K1 after divorce

[Stardust72 0]

My boyfriend and I want to start the K1 procedure as soon as possible and we are now busy gathering all the evidence and documents. He has been married before and his dovorce was final in July of this year. He is not allowed to get married for six months after that. Now he is worried that this means he won't be able to file for K1 for six months after the divorce either. It seems unlikely to me because the whole procedure is going to take over six months and we obviously won't be getting married during that time. I can't find anything about this anywhere though. Does anyone know if there actually is any rule that says you can't file for K1 within a certain amount of time after your divorce?

[English Muffin 59]

My boyfriend and I want to start the K1 procedure as soon as possible and we are now busy gathering all the evidence and documents. He has been married before and his dovorce was final in July of this year. He is not allowed to get married for six months after that. Now he is worried that this means he won't be able to file for K1 for six months after the divorce either. It seems unlikely to me because the whole procedure is going to take over six months and we obviously won't be getting married during that time. I can't find anything about this anywhere though. Does anyone know if there actually is any rule that says you can't file for K1 within a certain amount of time after your divorce?

Your boyfriend is right I'm afraid. In order to file the I-129F you both have to be legally free to marry and he won't be until his divorce is finalised.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

Gillian

[Stardust72 0]

Your boyfriend is right I'm afraid. In order to file the I-129F you both have to be legally free to marry and he won't be until his divorce is finalised.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

Gillian

His divorce is finalised though. But according to Wisconsin law he can't get married for six months after his divorce is finalised. I'm not sure if that means he is not legally free to marry or if that just means he can't get married in Wisconsin. He has all his divorce papers so that's not the problem. I just really hope we don't have to wait another 4½ months before we can even file the I-129F. But if we have to... so be it.

[~Nini~ 2]

There was a huge (and I mean, huge) thread devoted to this topic from last year, also directly related to Wisconsin and divorce decrees:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=18105

Hopefully someone can also share some more recent input into the situation, as the info in the thread may be outdated and irrelevant.

Edited September 1, 2007 by Nini & Bee

[English Muffin 59]

I thought you were talking about the divorce laws in his country. If they stated that he couldn't marry for 6 months then you wouldn't be able to file the I-129F, but if it's just a Wisconcon thing then you don't have a problem.

If you could get married somewhere other than Wisconson (say Vegas for instance) then you can file immediately. You don't have to stipulate to USCIS where in the USA you will eventually marry so I can't see how it will matter. Just make sure that you marry within 90 days of his arrival, whether that's in Wisconson or elsewhere.

Good luck.

Gillian

[English Muffin 59]

I think the Wisconsin law only applies to someone who's divorce was granted in Wisconsin. If your boyfriend's divorce was granted elsewhere then you have nothing to worry about.

Gillian

[English Muffin 59]

OK - I take back everything I've said in this thread.

After reading the other quoted thread it looks like getting married in Wisconsin within 6 months of getting a divorce is not straight forward!!

(Thanks for spotting that Nini & Bee).

If you want my advice I'd file the papers now and get married somewhere other than Wisconsin.

Gillian

[wissooner 0]

I was divorced in Wisconsin. It clearly stated on my divorce decree that I was not free to marry for six months after the final hearing where the divorce was finalized. If your boyfriend was divorced in Wisconsin it will state this on his decree as well. Since you have to send this decree with your I-129f as proof of divorce and you must be free to marry at the time of filing your I-129f you will have to wait out the six months. I did.

[Stardust72 0]

Thanks Nini & Bee for the link to that thread. I just went through the whole thing and it looks like it's not as straightforward as it seems. I think I'll let my boyfriend read it and see what he thinks. Actually the whole getting married in Vegas thing has come up. But since we will be living in Wisconsin, that won't be a valid marriage if it happens within 6 months of his divorce. So the question of whether he is officially free to marry remains. I'll check with him what it says on his decree. If it says that he is not free to marry for six months after the final hearing where the divorce was finalized, I think it's clear that we'll have to wait. Ugh.... that's not good

Edited September 1, 2007 by Stardust72

[English Muffin 59]

Sorry Stardust72 but I thought you were the petitioner, not the beneficiary so none of my advice makes any sense!

I'll get my coat.

Gillian

[Stardust72 0]

Sorry Stardust72 but I thought you were the petitioner, not the beneficiary so none of my advice makes any sense!

I'll get my coat.

Gillian

That's OK. Maybe I didn't make myself very clear either

[Stardust72 0]

My boyfriend just called to tell me that after I gave him all the information from here, he contacted an immigration firm. They think it shouldn't be a problem, but they agreed to look into it for us. So that means there's still hope that we can file this month

[rebeccajo 14]

If the final decree (which must be included in the I129F packet) states he is not free to marry until XYZ date, there is no magic wand an immigration firm can wave over the papers to make that time go away.

Both petitioner and beneficiary must be free to marry at the time of the filing. The answer is in the instructions to the I129F which states same.

Edited September 2, 2007 by rebeccajo

[Jason-Sasha 1]

I think it would have been just as easy to say you must both be free and able to marry at the time of filing.

[Chica Yeyé 41]

If the final decree (which must be included in the I129F packet) states he is not free to marry until XYZ date, there is no magic wand an immigration firm can wave over the papers to make that time go away.

Both petitioner and beneficiary must be free to marry at the time of the filing. The answer is in the instructions to the I129F which states same.

Ditto - no law firm can change that.