Status only divorce and apply for green card for soon-to-be wife.

[bohemianhulk 2]

I am a US citizen and have a "status only" divorce decree filed and signed by the judge in California in 2020. As you can see, it is a status-only divorce decree where we wrote that the child custody and financial settlement are yet to be completed.

 

Now I plan to get married overseas and bring my soon-to-be wife to the USA with a green card application.  

 

The question is, am I legally allowed to apply for a green card for her and bring her to the USA? Is there any legal constraint that will prohibit me from applying for her green card? If it is true that I am not legally allowed for the application, is there any other way to bring her in?

[SalishSea 18,125]

3 hours ago, bohemianhulk said:

I am a US citizen and have a "status only" divorce decree filed and signed by the judge in California in 2020. As you can see, it is a status-only divorce decree where we wrote that the child custody and financial settlement are yet to be completed.

 

Now I plan to get married overseas and bring my soon-to-be wife to the USA with a green card application.  

 

The question is, am I legally allowed to apply for a green card for her and bring her to the USA? Is there any legal constraint that will prohibit me from applying for her green card? If it is true that I am not legally allowed for the application, is there any other way to bring her in?

You cannot do anything without that final divorce decree.

 

Once you have that, you can marry and petition her for a CR-1 spousal visa.   Will take at least two years.

[bohemianhulk 2]

That is the part I do not understand. When you say the final divorce decree, what do you mean? Legally, I am allowed to get married despite my custody and settlement not being finalized yet.

If I am legally allowed to get married, I should have the right to apply for her immigration. I will seek advice from an attorney, though.

[laylalex 7,300]

19 hours ago, bohemianhulk said:

That is the part I do not understand. When you say the final divorce decree, what do you mean? Legally, I am allowed to get married despite my custody and settlement not being finalized yet.

If I am legally allowed to get married, I should have the right to apply for her immigration. I will seek advice from an attorney, though.

Hi, California resident here who has been through a divorce in this state. When you have a bifurcated divorce, the court basically splits the matter in two. One part is your marital status and the other is all the other stuff, usually money and children. If the court allows the case to be bifurcated, and a "status only" judgment is entered, the spouses are free to marry. This is because people who want to get divorced often want to get the "moving on" part over and done with, and there really isn't much of a state interest in keeping people married when they don't want to be if other interests can still be protected. 

 

My divorce was bifurcated and if I had wanted to, I could have married my boyfriend the next day after I got the judgment. (I ended up waiting over a year more because I wasn't ready to get married.) You should definitely speak to your attorney about this, but you are free to remarry in the eyes of the state of California. If California says you can remarry, USCIS shouldn't have a problem with it either.

 

Good luck!

[bohemianhulk 2]

Just talked to 3 attorneys and USCIS cannot withheld my petition as I am legally allowed to married...Special thanks to @laylalex for taking the time and explained in such an eloquent way..