RFE insufficient evidence or marriage termination

[ConnorS 85]

Hey peeps, I'm hoping one of you fine folk will be able to advise me.

 

When I submitted my I-129f along with it I sent my divorce decree from my previous marriage on the extract it states the court, the date, court ref, persuer name and address, defenders name and address, date of marriage, place of marriage, the sheriff granted the decree, the extract is dated and signed by the sheriff's clerk depute and has the stamp of the sheriff court on it.

 

However on my RFE it states this as being insufficient and asks me to " submit a legible copy of the final divorce decree signed by a judge or magistrate that shows proof of
filing, that terminated the prior marriage"

 

I'm at a bit of a loss as to what else I can do or show to overcome this hurdle, any one had any experience of this before?!

[SalishSea 18,127]

1 minute ago, ConnorS said:

Hey peeps, I'm hoping one of you fine folk will be able to advise me.

 

When I submitted my I-129f along with it I sent my divorce decree from my previous marriage on the extract it states the court, the date, court ref, persuer name and address, defenders name and address, date of marriage, place of marriage, the sheriff granted the decree, the extract is dated and signed by the sheriff's clerk depute and has the stamp of the sheriff court on it.

 

However on my RFE it states this as being insufficient and asks me to " submit a legible copy of the final divorce decree signed by a judge or magistrate that shows proof of
filing, that terminated the prior marriage"

 

I'm at a bit of a loss as to what else I can do or show to overcome this hurdle, any one had any experience of this before?!

A sheriff can grant a divorce?

[Kowatti 189]

23 minutes ago, ConnorS said:

Hey peeps, I'm hoping one of you fine folk will be able to advise me.

 

When I submitted my I-129f along with it I sent my divorce decree from my previous marriage on the extract it states the court, the date, court ref, persuer name and address, defenders name and address, date of marriage, place of marriage, the sheriff granted the decree, the extract is dated and signed by the sheriff's clerk depute and has the stamp of the sheriff court on it.

 

However on my RFE it states this as being insufficient and asks me to " submit a legible copy of the final divorce decree signed by a judge or magistrate that shows proof of
filing, that terminated the prior marriage"

 

I'm at a bit of a loss as to what else I can do or show to overcome this hurdle, any one had any experience of this before?!

Hi.  You need all pages of your divorce decree, signed by a judge.  I don't believe a sheriff is authorized.  Good luck. 

[Stubmeister 31]

Yes, I provided the paper where my divorce was entered into the court records which was signed and stamped by a county presiding judge.

[Wuozopo 4,293]

It sounds like the sheriff thing may be to one party being served notice about the pending divorce proceedings. The final decree comes from a court of law signed by the judge.

[ConnorS 85]

I guess I have to be more specific I'm in Scotland to be precise and we have slightly difference civil law from England and wales, so here "The legal cases which are heard within the Courts are dealt with by a Sheriff. A Sheriff is a Judge who is usually assigned to work in a specific Court, although some work as 'floating Sheriffs', who may work anywhere in Scotland.". So a sheriff/judge is one in the same thing. 

 

i figured my question was a shot in the dark I'm also talking to my attorney who delt with this case to try and resolve the matter, but figured I would ask in here incase someone had a similar issue and could lend there voice.  Any advice appreciated and I will keep you posted, thanks

[SalishSea 18,127]

18 minutes ago, Wuozopo said:

It sounds like the sheriff thing may be to one party being served notice about the pending divorce proceedings. The final decree comes from a court of law signed by the judge.

That’s what I was thinking.  It just didn’t make sense otherwise.

 

OP, you need the final divorce decree signed by the judge.  Any document from the sheriff will be inadequate to prove that a marriage was legally terminated.

[SalishSea 18,127]

Ah, I see now.  It is a case of semantics and regional court practices.

 

Does your document say “decree absolute,” with the official seal/stamp with the name of the court?  Some courts in the UK when issuing a certified copy of such will also include a letter containing verbiage to the effect of “this decree absolute should be recognized in all jurisdictions worldwide” etc.   

