OMG--got RFE

[Love To Teach 161]

This is awful. I just received an RFE letter saying that the Deed of Divorce we sent in for my husband "is not sufficient to prove the termination of marriage." Then it goes on and on talking about arbitration, blah blah. My hubby is traveling on business and out of wifi connectivity at the moment, so I have no idea how his divorce was handled until I talk to him. I am so sad and upset. It gives us only 60 days to respond, but I'm thinking his divorce did not go through arbitration, his wife was the one who wanted it but he probably filed or whatever. And these papers talk about all this Pakistan divorce stuff taking more than 90 days after "the arbitration council" does this and that. AND to top it all off, I'm leaving in 2 weeks to spend the summer with him.

Does anybody know about all this stuff?

Thanks for any info. I swear, if we have to start over with the I130 because of this, I'm gonna be sooooo ticked.... After all, he has the dang deed which is a legal document saying he's divorced AND he's been divorced for more than 7 years.....grrrrrr

Edited May 21, 2016 by Love To Teach

[JFH 12,190]

Ok, you won't have to do the whole I-130 again.

I don't know anything about Pakistan divorces but I know that UK beneficiaries often have problems with divorce decrees because divorce decrees in the UK are not signed, they are just stamped by the court and despite the USCIS having seen hundreds of UK divorce decrees people still get RFEs from time to time.

Ask on the Pakistan forum. There must be at least one other member on this website who has been divorced in Pakistan before. It's probably just an extra document that is needed. It's frustrating. Did the divorce paper that you submitted say "final decree" or "decree absolute" on it? Those are the key phrases to prove the divorce has been finalised and the marriage legally terminated.

[amkhan 108]

its very simple.... dont panic ask your husband to go his area UNION COUNSIL office along with his CNIC divorce deed plus his old nikkah nama.... the union consil will issue his divorce certificate within 7 days... once you submit these RFE u will get your approved i130 in few days you are almost done nothing to worry....

divorce deed are no longer acceptable even in pakistan but yes people used to give divoce through 50 rupees stamp paper lol now NADRA and UC are issuing divorce / marriage / birth certificates

[Love To Teach 161]

Thanks for the encouragement. If he can get the papers quickly, do you think USCIS will accept a copy if my husband scans it and sends it to me?Then I could send them a copy. Also, do you have any idea whether it will be in English or Urdu? I want to get this mess out of the way before I leave. Regular mail takes 2 or more weeks to get here, and I'm leaving in 2 weeks to go there, so I won't have any more access to my home mail until mid-July. I don't like to trust anything official to go through Pakistan's mail service.

[amkhan 108]

Well your husband can pay some extra to get express delivery he can get his certificate in 3 days aswell. Certificate has 2 languages urdu and English so you don't have to worry about translation plus you don't need to send original just ask your husband to scan and send you only you need to print and mail it off to uscis office on given RFE address it's very simple nothing to worry

[squareleg 69]

From what I know, divorce deeds are acceptable. He may have to go to court or union council or something to get his papers. But then again, tread with caution that there is not more to the story. Good luck!

[Marrienne 112]

We had the same problem with my hubby's divorce from Germany because the word "absolute" was missing. They gave us 6 months to get a new one and after that they approved the i-130 in 5 days. I feel ya hang in there, as people told me this is only a speed bump!!!

[Love To Teach 161]

From what I know, divorce deeds are acceptable. He may have to go to court or union council or something to get his papers. But then again, tread with caution that there is not more to the story. Good luck!

They sent a 3 page letter with 2 pages devoted to explaining the different aspects of divorce in Pakistan. It talked about whether the man or woman filed for divorce, how it had to go through council for 90 days, etc, and specifically said Divorce Deeds are not acceptable for immigration purposes. I still haven't been able to talk to my husband about all this as he is still out of wifi area/traveling for business.

[Anitafeliz 1,133]

They sent a 3 page letter with 2 pages devoted to explaining the different aspects of divorce in Pakistan. It talked about whether the man or woman filed for divorce, how it had to go through council for 90 days, etc, and specifically said Divorce Deeds are not acceptable for immigration purposes. I still haven't been able to talk to my husband about all this as he is still out of wifi area/traveling for business.

what does he do he doesnt find wifi now a days ??? Can you have someone locate him this is very important he needs to get on it omg i would be so stressed... Edited June 7, 2016 by Anitafeliz

[Love To Teach 161]

what does he do he doesnt find wifi now a days ??? Can you have someone locate him this is very important he needs to get on it omg i would be so stressed...

He was just out of wifi for 1.5 days, traveling. Things aren't exactly high-tech here in Pakistan and the surrounding areas.

Well, it's now June 16, and I am in Pakistan until Monday night. The government people say it will take him 90 days to get "union counsel" divorce papers, and we only have 60 days to send them to Nebraska. Our lawyer has been going there every day to get them sooner. My husband will go there every day when I leave to try to get them. He says the lines, heat, all that, are killers. They keep asking him what is wrong with Deed of Divorce, which has ex's signature and all pertinent information and is registered (NADRAA). From what I understand, the Deed of Divorce is what they gave my husband when he went in 2010 to get "official" divorce papers. He had been divorced at least 3 years then. He says they had seen the union council when they divorced, but he doesn't have papers, only this Deed of Divorce dated 2010. They keep telling him the Deed of Divorce is the official divorce paper and they don't see any need for other papers.

