Need advice on legally acceptable divorce document for N400

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sridk1

Registered Users (C)
My wife and I are separating through Muslim divorce. Our marriage was done in India. We are both in US. She is a student and I am working on GC. We wish to end the marriage soon as the court backlogs are heavy in the US. We wish to obtain a divorce decree from our religious institution in India, which is recognized by the Indian law.

Can this decree be a valid proof of divorce for Naturalization purposes?

I am guessing that I could obtain the decree from the institution and have it registered/notarized for making it acceptable legally for my US citizenship.

Please advice ASAP. Thanks in advance!
 
Can this decree be a valid proof of divorce for Naturalization purposes?
The answer is Yes . But U need to translate it to english and include both the Inidan Version and the translated English version .
 
Thanks!

I was told by someone else (who is not a lawyer) that since me and my wife are here, we will have to get the order from the Court in the US. However, we wish to dissolve our marriage in India. Needless to say, US based lawyers want to process it here to get the fees, if we have not already got it processed in India. Any opinions on this?
 
sridk1 said:
I was told by someone else (who is not a lawyer) that since me and my wife are here, we will have to get the order from the Court in the US. However, we wish to dissolve our marriage in India. Needless to say, US based lawyers want to process it here to get the fees, if we have not already got it processed in India. Any opinions on this?
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I don't see what difference it would make where you currently live. I would think if you get divorce in original jurisdiction it is still legally binding.
 
and overall u still can get legal divorce by Muslim Way Here in USA , just See any Masjid Close to you and ask the Imam For Details..
 
Thanks

If I have a decree from the US based Imam, is that sufficient to prove previous marriages as expected in the N-400 application?

I am very confused due to the following reasons:

US Immigration lawyers I have spoken to seem to think that a decree issued by a US based Imam may not be legally acceptable everywhere in the US. However, Indian law allows Muslims in India to obtain a decree only from the Imam there.

I had also contacted the US Consulate in my hometown in India to know if they'll accept the US Imam issued decree for N-400 and the staff responded by saying that US Court order is necessary, which is contradictory to what their own website says for Termination of Previous Marriage: "A certificate from the Kazi or the head of the Jammat must document divorce between Muslims".

It is very unlikely that the US Consulate website is untrue but the staff who responded to my query may be unaware of the rules.

I hope to clear this asap. Any opinions?
 
I dont Know if you already went to a Masjid and spoke to Imam , But the Masjid usualy Make Muslims wedding and so Divorce . then they Register it with the Curt to get the Neccessary Docements.

The Imam if not him the Legaly Authorized to do the wedding and the divorce , Sure he will tell you about the one does it .

SO what Exactly that Means.

You want to divorce your wife by Musilm way . . so you will go to the Masjid and lets say the imam who has license and aurhorize by Muslims Community and USA Goverment , will Tell u what u need to do .Usualy he will ask u if you want final divorce or just One 'Talqa' or '2 Talqa'.. lets say u want final Divorce ' 3 Talqa' so i assume u will have to say ' SHe is Divorced with 3 Talqa ' in front of the imam and Your wife . here u did it with Muslim way. and then i guess the imam will do the documents for you .. my advice for you to seek a Masjid and ask the Imam .. that wht i would do if it was me ..
 
Jurisdiction is in USA

I don't understand how you could obtain a divorce in India. Both of you live here now. There must be some type of residence requirement (aka minimum length of time lived in that district prior to filing a divorce) even in India to obtain a divorce.
You live here. Your wife lives here. I am guessing you won't be able to get a divorce in India (you could play the rules in India...but then the US Immigration Officer reviewing your N400 is bound to have the same questions that I am having)... I think Jurisdiction is here...thats playing safe!
US based Imams' Divorce Decree is not worth a penny due to separation of Church and State! I am gonna say You need to pursue this Dissolution of Marriage in a US Distirct Court.
If your case is that of an amicable dissolution of marriage, I believe you could file for the dissolution of marriage, get all your ducks in a row (get all paperwork in place by the first hearing) and ask for an instanter hearing. Lenghty divorces are where parties don't agree or if kids are involved....yours doesn't seem to be the case that way.
 
