Hi Sal,

I have a scanned copy of what Kurt collected from the court yesterday. It is titled "Agreed divorce decree" and says "Now on this XXth day of <date> comes on to be heard the complaint of the plaintiff <Kurt's full name> for an absolute divorce from the defendant <ex's full name> ..." etc

I am going offline to talk to him about it now. I do know he phoned the court yesterday and this is the document they provided him with, after he showed them the RFE.

Thanks for your help, I do appreciate all input.

Debbie

Our divorce decrees in the states don't say anything about being absolute on them. That's the uk's divorce decrees. The day you go to court and you have your hearing is the day the judge signs the divorce decree and both plaintiff and defendant sign it and you file it with the county clerk is when it's final. Our final divorce papers are called Judgment of divorce. At least in Michigan that's what ours our called.

Carey

I do believe that i have sent them the correct document. It did meet all the requirements of the RFE. Date of divorve, date of being recorded by the county clerk, Judge's signature ... and I did have the circuit clerk certify that it was a copy of the original decree. Perhaps in different states it is done in slightly different manners, I have heard where instead of a Judge's signature, that it is a stamp .. which has caused some people to get an RFE. Oh well i do hope it is correct because it is on the way now to the TSC.

Kurt

I love my Brit to bits!!!
(love you Debbie)

Hi:

The law of marriage and divorce in the United States is a matter of invidual STATE law -- including DC, you then have 51 different jurisidctions. Also, their laws change from time to time.

Given that fact, it can be difficult sometimes to figure out what is the actual divorce decree. And remember that the BCIS people at the SC's see stuff from different states.

It is inherent in this for errors to be made or for difficulty to be made -- by applicants, by BCIS, and, yes, by attorneys. [I know that when I see a document I'm not sure about -- I check it out.

In California, it is theoretically possible to get a divorce in one day [last time I did that it was called a "Rule 10" under local court rules] if the parties stipulated to everything. But the marriage would not be actually disolved for six months.

Also, under old procedures, California had "interlocutory" and "final" decrees rather than the latin phraseology of "decree nisi" and "decree absolute." But it was the same thing.

Outside of immigration law, there is a large body of law in California where spouse got the interlocutory, throught they were divorced and remarried and then had kids. Forget immigration -- this can affect community property, probate, bigamy and other such things.

Totally outside of the marriage context in immigration, many categories rely on educational documentation -- in some countries, a "high school" diploma can be the equivalent of a Community College Associates degree in the US and in others, a "College" graduation will be the equivalent of a high school diploma. In many countries, the technical coursework of a US "BS" degree can be obtained in less than 4 years because they don't impose the "breadth" requirements of a US institution [such as "HASS" at MIT].

I once had a client come in to petition for his "adopted" son and he showed me the Iranian document with the translation of "Decree of Adoption" -- he agrued with me when I told him that, although I don't speak Farsi, it was mistranslated. I pointed out that under Islamic law there is no such thing as "adoption" as known in the United States, but Islamic law does provide for the care of children by the equivalent of "guardianship." Under Islamic law, the adopted child will not become the full equivalent of a blood relation.

Without an examination of the actual documentation and a careful examination of all the facts and law behind it -- you can NOT be certain of what it is.