explorerman

Ok, I'm engaged to a US citizen who was previously married to a Brit in the UK. She ended up leaving him and moving back to the US. Eventually her husband got a divorce from her and is now recently remarried.
I got engaged to her (I'm legal over here as I am also divorced but was married for 19 years before getting divorced, still on a GC though) and now her ex-husband is messaging her saying that she will need her divorce papers to be able to get married.
He's being a bit of a nob about the situation and not giving her any information so she can get a copy of the divorce papers (originals were lost in a move years ago).
Any advice on how I/we can go about getting a copy of the papers?
Thanks in advance.

steveq

You can get court copies. My wife did that just recently.
Assuming she remembers which court the decree absolute came from.

Rete

Or if she knows the name of the attorney who handled the divorce.

Some city registries don't even ask for divorce papers. She can see if her city is one of them.

scrubbedexpat091

Check and see if they are even needed. If the divorce isnt recent she may not even need the copies.


I was divorced in 2010 and remarried in NV in 2015 and NV did not require nor ask for the divorce certificate as it had been several years.

Should state on the relevant agencies website what is needed for a marriage license.

explorerman

She doesn't remember any of that stuff (much to my annoyance) and her ex won't give her the info. The divorce was about 10 years ago.
I see there are some sites where we can put his and her names in and the can do a search so maybe we'll go that route.

Thanks

scrubbedexpat091

Still check to see if you even need the paperwork. Good chance you wont with it being that long ago and no need to waste time on something you dont need.

thinbrit

I recall I needed the decree absolute for my previous marriage when seeking citizenship. So the OP will likely need the paperwork at some point down the line if he is going the citizenship route.

thinbrit

£65 to search and get a copy of a decree absolute from the official source.
http://hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.u...s/d440-eng.pdf

scrubbedexpat091

He would need his wifes divorce paperwork?

Owen778

Yes. I had to supply my wife's divorce decree for my adjustment of status (to permanent resident).

scrubbedexpat091

US sure likes to make things difficult at the federal level.

Kind of amusing since not all states require the proof of divorce to actually get married.

Rete

When dealing with USCIS, he will need all divorce decrees (absolute if there is one) when applying for adjustment of status based on marriage to a USC. USCIS needs to see physical proof that the person was indeed free to marry.

However, since he is already in the US as a legal resident that is moot for adjustment of status but as thinbrit mentioned, it might be needed at the time he applies for naturalization, if he ever does, even though he would not be using the married to a USC three years ruling to be eligible to naturalization. Again, his naturalization is probably moot as well since he has not attempted to naturalization in nearly 2 decades.

The OP should be aware of the financial repercussions of non-citizenship standing in relation to death/inheritance taxes.

Again, many states do not require a viewing of the divorce decree to obtain a marriage license.

md95065

That's the American way.

The states get to make the rules for things that they are responsible for (such as marriage) and the Feds get to make the rules for things that they are responsible for (such as immigration).

discoviking

I was a Permanent Resident for 23 years before I finally naturalized, and was divorced and remarried during those 23 years. I naturalized based on 5+ years as a PR rather than 3+ years married to a USC, since there was less evidence required. I did bring copies of my divorce decree to the Naturalization interview, but they didn't bother to look at it, they just briefly went over the marriage history listed on the n-400.

This is of course only anecdotal evidence of what happened at my interview, mileage may vary.

I guess I'll find out what the Canadians need when I get started on my Canadian PR application later this year, but that's another story....

tuxedocat

What city was she living in when the divorce was granted? Find the phone # address to the county courthouse and ask them how much it is to get a copy. It can be difficult to call so just keep trying until you reach someone.