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485TSCjune2001 said:
I don't understand how you could obtain a divorce in India. Both of you live here now. There must be some type of residence requirement (aka minimum length of time lived in that district prior to filing a divorce) even in India to obtain a divorce.
You live here. Your wife lives here. I am guessing you won't be able to get a divorce in India (you could play the rules in India...but then the US Immigration Officer reviewing your N400 is bound to have the same questions that I am having)... I think Jurisdiction is here...thats playing safe!
US based Imams' Divorce Decree is not worth a penny due to separation of Church and State! I am gonna say You need to pursue this Dissolution of Marriage in a US Distirct Court.
If your case is that of an amicable dissolution of marriage, I believe you could file for the dissolution of marriage, get all your ducks in a row (get all paperwork in place by the first hearing) and ask for an instanter hearing. Lenghty divorces are where parties don't agree or if kids are involved....yours doesn't seem to be the case that way.
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I agree with you .. and the IMAM Just for Make it as Muslim way .. Muslims Dont need a divorce paper or Curt or divorce in front of imam But it is Nice if he ask the advice from the Imam , i know Some Masjids they Do Have Imam for Marriag and Divorce .. its enoght that he tell her 3 times she is 'Taleq' ..

i dont see any thing wrong by him divorcing her in Home , just tell her she is 'Taleq ' then go file the case in the curt to get the divorce papers.i dont belive there is Haram or Sin in doing So.
 
Thanks to both inputs

This is the situation I have been facing where people have been advising me on both angles.

Normally the Muslim residents in the US say that a "separation" from Imam can be obtained first followed by an official US Court based divorce. However the court backlogs are reportedly minimum of 4 months long here and I'd like to avoid it since it is an unconditional divorce. I am not familiar with the term "instanter hearing". Is this available in all Courts?

The Muslim divorce is not bound by physical jurisdiction. One can be issued in India by mutual consent of the husband and wife. Indian law recognizes this divorce as legal in India, which can be admitted here also. A lawyer I spoke to asked me if I had one such divorce. This seemed to be the fastest way to obtain the legal divorce since I am already eligible for Naturalization and don't want to waste 4+ months in the US family court backlog.

Any opinions on this? Could there still be an issue in N-400 if a legal divorce document is obtained from India? However, I do agree that it is safe to get it done here.
 
sridk1 said:
This is the situation I have been facing where people have been advising me on both angles.

Normally the Muslim residents in the US say that a "separation" from Imam can be obtained first followed by an official US Court based divorce. However the court backlogs are reportedly minimum of 4 months long here and I'd like to avoid it since it is an unconditional divorce. I am not familiar with the term "instanter hearing". Is this available in all Courts?

The Muslim divorce is not bound by physical jurisdiction. One can be issued in India by mutual consent of the husband and wife. Indian law recognizes this divorce as legal in India, which can be admitted here also. A lawyer I spoke to asked me if I had one such divorce. This seemed to be the fastest way to obtain the legal divorce since I am already eligible for Naturalization and don't want to waste 4+ months in the US family court backlog.

Any opinions on this? Could there still be an issue in N-400 if a legal divorce document is obtained from India? However, I do agree that it is safe to get it done here.
Click to expand...

IMO, if you were married in India and obtained divorce in India, the it would be legally binding. However, if you had a Muslim wedding in the US, then you would need to file divorce in US.
 
Thanks

The marriage was held in India so I'd like to obtain the divorce through the same institution where it was conducted. This way the local notary public / registrar of marriages could attest the divorce to be legal. There is no need for the couple to be physically present in India to get this done. It only helps with speeding up the process.
 
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