Some Dude

Hi-

I know a woman that is married (was Married in Russia) and wants a
divorce. She currently has an H1B and has been working in America for
a graphic design firm for about 3 years. Her Visa runs out in one
year. Her employer has also indicated their willingless to "Sponsor"
her.

Is it possible for her to get a divorce, no problem? Or does she have
to be of another status or have U.S. Citizenship or something?


Also, is there a difference between an H1 and an H1B? Is the B
classification indicate Spouse? I read that somewhere, not sure if
its accurate


Thanks!

Ingo Pakleppa

On Wed, 23 Apr 2003 18:58:46 +0000, Some Dude wrote:

    > Hi-
    >
    > I know a woman that is married (was Married in Russia) and wants a
    > divorce. She currently has an H1B and has been working in America for a
    > graphic design firm for about 3 years. Her Visa runs out in one year.
    > Her employer has also indicated their willingless to "Sponsor" her.
    >
    > Is it possible for her to get a divorce, no problem? Or does she have
    > to be of another status or have U.S. Citizenship or something?

Divorce is completely independent of her status in the US. I have actually
no idea how to get a divorce if the spouse is in another country. You
should hire a divorce attorney about that. Divorce is generally controlled
by state law, although in this case the international angle may add some
complexity.

    > Also, is there a difference between an H1 and an H1B? Is the B
    > classification indicate Spouse? I read that somewhere, not sure if its
    > accurate

No, that is not accurate. Non-immigrant visas are grouped into broad
categories by letters of the alphabet. So there are A visas (diplomats), B
visas (tourists and business visitors), C visas (transit visitors), etc.
H-1B visas are H visas (guest worker).

Within most of these groups, there are subcategories, so there is an A-1,
A-2, A-3, B-1, B-2, etc. There also are H-1 through H-4. H-1 is a guest
worker for skilled labor. H-2 would be a seasonal worker, H-3 would be a
trainee, and H-4 would be the spouse of an H-1, H-2 or H-3.

And in the case of H-1 visas (and a few others), they are further
subdivided into H-1B and H-1C (there also used to be an H-1A, but that no
longer exists). H-1C is for nurses, H-1B is for everyone else.

So the difference between H-1 and H-1B is that H-1B is the specific type,
while H-1 is the group of visas.

Mayo

The Visa classification as I understand it is H1B, some people use the
shorter H1. B does not refer to the spouse

Divorce is a state matter in the US not a federal situation. I believe
that if the state she lives in considers her a resident then she can
get a divorce regardless of the visa. I am not sure if that will apply
if you are a tourist, but that is certainly not the case. I believe
that she can get a divorce in the US (I know residents who got
divorced here but were married somewhere else so I assume it is the
same situation)

The divorce in itself can be very easy of very hard - depending on the
laws on the state and whether the husband agrees or not and the
specific facts and on whether there are assets to split and whether
there are kids. Some states have no fault divorces (both parties
decide it did not work and call it quits) and some like NY do not, so
either one party proves fault (i.e. abuse, abandonment, infidelity) or
they must separate for I believe a year and then can get the divorce

There are many sites that have information about divorce, search on
google to find them

The divorce should be valid everywhere, but I don't have any first
hand knowledge of Russian law so I suggest she checks on that. A
friend once told me that the Russian consulate could not divorce them
while in US and if they wanted a Russian divorce they needed to travel
there

Is the Husband a US citizen, resident or a foreigner – if he is a
foreigner and he has a spouse visa, divorce will terminate his right
to be in US.

Some Dude

Thanks to both of you for very informative advice!! (added to my list
of frequented Newsgroups!).

I called the BCIS, and after 30 minutes on hold spoke to an
immigration officer. He verified exactly what the two of you have
said- that there is no connection.

The reason why I made a connection was because of the fact that he had
already filed Permanent Resident Status (I140 I believe) with her as a
spouse. As it turns out, he has been lying to her all along and
telling her she has to go back to Russia if she doesn't go through his
process. The fact is, however, that they are both H1B's and are both
work-sponsored (her company will actually sponsor her for Permanent
Resident Status) and as such they are both technically independent of
each other regarding work/living status.

In regards to marriage it appears that according to the INS/BCIS that
the "rule of thumb" as they put it is that they will honor marriages
from outside countries PROVIDING there is proof of this marriage.

In otherwords, if there is no solid paper proof that they were married
in Russia, they are legally not considered married in America.
However, in order for him to get HER permanent status as a spouse, he
needs to provide Marriage papers so I'm assuming he has these.

The problem here- in a nutshell- is that he doesn't want her to leave
him- although she is going insane being married to him. So what I am
seeking (as a friend) is to figure out for her if she can just go down
to the local court and apply for a divorce (with papers), or just
completely ignore they were ever married (assuming he cannot produce
marriage papers that the local county deems acceptable as proof of
marriage). As a friend I am prepared (as a born U.S. Citizen) to
Marry her legally so that she no longer has to worry about this issue.


Finally, he appears to have a scarred legal record from Russia and
apparently the you-know-who's (big brother) have investigated him for
various connections to various people. As a result I am under the
assumption that his permanent resident status may be turned down, as
then hers would follow. As her "record" does not indicate such
questionable activities, I am quite confident her indepedent effort to
obtain permanent residence as well as a Divorce will ultimately come
up trumps.


Thanks again!



