Divorce decree not signed

[JFH 12,189]

Has anyone had a problem with a UK decree absolute not being signed? My decree absolute from my first marriage is stamped by the court but not signed (as is the usual practice here, I believe). But I have heard that the USCIS sends RFEs for unsigned divorce decrees.

Anyone have any experience of this?

[Boiler 45,387]

Nope

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Has anyone had a problem with a UK decree absolute not being signed? My decree absolute from my first marriage is stamped by the court but not signed (as is the usual practice here, I believe). But I have heard that the USCIS sends RFEs for unsigned divorce decrees.

Anyone have any experience of this?

Sometimes an inexperienced contractor will RFE. I didn't get one.

[bob+senga 11]

i had a RFE for my divorce papers. In Scotland we dont use the word divorce decree absolute . i had to go back to the issuing court of my divorce and ask them to send me detailed copy of my divorce papers signed nad stamped. This was all that they needed. to get things moving again .

I did ask the court people to make sure the the word final was used in the letter, as i had rad somewhere they were looking for this also.

[mlh 93]

We had this issue with the NVC, requested a supervisor review, who also didn't understand, so after the 2nd RFE, we sent a new copy of the decree, highlighting the "absolute and final" part of the decree, and my husband had to send a letter also explaining that there is no "signed" decree for the UK. Only then was it approved.

If you haven't sent anything in yet, I would recommend front loading it to avoid the extra 75 day delay we had (45 days for supervisor review and another 30 days RFE review).

[John & Maita 1]

Got the same RFE asking for my fiancee's divorce decree to be "signed by a judge or magistrate." Follow what I did to solve this here:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/577989-rfe-for-final-uk-divorce-degree/

If possible I would send a certified copy of your UK divorce in your initial package. Live and learn.

[gavw72 23]

I just used a photocopy of the original decree absolute with the I-129F & no problems.

Took the original to my interview & again no problems.

[John & Maita 1]

I would say gavw72 got lucky. Again, I would advise you to be proactive if you want to avoid an RFE and its subsequent delay. I sent a photocopy, just like gavw72 did. I got an RFE. gavw72 did not. If at all possible, I would send a certified copy of the UK divorce decree. The agents who process these do not all work in the same fashion. You can request a copy of the UK decree from its issuing court and pay for apostille service. It costs a little bit extra, but you are buying time, and that is invaluable. The climate at USCIS is arguably different since San Bernardino, and it would not surprise me in the least if there is added scrutiny, even if the UK is not a high fraud country.

[JFH 12,189]

Got the same RFE asking for my fiancee's divorce decree to be "signed by a judge or magistrate." Follow what I did to solve this here:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/577989-rfe-for-final-uk-divorce-degree/

If possible I would send a certified copy of your UK divorce in your initial package. Live and learn.

Thanks for that. So do you think it's worth getting the decree absolute notarised and apostilled here? I ordered a few copies from the court as she said they were only a fiver each so I got three just in case.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

I know a number of people who simply responded to their RFE with a photocopy highlighting the important words...was made final....decree absolute (divorce) as I posted in that link from John and Maita. And a response saying the United Kingdom divorce decree is not signed but only stamped by the court. They sent that instead of asking for a review first.

Way back I had read of some getting an RFE, so mine was sent originally with the highlighting. At the embassy in London, they are fully familiar so won't have an issue there.

[John & Maita 1]

JFH: Yes. Get it notarized and get apostille service. Why chance it? I wish I had done this beforehand.

[JFH 12,189]

You'd think the bods at USCIS would know what a UK divorce decree looks like by now.

[AMZJ 61]

I just sent mine in copied... I hope I don't get an RFE for that. If I do I do know it costs £60 to get it signed by a judge... I looked into it before but they should know, they handle cases from the UK all the time.

[Dal&Rose 45]

I have mine set up with a statement about UK decree and then sending a copy without any highlights and then another with highlights just to avoid any delays. I figure a few extra pieces of paper. I also actually have the request for a search since my husband couldn't remember the exact court it was filed in. He was divorced over 15 years ago, so I guess it's a bit understandable on that part. lol

[DJ6372 111]

This is all getting a little tedious

UK applicants getting RFE'd for the correct paperwork!

Unfortunately there is very little we can do

We got RFE'd, but we thought they'd lost the paperwork so resent, it turned out that they didn't understand our decrees

We were lucky our RFE came from the NVC and my wife was able to speak to a supervisor and they accepted our paperwork.

Some people have highlighted the relevant wording, others (John and Maita) have got them notarized

What's the answer? Personally I would go the highlighting route, but I can understand the notarizing route

If I had to do my application again I would highlight, I think poor John/Matia got a complete idiot working on their case!

Edited January 19, 2016 by DJ6372