Do I need to wait until Divorce is finalized before filing for K-1?

[Gaiden79 23]

Hello, the answer may well be obvious that I cannot file for a K-1 visa until my 6 month waiting period is up for my divorce in the US.

I just need to know for sure if I can or cannot complete any steps in the K-1 petition process until my divorce is completely final?

Also just FYI I have filed a K-1 petition 11 years ago, which is the one I am now waiting to complete divorce with. Thanks!

[Ontarkie 14,548]

That is correct you are not free to marry till the waiting period is up. You must be free to marry to file.

[Cheezees 1,514]

That is correct you are not free to marry till the waiting period is up. You must be free to marry to file.

[Lee&Ana 88]

Hello, the answer may well be obvious that I cannot file for a K-1 visa until my 6 month waiting period is up for my divorce in the US.

I just need to know for sure if I can or cannot complete any steps in the K-1 petition process until my divorce is completely final?

Also just FYI I have filed a K-1 petition 11 years ago, which is the one I am now waiting to complete divorce with. Thanks!

Are you the petitioner?

If you are, I am curious if your former spouse was from the Philippines as well?

[Gaiden79 23]

Are you the petitioner?

If you are, I am curious if your former spouse was from the Philippines as well?

Actually yes, my former spouse was from the Philippines also.

That is correct you are not free to marry till the waiting period is up. You must be free to marry to file.

Thank you, I thought so but wanted to be sure.

[pacerman 5]

WRONG everyone, YES you can petition for K1 , A k1 is not marriage ! by the time your k1 is processed, and she comes to you, the six months wait period will be over, how am I sure? because I did it, in fact I sent my petition the day after my final court hearing of the divorce of my ex, which was by the way a previous k1 petition. my fiancé arrive with me in US. shortly before my six month wait period required by my states law, we married 1 week after the 6 month wait period. IT IS LEAGLE, and not 1 problem,, go for it man!

[jan22 3,069]

WRONG everyone, YES you can petition for K1 , A k1 is not marriage ! by the time your k1 is processed, and she comes to you, the six months wait period will be over, how am I sure? because I did it, in fact I sent my petition the day after my final court hearing of the divorce of my ex, which was by the way a previous k1 petition. my fiancé arrive with me in US. shortly before my six month wait period required by my states law, we married 1 week after the 6 month wait period. IT IS LEAGLE, and not 1 problem,, go for it man!

WRONG. You have to be legally free to marry at the time you submit the K-1 petition, not just at the time the K-1 is used. If your divorce was not completely final, as indicated by the original poster is the issue in their case, and you have submitted a letter attesting to the fact that you were legally free to marry with your petition when you were not, you committed fraud. The fact that it was not caught in your case does not mean you should encourage others to commit the same fraud.

[pacerman 5]

WRONG WRONG, the internet is full of so called experts, I do not attest to be one however many reply on what they think without full knowledge, I can assure you I am confident my info is correct, if you have had your final court hearing, and you have a signed judjement of divorce in hand YOU CAN PETITION EVEN IF YOUR IN 6 MONTH WAIT PERIOD! period!!!!!!!!! a k1 is not a contract for marriage! it is not a marriage licence! not only did I do it once, but 2 times, after I divorce my American wife! and Filipina wife, both , I talked to a c/o at uscis, studied the law and consulted a immigration atty. so if anyone here tell different id like to know how the arrive a different reading of law. PERIOD.

my divorce judjement says in bold letters on front page WAIT 6 MONTHS BEFORE REMARRIAGE. we did !!!! we married 1 week after 6 months up, So if you had final hearing, and you have divorce judgement, but your in that 6 month waiting period before remarriage, you are free to petition, you cannot however apply for marriage licence until the 6 month expires. simply by law a judgement of divorce signed by judge does mean YOU ARE FREE TO MARRY, you however must wait 6 months, the 6 month clause does not mean your not free to marry, its actually 2 different subjects,, and again that's from more than 1 competent attorney. I did this 2 times, and because I did it right away my fresh ex was in a lot of the info, taxes etc.. I can assure you uscis saw that, they also saw final divorce date was a day before submission, they also had the decree stating 6 months,, remember a K1 don't mean your getting married,, some never do! its not a contract of marriage.

Gaiden 79 if you got final signed decree by courts do it don't wait,, the 6 month will pass while in process. ive done it 2 times and know numerous friends done the same, if as previous poster say, well I didn't get cought,, that's bull,, its because it is perfectly legal,, anyone rebute this if you want but I know what I know,, not many times will I post so confidently,, but this I will. I research this very subject very well,, we all have our areas we are well versed on,, I see many so called experts here giving false info,, in the end its your choice,, call me if you wish I pmd you my number.