On 23 Apr 2003 15:26:42 -0700, [email protected] (Mayo) wrote:

    >The Visa classification as I understand it is H1B, some people use the
    >shorter H1. B does not refer to the spouse
    >Divorce is a state matter in the US not a federal situation. I believe
    >that if the state she lives in considers her a resident then she can
    >get a divorce regardless of the visa. I am not sure if that will apply
    >if you are a tourist, but that is certainly not the case. I believe
    >that she can get a divorce in the US (I know residents who got
    >divorced here but were married somewhere else so I assume it is the
    >same situation)
    >The divorce in itself can be very easy of very hard - depending on the
    >laws on the state and whether the husband agrees or not and the
    >specific facts and on whether there are assets to split and whether
    >there are kids. Some states have no fault divorces (both parties
    >decide it did not work and call it quits) and some like NY do not, so
    >either one party proves fault (i.e. abuse, abandonment, infidelity) or
    >they must separate for I believe a year and then can get the divorce
    >There are many sites that have information about divorce, search on
    >google to find them
    >The divorce should be valid everywhere, but I don't have any first
    >hand knowledge of Russian law so I suggest she checks on that. A
    >friend once told me that the Russian consulate could not divorce them
    >while in US and if they wanted a Russian divorce they needed to travel
    >there
    >Is the Husband a US citizen, resident or a foreigner – if he is a
    >foreigner and he has a spouse visa, divorce will terminate his right
    >to be in US.

Sylvia Ottemoeller

"Some Dude" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

    > Thanks to both of you for very informative advice!! (added to my list
    > of frequented Newsgroups!).
    > I called the BCIS, and after 30 minutes on hold spoke to an
    > immigration officer. He verified exactly what the two of you have
    > said- that there is no connection.
    > The reason why I made a connection was because of the fact that he had
    > already filed Permanent Resident Status (I140 I believe) with her as a
    > spouse. As it turns out, he has been lying to her all along and
    > telling her she has to go back to Russia if she doesn't go through his
    > process. The fact is, however, that they are both H1B's and are both
    > work-sponsored (her company will actually sponsor her for Permanent
    > Resident Status) and as such they are both technically independent of
    > each other regarding work/living status.
    > In regards to marriage it appears that according to the INS/BCIS that
    > the "rule of thumb" as they put it is that they will honor marriages
    > from outside countries PROVIDING there is proof of this marriage.
    > In otherwords, if there is no solid paper proof that they were married
    > in Russia, they are legally not considered married in America.

This statement is a little shaky. It would be correct to say that if no
documentation can be provided of the marriage, then she cannot get a U.S.
immigration benefit based on the marriage.

    > However, in order for him to get HER permanent status as a spouse, he
    > needs to provide Marriage papers so I'm assuming he has these.
    > The problem here- in a nutshell- is that he doesn't want her to leave
    > him- although she is going insane being married to him. So what I am
    > seeking (as a friend) is to figure out for her if she can just go down
    > to the local court and apply for a divorce (with papers), or just
    > completely ignore they were ever married (assuming he cannot produce
    > marriage papers that the local county deems acceptable as proof of
    > marriage). As a friend I am prepared (as a born U.S. Citizen) to
    > Marry her legally so that she no longer has to worry about this issue.

She should get everything straightened out. She can, and should, try to get
her own documentation of her marriage, which I assume actually occurred, by
following procedures described at this site:
http://www.travel.state.gov/reciprocity/index.htm. Then she should get a
proper divorce in the U.S. This would be important for her, and you, or
anyone who may consider marrying her in the future. If she did enter into a
legal marriage in Russia, and did not get a divorce, and subsequently were
to marry again, that marriage may be considered bigamous.

Some Dude

Thank you for the clarification.


On Wed, 23 Apr 2003 17:22:36 -0700, "Sylvia Ottemoeller"
wrote:

    >"Some Dude" wrote in message
    >news:[email protected]...
    >> Thanks to both of you for very informative advice!! (added to my list
    >> of frequented Newsgroups!).
    >> I called the BCIS, and after 30 minutes on hold spoke to an
    >> immigration officer. He verified exactly what the two of you have
    >> said- that there is no connection.
    >> The reason why I made a connection was because of the fact that he had
    >> already filed Permanent Resident Status (I140 I believe) with her as a
    >> spouse. As it turns out, he has been lying to her all along and
    >> telling her she has to go back to Russia if she doesn't go through his
    >> process. The fact is, however, that they are both H1B's and are both
    >> work-sponsored (her company will actually sponsor her for Permanent
    >> Resident Status) and as such they are both technically independent of
    >> each other regarding work/living status.
    >> In regards to marriage it appears that according to the INS/BCIS that
    >> the "rule of thumb" as they put it is that they will honor marriages
    >> from outside countries PROVIDING there is proof of this marriage.
    >> In otherwords, if there is no solid paper proof that they were married
    >> in Russia, they are legally not considered married in America.
    >This statement is a little shaky. It would be correct to say that if no
    >documentation can be provided of the marriage, then she cannot get a U.S.
    >immigration benefit based on the marriage.
    >> However, in order for him to get HER permanent status as a spouse, he
    >> needs to provide Marriage papers so I'm assuming he has these.
    >> The problem here- in a nutshell- is that he doesn't want her to leave
    >> him- although she is going insane being married to him. So what I am
    >> seeking (as a friend) is to figure out for her if she can just go down
    >> to the local court and apply for a divorce (with papers), or just
    >> completely ignore they were ever married (assuming he cannot produce
    >> marriage papers that the local county deems acceptable as proof of
    >> marriage). As a friend I am prepared (as a born U.S. Citizen) to
    >> Marry her legally so that she no longer has to worry about this issue.
    >She should get everything straightened out. She can, and should, try to get
    >her own documentation of her marriage, which I assume actually occurred, by
    >following procedures described at this site:
    >http://www.travel.state.gov/reciprocity/index.htm. Then she should get a
    >proper divorce in the U.S. This would be important for her, and you, or
    >anyone who may consider marrying her in the future. If she did enter into a
    >legal marriage in Russia, and did not get a divorce, and subsequently were
    >to marry again, that marriage may be considered bigamous.