In this video, we'll talk about whether somebody who is in the process of getting divorced
overseas can remarry in the United States before that divorce is final.
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So, this is actually a video that I'm doing as a response to a question for one of our
subscribers who described a situation where they are currently in the Philippines.
And it takes really many many years to get divorced over there.
Papers are filed, everything is there, but it's not final and the client was saying that
“Listen, this is the Philippines, it's far away, it's not the US, nobody's going to know
about it.
I just want to get married to my current fiancé so I can go ahead and file for my green card
and get on with my life.
The issue with that is if you file for marriage petition, file the adjustment of status while
you are you still married, even if it's in another country, the consequences are devastating
because by the time we get to the adjustment of status interview, if they find out at that
point, your marriage will be null and void, as well as your case and you may be subject
to removal proceedings because by that time, you may be already overstayed or your status
may be already expired.
But the biggest consequences of this are that you may be charged with fraud, misrepresentation,
and even if they don't find out when you are in the green card process, don't forget that
that's why they have all these protection, that's why you have a conditional green card
for two years, whereby they can check and investigate further.
And even if they don't catch it during the two years after the removal of conditions,
things may come up during the citizenship process 3 to 5 years later down the road.
So if that happens, imagine how devastating it is where you may be… you may lose your
green card, that may be rescinded.
We never recommend anyone, and this is actually one of the first questions that we asked in
our questionnaire, we want to see your divorce decree from a prior marriage because that
is why the US government is so strict about it.
That is why a divorce decree is one of the key elements, part of the evidence of an Adjustment
of Status case, you cannot file an Adjustment of Status until you're free and clear to marry
another person again.
So, divorce in the home country is essential.
No matter where you are in the world.
You have to file a clear divorce before you can actually marry another person here.
Now, the significance actually of this is one of the things that you need to prove in
an Adjustment of Status case is that you’re actually eligible and people know that they
have to make sure that they have all the criminal stuff, if they have a criminal, they have
to get their certified records of criminal records and to disclose that.
But somehow, many applicants kind of look at a divorce decree as something that is minimal.
And they don't realize that it's actually one of the most important parts of the evidence
of an Adjustment of Status case where you have to show to the government that you're
free and clear to get married to a new person in the United States.
It doesn't matter that it happened in a foreign country, it doesn't matter that that marriage
was just a religious marriage or whatever.
As long as it was recorded in the country, you have to have a real and certified divorce
before you can marry another person in the US and file their Adjustment of Status.
So, make sure you never do that.
Always get a certified divorce before you are about to file an Adjustment of Status
case.
So, this is just an answer to one of our followers, to one of our subscribers’ questions.
We do videos sometimes based on your questions.
If you have any questions that you want us to make a video, post them below, and we'll
try to make it in our next video.
Thanks for watching, and we'll see you in our next video.