[C-ma'am 684]

WRONG WRONG, the internet is full of so called experts, I do not attest to be one however many reply on what they think without full knowledge, I can assure you I am confident my info is correct, if you have had your final court hearing, and you have a signed judjement of divorce in hand YOU CAN PETITION EVEN IF YOUR IN 6 MONTH WAIT PERIOD! period!!!!!!!!! a k1 is not a contract for marriage! it is not a marriage licence! not only did I do it once, but 2 times, after I divorce my American wife! and Filipina wife, both , I talked to a c/o at uscis, studied the law and consulted a immigration atty. so if anyone here tell different id like to know how the arrive a different reading of law. PERIOD.

my divorce judjement says in bold letters on front page WAIT 6 MONTHS BEFORE REMARRIAGE. we did !!!! we married 1 week after 6 months up, So if you had final hearing, and you have divorce judgement, but your in that 6 month waiting period before remarriage, you are free to petition, you cannot however apply for marriage licence until the 6 month expires. simply by law a judgement of divorce signed by judge does mean YOU ARE FREE TO MARRY, you however must wait 6 months, the 6 month clause does not mean your not free to marry, its actually 2 different subjects,, and again that's from more than 1 competent attorney. I did this 2 times, and because I did it right away my fresh ex was in a lot of the info, taxes etc.. I can assure you uscis saw that, they also saw final divorce date was a day before submission, they also had the decree stating 6 months,, remember a K1 don't mean your getting married,, some never do! its not a contract of marriage.

Gaiden 79 if you got final signed decree by courts do it don't wait,, the 6 month will pass while in process. ive done it 2 times and know numerous friends done the same, if as previous poster say, well I didn't get cought,, that's bull,, its because it is perfectly legal,, anyone rebute this if you want but I know what I know,, not many times will I post so confidently,, but this I will. I research this very subject very well,, we all have our areas we are well versed on,, I see many so called experts here giving false info,, in the end its your choice,, call me if you wish I pmd you my number.

Please refrain from providing wrong information. When it comes to the waiting period, different states have different requirements. If your divorce is not final, hence you don't have a divorce decree in your hands, you are still married and therefore unable to apply for K1 visa, for which the main requirement is to be free to marry.

OP: as Ontarkie indicated, you must be free to marry to file. This means having the divorce decree in your hands.

[Ebunoluwa 6,136]

Hello, the answer may well be obvious that I cannot file for a K-1 visa until my 6 month waiting period is up for my divorce in the US.

I just need to know for sure if I can or cannot complete any steps in the K-1 petition process until my divorce is completely final?

Also just FYI I have filed a K-1 petition 11 years ago, which is the one I am now waiting to complete divorce with. Thanks!

Your divorce has to be final. Is it ? You have to submit the final divorce decree document with your I-129f. Do you have it ?

The 6 months waiting period (before you can marry again) is something different.

If you have a 6 months waiting period according to your state law you can start the

petition. If you do not have the final divorce decree you can't, a final court date is simply not enough.

K1 is "intent to marry" but not being married.

If the visa gets approved in 2 months and you marry within the 90 days then that will not work with the 6 month state law.

If the visa gets approved in 4 months and you marry within the 90 days then it would work.

[Gaiden79 23]

Thank you everyone for all your input even if its a little conflicted hehe. Right now I don't think I have the final divorce decree but I will have to check, I live in California so I am not sure if I should receive now, before my 6 month wait, or after it. Like some have said, it depends on which state you live also.

I will have to call my divorce attorney if they have the decree but if someone here knows California law, I wouldn't mind knowing if they issue it as soon as everything is settled. Me and my ex-wife did not fight over anything so everything signed and settled, nothing else to do. Thanks!

[pacerman 5]

ABOVE 2 posts are correct, exactly what I stated in my post also, thank you!,, so as we said final signed divorce decree,,all that's needed, I got certified copy from court, some states do have 6 month wait as did mine and the original poster,, that 6 month is not a condition of being free to marry as far as uscis is concern, we specifically planned ours so we hit the time frame,, our travel back to usa was 2 months before my 6 month expired, we made wedding plans, got the licence the day of 6 month expired, married a week later, simply the process will take 4 months before she arrives in usa from start, so you can bet you can time this to fit the schedule, good luck!

[pacerman 5]

My friend was in calif, he got a final copy 1 week after divorce from courts, if it was a final hearing you had and were granted divorce by judge and not contested, you can obtain the judgement, , just go to courthouse and request a cert copy

[Gaiden79 23]

ABOVE 2 posts are correct, exactly what I stated in my post also, thank you!,, so as we said final signed divorce decree,,all that's needed, I got certified copy from court, some states do have 6 month wait as did mine and the original poster,, that 6 month is not a condition of being free to marry as far as uscis is concern, we specifically planned ours so we hit the time frame,, our travel back to usa was 2 months before my 6 month expired, we made wedding plans, got the licence the day of 6 month expired, married a week later, simply the process will take 4 months before she arrives in usa from start, so you can bet you can time this to fit the schedule, good luck!

Thank you Pacerman! When I originally did my K-1 back in 2004 it took 6 months or so from start to finish, maybe things have changed a lot since I last did this stuff. I am going to visit my fiance this coming September and before I had to gather some things from her before returning to the US for the paperwork on the visa. Has things changed, without doing any research I am just asking can i actually start the petition now before i visit her and get things going? I know that sounds crazy because I haven't met her in real life yet, but just for the sake of knowing, can I do it?

My friend was in calif, he got a final copy 1 week after divorce from courts, if it was a final hearing you had and were granted divorce by judge and not contested, you can obtain the judgement, , just go to courthouse and request a cert copy

Glad to hear pacerman, I think you are right about getting it from courts because that last meeting i had was a final hearing and nothing left to do. It is uncontested as you say.

[pacerman 5]

You must meet in person before you file