Engagement while in Divorce proceedings

[irfan 0]

All

Please provide me with any input for the question below.

A friend of mine had separated from his wife for over 10 months and has to wait till its over a year (december 2007) until their uncontested divorce is final. Last month he went home and got engaged. His question is once his divorce is final can he apply for K-1 and will there be any issues why he got engaged even though he was waiting for his divorce to be final. Also will there be a question of his meeting his fiance last month and using the same date for a question in the petition form. Your replies are appreciated.

[payxibka 10,045]

All

Please provide me with any input for the question below.

A friend of mine had separated from his wife for over 10 months and has to wait till its over a year (december 2007) until their uncontested divorce is final. Last month he went home and got engaged. His question is once his divorce is final can he apply for K-1 and will there be any issues why he got engaged even though he was waiting for his divorce to be final. Also will there be a question of his meeting his fiance last month and using the same date for a question in the petition form. Your replies are appreciated.

It won't necessarily pose a problem for the I-129F as long as all the requirements for the petition are met when filed. As for the interview at the consulate that will depend.

[Udella&Wiz 325]

They ask only that you are free to marry at the time of filing, I doubt they care whether a person's divorce was final and when they got engaged. We were engaged slightly before my husband's divorce was final...but he'd also been separated for quite a while too.

Nothing to worry about I'm sure.

[mox 298]

All

Please provide me with any input for the question below.

A friend of mine had separated from his wife for over 10 months and has to wait till its over a year (december 2007) until their uncontested divorce is final. Last month he went home and got engaged. His question is once his divorce is final can he apply for K-1 and will there be any issues why he got engaged even though he was waiting for his divorce to be final. Also will there be a question of his meeting his fiance last month and using the same date for a question in the petition form. Your replies are appreciated.

Not a problem. The consulate isn't interested in playing morality police. They just want to make sure that your relationship is a bona fide relationship and that you were free to marry when you filed.

[LaPrincesa 0]

I was engaged to my fiance before the divorce was finalized. We were engaged this July and we JUST got the final divorce decree and just filed today. My lawyer told me that it is not a big deal, we just need to be SINGLE in the sense to be able to legally marry at the time of filing. People have relationships while divorces are in process all the time.

No worries!

[Jasman0717 9]

He needs to be legally able to marry to file the petition. I filed the K-1 for Claudeth the day after my divorce was final.

[pushbrk 12,881]

All

Please provide me with any input for the question below.

A friend of mine had separated from his wife for over 10 months and has to wait till its over a year (december 2007) until their uncontested divorce is final. Last month he went home and got engaged. His question is once his divorce is final can he apply for K-1 and will there be any issues why he got engaged even though he was waiting for his divorce to be final. Also will there be a question of his meeting his fiance last month and using the same date for a question in the petition form. Your replies are appreciated.

Not a problem. The consulate isn't interested in playing morality police. They just want to make sure that your relationship is a bona fide relationship and that you were free to marry when you filed.

I think, "yes and maybe". The Consulate doesn't play morality police but in high fraud posts, recent divorces are red flags, that are easy enough to overcome with plenty of evidence of bona fide relationship. The Consulate may also ask for evidence the most recent spouse has a separate residence. I've seen them ask for SSN and utility bills. A high income petitioner will have less of an issue with this because there's less reason to think he's part of the fraud. The lower the petitioner's income the bigger the red flag in this regard.

No problem with USCIS on this though.

[mox 298]

Right. What I mean by USCIS not playing morality police is that they don't care one way or the other how your relationship with the beneficiary happened, whether it was because the petitioner was cheating, separated, or whatever. They just care about the bona fides and the legally able to marry requirement. I think this is what the OP was asking.

[pushbrk 12,881]

Right. What I mean by USCIS not playing morality police is that they don't care one way or the other how your relationship with the beneficiary happened, whether it was because the petitioner was cheating, separated, or whatever. They just care about the bona fides and the legally able to marry requirement. I think this is what the OP was asking.

Yes, that point is correct. You actually made it about the Consulate but USCIS is even less concerned about that, at least during the petition stage. USCIS does concern themselves with the bona fides again during AOS.

This is a bona fides issue, not a petition approval issue, if at all.

The OP doesn't specify a stage of the process or government agency but simply asks if there will be any issues to deal with because they got engaged while one was still married and if there were any questions about it on the forms. The answer is that the circumstances of their meeting and engagement are asked about on the petition and they may well be delved into at either or both interviews. The lower the petitioner's income and higher fraud Consulate post involved will increase the likelyhood of this becoming an issue.

It can be overcome with good evidence of bona fides.

My point is the short answer is not "no problem". It is "could be a problem at interview". And yes, if the OP answers question 18 on the I-129F giving a date of engagement that precedes one party's divorce date, you can count on it being noticed and flagged at some point in the process. Remember this is Pakistan.

It is not a reason in and of itself for denial.

Edited December 15, 2007 by pushbrk