 

USCIS does have a reciprocity table for legal documents to help them with adjudicating cases, but I’m not sure that it would be so specific to Scotland vs the UK in general.  

[Going through 5,671]

This thread may help you---UK members had some tips in there when faced with the same issue:

 

 

[AnneA 72]

Check this website ... https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Visa-Reciprocity-and-Civil-Documents-by-Country/UnitedKingdom.html

[Wuozopo 4,293]

1 hour ago, ConnorS said:

I guess I have to be more specific I'm in Scotland to be precise and we have slightly difference civil law from England and wales, so here "The legal cases which are heard within the Courts are dealt with by a Sheriff. A Sheriff is a Judge who is usually assigned to work in a specific Court, although some work as 'floating Sheriffs', who may work anywhere in Scotland.". So a sheriff/judge is one in the same thing. 

 

i figured my question was a shot in the dark I'm also talking to my attorney who delt with this case to try and resolve the matter, but figured I would ask in here incase someone had a similar issue and could lend there voice.  Any advice appreciated and I will keep you posted, thanks

 

I understand now. I know Scotland divorces are a bit different than England. Some English divorces are rejected because they lack a signature. A response that the Decree Absolute is not signed by a judge and the stamp of the court is the only thing on the decree is accepted.  Try this from the State Departmemt. 

 

• Scotland: Available. If a divorce has taken place after May 1, 1984, a decree from the divorce is available from the Registrar General, New Register House, Edinburgh EH1 3YT. If the divorce took place before March, 1984, a decree from the divorce is available from the Deputy Clerk of Sessions, 1 Parliament Square, Edinburgh EH1 1RQ. A marriage extract issued by the Deputy Clerk of Sessions subsequent to the granting of a divorce in Scotland (of a marriage, which has taken place in Scotland,) will bear an endorsement relating to the divorce.

[ConnorS 85]

There in lays the problem it has wording like clerk sheriff depute on the decree as opposed to just saying judge I have got a fresh copy of my decree and stamped by the court so it's very clear and easy to read, along with the writ for filling of said divorce plus the action that was signed off by the sheriff/judge on reasons pertaining to filling so fingers crossed.  Thanks for your help people, much appreciated 

[ConnorS 85]

So just a little update on this peeps, and to help any fellow Scots this may effect :-

 

*fresh copy of my decree (court stamp clear and legible, signed by sheriff clerk)

 

* Copy of Writ filled to the court

 

* action of divorce signed off by the sheriff in email with digital signature  

 

* Letter from lawyer confirming they represented me and confirming date of divorce 

 

* Nice little letter directing them to there own source material highlighting that's Scots law divorce decrees are signed off by a sheriff's clerk and will not show as a judge/magistrate.

 

...as of yesterday I got issued my nao2  🎉

[Cara&Jack 7]

If this is of any help to anyone from Scotland, I submitted the "Extract Decree of Divorce".  It was a single page.  It had the following text within it among other non important texts:

 

Extract Decree of Divorce

Court location and Ref number

Date of Decree: day month year

Names and address of both parties

Date of marriage

Pace of marriage

The Sheriff granted decree

(1) Non related (divorce terms)

(2) Divorcing the defender from the pursuer.

(3) Non related (divorce terms)

This extract is warrant for all lawful execution hereon

Current date                                                                                         Signature

                                                                                                               Sheriff Clerk Depute

                                                                                                               Sheriff Court related Stamp

                                                                                                              

 

 

I did not get a RFE and the above single page was accepted.

Good Luck all.

Edited May 30, 2019 by Cara&Jack
Better Information

[JFH 12,191]

I see my thread from 3.5 years ago when we were preparing our I-130. Seems like yesterday...

 

Anyway, I sent the decree absolute and used a highlighter to mark the words “final decree” and no RFE.