. She is not Muslim and did not have a Muslim marriage. Does she fall under this law? or If we plan on getting married in North Carolina, does that law affect us? I know that USCIS site states that we must be legally free to marry. Under North Carolina standards or Indonesian standards? I also realize that it will be long past 90 days when our package gets evaluated. We will soon be ready to submit our package but we have these concerns. Any and all input is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Girl from Celebes 588]

My fiance and I are in the process of preparing our i129f package. Our brief history: I am from North Carolina and she is from Indonesia. We were both months separated in our previous marriages when we started talking and building our relationship. I flew out to meet her in April. The best 3 weeks of our lives. We knew that we were to be together. My divorce was final in May while hers has just now become final. Questions we have with our situation: 1. even though our previous marriages were over months before we starting our relationship, will this be a problem with my petition getting approval because we began our relationship before our divorces were final? 2. We have found out that Indonesian Muslim law states that she cannot marry until 90 days after her divorce. She is not Muslim and did not have a Muslim marriage. Does she fall under this law? or If we plan on getting married in North Carolina, does that law affect us? I know that USCIS site states that we must be legally free to marry. Under North Carolina standards or Indonesian standards? I also realize that it will be long past 90 days when our package gets evaluated. We will soon be ready to submit our package but we have these concerns. Any and all input is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

1. It might be come to the questions but as long as both of you free to marry when filed I-129F, it won't be a problem.
2. No. Indonesian government separate Muslim marriage law with other religions. She should be fine.
3. No. See my answer number 2.
4. Legally free to marry is under federal rules since USCIS is federal agency who handled immigration process.

Edited July 30, 2014 by Girl from Celebes

[kurtndisty 9]

thank you for your response. it's been quite a road and we haven't even filed our i129f yet. we are quite worried about her getting approved because she has a son. so she had to ensure that her ex let go of his rights as the father. we want to change her son's name on the birth certificate. i want to adopt him when we come together. she also is from Jakarta. do you have any knowledge as how the USCIS looks at all I've said about her son? and what should we expect.

[mik2012 17]

Why would she have a problem getting approved because she has a son. When my wife came on a k1 all 4 of her children came on a K2 visa. If her ex no longer has rights to her son you should not have any issues of getting him a K2 visa.

[kurtndisty 9]

I suppose I should've said we 'were quite worried' instead of 'are'. Nonetheless, we probably will be somewhat worried throughout the whole process until everything goes through.

[Girl from Celebes 588]

thank you for your response. it's been quite a road and we haven't even filed our i129f yet. we are quite worried about her getting approved because she has a son. so she had to ensure that her ex let go of his rights as the father. we want to change her son's name on the birth certificate. i want to adopt him when we come together. she also is from Jakarta. do you have any knowledge as how the USCIS looks at all I've said about her son? and what should we expect.

Does your fiancee have joint custody with her former husband? If yes, then she can filed to ask judge granted her sole custody. It is the only way to let her bring the son to the US. Indonesian family laws are quite tricky, sometimes, including adopting children. Better consult to a lawyer who familiar with these matters. Good luck!

[Girl from Celebes 588]

I suppose I should've said we 'were quite worried' instead of 'are'. Nonetheless, we probably will be somewhat worried throughout the whole process until everything goes through.

USCIS focus to the petitioner instead of the beneficiary for at I-129F's stage. But after approval and your fiancee has ready for the interview of her K-1 visa , there is a chance the US embassy in Jakarta will ask legal papers to show that the biological father of your fiancee has agreed to let him go with his mother. You need to prepare this possibility.

[kurtndisty 9]

Does your fiancee have joint custody with her former husband? If yes, then she can filed to ask judge granted her sole custody. It is the only way to let her bring the son to the US. Indonesian family laws are quite tricky, sometimes, including adopting children. Better consult to a lawyer who familiar with these matters. Good luck!

Hi there, I'm the fiancee.. Thank you for your response. No I don't have joint custody. I actually have settlement agreement signed and notarized before divorce. In that agreement, my ex gave up his parental rights. But when I filed for divorce I didn't put the agreement in, meaning the court didn't know anything about the agreement, even so I still got sole custody of my son.

USCIS focus to the petitioner instead of the beneficiary for at I-129F's stage. But after approval and your fiancee has ready for the interview of her K-1 visa , there is a chance the US embassy in Jakarta will ask legal papers to show that the biological father of your fiancee has agreed to let him go with his mother. You need to prepare this possibility.

Is my settlement agreement good enough to prove that my son doesn't have a father anymore and make my fiance easier to adopt my son?

[Girl from Celebes 588]

Hi there, I'm the fiancee.. Thank you for your response. No I don't have joint custody. I actually have settlement agreement signed and notarized before divorce. In that agreement, my ex gave up his parental rights. But when I filed for divorce I didn't put the agreement in, meaning the court didn't know anything about the agreement, even so I still got sole custody of my son.

Is my settlement agreement good enough to prove that my son doesn't have a father anymore and make my fiance easier to adopt my son?

The US embassy in Jakarta will likely ask a proof that your former husband gave up his parental rights which is you already have now. But, gave up the parental rights does not mean your son doesn't have father anymore. Your former husband still the father because his name on your son's birth certificate ( the US embassy will ask a copy of this as your son will apply for K-2 visa).

If your fiancé wants to adopt your son, better to learn US family laws, I am not sure about that since I have only learned Indonesian laws in my university. And it will likely apply to the US laws because he will adopt your son in the US.

[kurtndisty 9]

What we are trying to accomplish is getting her ex's name as unattached from her son as legally possible. He never saw him and never wanted to see him since his birth, nor did he ever care to support him in any form. So with her getting sole custody, we are wanting to remove her son's last name (her ex's surname) from the birth certificate. When we come together, we will begin the process of me adopting him and he will be given my surname. Will it make the process of obtaining their visas worse if we remove his last name from his birth certificate?