Can immigration found out if wife was married?

J

jacobson

New Member
HI, i am about to send my immigration papers. However, i am afraid that my US citizen wife isn't honest about ever being married. It says in our certificate first marriage.

My questions:

1- Can immigration found out if wife was married? what would happen to me and my case, if she was?
2-Can a state found out if a spouse is still married before issuing a marriage licence and certificate?
 
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Of course. There are many cases where immigration (USCIS) did background checks on the petitioner.
If she was married, your marriage to her would be considered invalid, and the petition will be denied.
However, I think it is more important FOR YOU to find out if she was married before or not. After all, she is your wife - and if you suspect your wife is lying about being married before - imagine what the Immigration Officer would suspect about your marriage.
 
i dont think they will find out and if they do tell them u didnt notice that it said first marriage tell them it must be a typo..thats all~~~~ or just go back to who ever issued the certificate and tell them u need a corrected one witht he correct iformation~~~
 
RNqueen said:
i dont think they will find out and if they do tell them u didnt notice that it said first marriage tell them it must be a typo..thats all~~~~ or just go back to who ever issued the certificate and tell them u need a corrected one witht he correct iformation~~~
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The bigger problem is if the first marriage is still valid.
 
There are background check services that you can pay to find out if she was ever married before (without her knowing that you requested the check). Of course, you'll have to ensure they won't send you the results by regular mail.
 
RNqueen said:
i dont think they will find out and if they do tell them u didnt notice that it said first marriage tell them it must be a typo..thats all~~~~
I don't think you can do that as on application it asks if any of them were married, if yes, then you have to state previous husbands/wives, so you can not say it was a typo. but yeah, the main problem is that this marriage wouldn't be valid if she's still married with smb else.
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First of all before you even get married at the city hall/municipality the officer ask you for divorce decree if you were married. During the day you swore and signed for the marriage certificate till the day of pick up the city hall do a nation wide check up to verify if both parties qualify for the legal union. If somehow this process fails and acquire the certificate... at your interview the IO will definitely consider the entire process fraud and might even get arrested on the spot. I suggest you should talk to your spouse and clear the air before you submit your application. Good luck and keep us posted.
 
If the petitioner reads the statement on the I-130 right above where they sign then I think anyone who is providing false information would think twice about signing the form:
YOUR CERTIFICATION: I certify, under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America, that the foregoing is true and correct.
Furthermore, I authorize the release of any information from my records that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services needs to determine eligibility for the benefit that I am seeking.

The form also states the penalty of providing false information which is a fine of up to $10,000 and/or a prison sentence of up to 5 years.
 
Marriage records in the US are considered public information, so if she got married in the US it won't be hard for USCIS to find out if they want to check it.

But if she got married abroad, where the records sometimes are not public, or are not easy to search, they would be much less likely to find out.
 
There are trust issues in this marriage, the way I read into it. Surely AOS isn't what you really should be concentrating on right now?


jacobson said:
1- Can immigration found out if wife was married? what would happen to me and my case, if she was?
2-Can a state found out if a spouse is still married before issuing a marriage licence and certificate?
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thank you all for your responses.
my worse nightmare came true. she was married and she thought her ex had an annulment. but no he didn't. they haven't seen each other for over 4 years and recently went thru to get a divorce.

thank god, i didn't apply for OAS.
 
Triple Citizen said:
So is she officially divorced now? The next step would be to get married to you then.
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Formally annulling the existing bogus marriage, or some other relevant procedure to wipe the slate clean, may be required first. I don't know if they can just go ahead and get married while they have the existing marriage between them still on the books (even though it's technically invalid).

But it may not be wise to marry her at all, if she was not being fully honest about this prior marriage.
 
thank you again. i am just at a road block.
so we have to re-marry again? even though we are already married. Doesn't her getting rid of the previous marriage.. validate this one?
 
jacobson said:
thank you again. i am just at a road block.
so we have to re-marry again? even though we are already married. Doesn't her getting rid of the previous marriage.. validate this one?
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I think technically the marriage license that was issued to you guys was invalidated because of the existing marriage at the time of the application for marriage license. Then, without a valid marriage license, you can't have a valid marriage.
But check with your county people - may be they have some relief for special cases like yours.
 
jacobson said:
thank you again. i am just at a road block.
so we have to re-marry again? even though we are already married. Doesn't her getting rid of the previous marriage.. validate this one?
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No, because the prior marriage was not terminated when you got "married" to her. So your current marriage was invalid from day 1.

But like VisaNutz says, there may be some specific laws and precedents that would apply to your situation. Brings to mind the case of Frankie Lymon and his three wives, each of whom made a claim to his estate after he died.
 
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