Synthia212

I was naive enough to marry an illegal alien in 1995, subsequently he found out he had to have a divorce from his wife in Mexico before getting residency, he went and (said) he divorced her, brought back some papers, I remember asking him why the papers weren't signed by a judge nor had an official seal, he replied that is how it is done in Mexico, I stupidly believed him. So did INS. We married again, I believed his charming tale of "renewed love," The next two years were living hell, police were called a few times, no arrest, he was a real charmer and I must have been very emotionally vulnerable, needy, and just plain ignorant of exactly how deceptive some people can be, but I suppose the stakes were so high for him that it was sufficient motivation to destroy one person's life, mine. I am a Christian hearted person who just can't malicious deceive and damage another human being, but then again, I never suffered the poverty he had. Anyway, he convinced me to co-sign on a truck for him, I relinquished my retirement benefits from my ex-spouse because of the marriage. One week after the card was no longer conditional, I found out he was still marriued in Mexico AND had a pregnant girlfriend in our town in Texas, it was her second pregnancy, and he absconded with the truck. I had to file bankruptcy, lost all of my savings, my home, everything. He never paid for the truck and I am still paying for tickets and damages the truck has caused, and I still can't even get the title of the truck out of my name, I will be liable for whatever damages the truck causes for the rest of my life. I am 50 years old, impoverished, no retirement, and no chance of ever having financial security, will always be paying his bills, because of what he has done.
I would like an annulment, but the postings I read seem as though I would be guilty of a felony of fraud because he deceived me...?
Is there any legal aid service that might be able to help me?
Or does anybody have any suggestions?

nettlebed

Adivce? Yes, take this somewhere else, like an attorney.

First of all this is not an immigration problem: it is a marriage/legal/criminal/whatever problem.

Secondly, I call BS on it: the INS doesn't know what Mexican divorce papers looki like? Pull the other one...

rex_pereira

You do not need an annulment. If you can prove that he was legally married to another person at the time when your marriage occurred, then your marriage to him was never legally valid. From a legal standpoint, you were never married to him, so there is no marriage to be annulled.

The issues relating to fraud, deception, etc. are criminal issues and would be better addressed by an attorney.

Synthia212

Thank you for the information, I apologize for posting in the wrong place, and appreciate your understanding, tolerance, and assistance. I have a few questions but will atempt to post them correctly.

crg

Maybe you should ask the police if you canreport the truck stolen. You own it, he has it.

The other poster was correct. If he was already married then your marriage to him wasn't valid.

bionomique

That's it? She's a putative spouse and in my opinion, she deserves a legal end to the marriage. I'd certainly seek a family lawyer to help to terminate this marriage by annulment. At least she'd be entitled to seek estoppel so that she would not have to share the proceeds of the marriage.

CaliforniaBride

But she can't legally end a marriage that never was. As he was already married their marriage isn't/wasn't valid. You can't annul something if it wasn't a marriage. If that was the case then I would need an allument after my 'marriage' to my next door neighbour on his front lawn when we were 5 as it definitely wasn't consumated!

CaliforniaBride

Maybe someone can combine this post with the other one....

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=338355

where Folinsky has replied.

bionomique

Wouldn't that be for the court to decide? She files to annul the marriage, citing that he was not available for marriage when married her in the USA. She shows the court the marriage records of first and second marriage (to wife #1 and then wife #2), with no record of divorce or divorce decree for the marriage with the first wife. Bingo! Court renders decision that the marriage to second wife was never valid. Ergo, annulment.

gruffbrown

What truck was it? Just wondered...

nettlebed

You b*stard! I now have Thai beer all over my new (less that 1 week old) laptop!!!