As for traveling here, my husband has been worried somewhat about my safety, so we haven't gone out much. There is lots of turmoil in the world that affects relations here. But I am safe in a hotel. We went to his house to try to stay there, but it was soooo hot we couldn't even sleep. It has taken over a week to try to get his air conditioning fixed at his house (still not fixed...hard to find parts...blah, blah, blah), being Ramadan and stores are closed, people only work until 12, etc. Before that, water issues. Power issues, safety issues, this terrible heat...it's been a rough time, but we are determined to be together.

I am beginning to panic as the days are ticking away.

Edited June 16, 2016 by Love To Teach

[Anitafeliz 1,133]

He was just out of wifi for 1.5 days, traveling. Things aren't exactly high-tech here in Pakistan and the surrounding areas.

Well, it's now June 16, and I am in Pakistan until Monday night. The government people say it will take him 90 days to get "union counsel" divorce papers, and we only have 60 days to send them to Nebraska. Our lawyer has been going there every day to get them sooner. My husband will go there every day when I leave to try to get them. He says the lines, heat, all that, are killers. They keep asking him what is wrong with Deed of Divorce, which has ex's signature and all pertinent information and is registered (NADRAA). From what I understand, the Deed of Divorce is what they gave my husband when he went in 2010 to get "official" divorce papers. He had been divorced at least 3 years then. He says they had seen the union council when they divorced, but he doesn't have papers, only this Deed of Divorce dated 2010. They keep telling him the Deed of Divorce is the official divorce paper and they don't see any need for other papers.

As for traveling here, my husband has been worried, so we haven't gone out much. There is lots of turmoil in the world that affects relations here. But I am safe in a hotel. It has taken over a week to try to get his air conditioning fixed at his house (still not fixed...hard to find parts...blah, blah, blah), being Ramadan and stores are closed, people only work until 12, etc. Before that, water issues. Power issues, safety issues, this terrible heat...it's been a rough time, but we are determined to be together.

I am beginning to panic as the days are ticking away.

I can imagine stay safe is this something they may possibly give you and extension on?

[Love To Teach 161]

I'm not sure. What really is maddening is we know a couple who supplied a "Deed of Divorce", and they accepted that paper. However, it DOES say in a site that tells reciprocal papers, that a Deed of Divorce is not acceptable. BUT, OMG, you should see the explanation they give with it about Union Council divorces and whether the man or woman applied for the divorce and on and on. Makes no sense at all since the NADRA divorce papers (which is what we have) are the official database divorce papers. Sometimes I feel like giving up, after both of us spending so much money trying to be together. Now he's 50 and I am 65, so I feel like I will be dead with old age before he gets to come here. And with politics like they are and AP, it could be years....so sad.

This is our 7th time together. He even lived in Serbia (where I visited for 2.5 years) because I was scared to come here, so we have had to sacrifice so much to be together. The world has gotten worse and worse since we have been together, basically ruined his tourism business so he had to start another business. So it seems like things keep going downhill as to our chances of being together forever in the USA. After all we have been through and at our ages, it's amazing that anyone would think we are together for any other reason than love. He would just as soon we live anywhere, but I have my home, job, dog, family, etc. in the US.

Edited June 16, 2016 by Love To Teach

[Anitafeliz 1,133]

I'm not sure. What really is maddening is we know a couple who supplied a "Deed of Divorce", and they accepted that paper. However, it DOES say in a site that tells reciprocal papers, that a Deed of Divorce is not acceptable. BUT, OMG, you should see the explanation they give with it about Union Council divorces and whether the man or woman applied for the divorce and on and on. Makes no sense at all since the NADRA divorce papers (which is what we have) are the official database divorce papers. Sometimes I feel like giving up, after both of us spending so much money trying to be together. Now he's 50 and I am 65, so I feel like I will be dead with old age before he gets to come here. And with politics like they are and AP, it could be years....so sad.

No stay positive it will work out in DR sometimes money helps things move faster they have VIP expedite fees is there something like that there ?? I hope you can take it on the plane with you on monday...

[Love To Teach 161]

No, I won't have it because Friday is a big prayer day here and what with Ramadan, he's lucky anyone is working. He will start his vigil when I leave and go there every day and sit until something is done. He says the crowds are awful, and the heat here is about 105. We are so blessed in the USA...and spoiled. I mean, really, more than a week to try to get an air conditioner going?

They tell him it will take time, which we don't have. Hopefully, he can "convince" them to get it moving. Here, if you need something, it's just too dang bad.

Anyway, thanks for the moral support. The sad thing is it took them more than 5 months to even open our papers at Nebraska, so this could set us back another 6 months. And I'm sure he will get long AP because he owns a tour company and has traveled all over the world, which of course they could see as suspicious. He even got to travel to the USA before 9-11, but now things are different. The whole situation is just so depressing.

[Anitafeliz 1,133]

Yes I could not deal with that heat omg.....105 If it Were not Ramadan you may have had a chance...make sure you are covered when you go out especially during Ramadan stay safe