interesting and complicated situation

[kattaklizm 11]

Hi, my friends faced a very complicated situation and looking for a piece of good advice now.

The situation is following:

The guy from Germany entered the US on his spouse visa. Many years after this, after the naturalization ceremony he got divorced. His ex-spouse is also German and she flew to Germany to terminate the marriage.

A couple of years after this he decided to marry a girl, who is German. So, they filed K-1 petition and received a RFE, where it says that all divorces that were processed in the third country are not legit if both spouses haven't been living there.

They went to the consultation of an immigrant attorney but didn't get any good advice besides to call direct to uscis and ask. Unfortunately according my own experience customer service is not very helpful there.

The question is, what are their options now?

1) file for divorce now in the states and send the copy of it to uscis. But here is the question, won't it be considered as a divorce after the petition was submitted and it will be denied.

2) withdraw the petition, divorce and file again.

Any advice is appreciated.

[Kofi1 3]

Withdraw the petition divorce and filled again.

[Amhara 460]

Or, see if you may need a German divorce decree authenticated by a German embassy.

That response of a foreign divorce isn't legal doesn't sound right. If it was legal in Germany, then it should be final. It just sounds like something's missing, but I don't know.

http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/abroad/events-and-records/divorce/divorce-legal-issues.html

[kattaklizm 11]

Or, see if you may need a German divorce decree authenticated by a German embassy.

That response of a foreign divorce isn't legal doesn't sound right. If it was legal in Germany, then it should be final. It just sounds like something's missing, but I don't know.

http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/abroad/events-and-records/divorce/divorce-legal-issues.html

yeah embassy sounds interesting... thank you for the link.

The problem is that in the uscis authorities claim that if both of them do not reside in Germany uscis cannot accept all this divorce papers.... they need one from the country of residence.

[Amhara 460]

He needs to research the German divorce laws. Something doesn't sound right because the USCIS will accept the document if it's a valid divorce. Yes, if the divorce happened in Germany, then the divorce decree should be issued under German jurisdiction. Maybe it's not properly translated. If your friend can get a German "certificate of no impediment to marriage" then that should help. The USCIS should be at least citing some piece of law as to why it's not a valid. If a German court accepted and adjudicated the case, then I don't understand. The USCIS is not in the business of applying foreign law; in other words, they don't often overturn a foreign court's decisions.

It really sounds like whatever was provided was not an official German divorce decree. If your friend can get that certificate, then it should be good to go.

[Amhara 460]

... received a RFE, where it says that all divorces that were processed in the third country are not legit if both spouses haven't been living there.

What "third country" did they get divorced at? By my count, there should only be two countries: US and Germany?

[kattaklizm 11]

What "third country" did they get divorced at? By my count, there should only be two countries: US and Germany?

Yeah, my bad. Not a third country just Germany. We read all together the link you sent. And unfortunately it is really said there that if they both were not domicile in Germany during the divorce the marriage inside of US is considered as invalid. Edited September 1, 2015 by kattaklizm

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

So neither party to the first marriage lived in Germany at the time the divorce was processed ? It sounds like the ex wife flew in , got the papers and came right back home.

[kattaklizm 11]

So neither party to the first marriage lived in Germany at the time the divorce was processed ? It sounds like the ex wife flew in , got the papers and came right back home.

Yes, she flew, got the paper work done, hanged out with relatives and came back.

[Amhara 460]

If either spouse had German citizenship, they may be considered domiciled in Germany. Domicile can mean different things. The link also states," If you anticipate that you will seek recognition of your foreign divorce in the United States or another country, you may need certified, authenticated, and/or translated copies of your foreign marriage certificates and/or divorce decrees."

He might need to try that first. If the German courts granted a divorce, then one of the parties may have had enough domicile status. If that's the case, it may be a valid divorce.

[Amhara 460]

And a little further on the link, he may be able to get the divorce "reaffirmed" by his secretary of state. That sounds like a process, but probably affordable.

[D.Ba 85]

What I don't understand is that he is German and you say the (ex-)wife too. How can she petition for a spouse, unless she has dual citizenship, or was she an LPR?

In legalese they will call this a "third country", even if there's only two countries in your logic.

Fortunately, I haven't ever been divorced in Germany, but to the best of my knowledge there is no flying in, grabbing the papers and - bang - divorced. It's a process and takes a while. Maybe she just filed and it's never been finalized? I also only know of cases where both had to appear before the judge.

[Adil & Jeanne 296]

legal marriage in any country is legal here

legal divorce is the same so your friend does not have the proper paper supporting the divorce

if the country recognizes a union or dissolving the union, the US accepts it

for years americans have traveled to other countries like Mexico to get a quicky divorce

Edited September 1, 2015 by Adil & Jeanne

[kattaklizm 11]

What I don't understand is that he is German and you say the (ex-)wife too. How can she petition for a spouse, unless she has dual citizenship, or was she an LPR?

In legalese they will call this a "third country", even if there's only two countries in your logic.

Fortunately, I haven't ever been divorced in Germany, but to the best of my knowledge there is no flying in, grabbing the papers and - bang - divorced. It's a process and takes a while. Maybe she just filed and it's never been finalized? I also only know of cases where both had to appear before the judge.

Back the time the ex wife filed for him, she was a LPR.

and about the divorce process, I don't know details. I just now she did it and that's it.

[kattaklizm 11]

legal marriage in any country is legal here

legal divorce is the same so your friend does not have the proper paper supporting the divorce

if the country recognizes a union or dissolving the union, the US accepts it

for years americans have traveled to other countries like Mexico to get a quicky divorce

well, I agree with that marriage in any country is a legal marriage. But I'm afraid about divorces you are wrong. Because it is fixed in the law if both parties do not domicile in the country of divorce. Then the divorce is invalid.