town hall and previous marriages help

hi,can anyone help with this problem,g/f in USA just went to the local town hall to make enquires about getting a marriage licence,one of the quotes it says on the information form says.....IF DIVORCED MORE THAN ONCE,ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON HOW PREVIOUS MARRIAGES ENDED MAY BE REQUIRED.

previous marriage was for 20 years,i have the divorce papers for that one,but the previous one to that didnt last long,so what information do you think i should provide,because it was so long ago and with moving a few times,i dont have any info on that marriage??...could anyone tell me what i should do with this......i am in UK and we hope she will be coming here after marriage...thanks again

Definitely provide name and dates for both previous marriages (to do otherwise would be deception in my opinion) and I'd probably try to get a new copy of the paperwork for the 1st divorce if you can.  Would be worth the cost if it saves hassle right before your wedding.

Hi.

I, too, was in a different location and had been long-since divorced, but I called the clerk's office that filed the original paperwork and they were happy to fax it to me. I included the faxed decree with my application and it must have been OK. My visa was issued in March of this year.

Are you using a courier?  If you are, you might want to give them a call and see what their past experiences have been. Having them walk your app through with explanations at the ready couldn't hurt.  

I'm no lawyer or expert but can offer my experience and thoughts.

I married a British citizen at the town hall of my town the US.  We had each been married once before and the probate judge who married us was really helpful in letting us know exactly what to bring.  

Even though they may only need your previous divorce decree, you may need to provide more information to the consulate when your spouse applies for the spouse visa.

best of wishes!

The best thing to do is to call the town hall yourself and ask them specifically what you need.  AFAIK, all you need is the divorce decree, but if they want "more information", it would probably be best to call directly to find out what they need!

what i love about this site,is how quickly advice is given and all the help anyone needs and i thank you for that very much,im going to phone my local divorce courts tomorrow and see what they can give me regarding paperwork...thanks to all

Best of luck BB. Congrats on the wedding, BTW!!!!

Let us know how it goes. There will be someone else out there in the same boat who might benefit from your experience, too. 

Whatever paperwork you receive about your early divorce, be sure to keep it handy (or provide a copy for your wife) to include with future apps to the UKBA. They will likely want to see that included in her visa application package. Better safe than sorry, right?

Cheers.

thanks texpat,trying to get it all sorted times going quick,and febuarys coming,does anyone know if the reasons you are divorced makes any difference in getting married or applying for the settlement visa??....eg: if the 2 divorces was unreasonable behaviour,adultry,or both 2 years apart with consent....surely just the fact you can provide your divorce papers is enough without the reasons why the person got a divorce?

My experience is in the UK, rather than the US, but no one here in the UK cared about why I got divorced...they just wanted to see that I actually was divorced...possibly will be the same in the US, but add it to your list of things to check on the US side of things.

Best of luck!

Same here; no one questioned the reason for divorcing. I think the legal right to marry is what they're looking for.  FWIW, no one questioned my husband. They only cared about his passport and visa waiver details. Make sure you have the landing/US immigration form in your passport when you go to get the marriage license. It's a US thing.

I agree with some of the other posters here who say that they really didn't get asked *why* there was a divorce, just that there was proof that it was all sorted and that the UKC could indeed get married. When my husband came to the US they didn't even ask to see his decree absolute, which we brought with us--he just disclosed his divorce on the license and we were able to continue on and get married, but we had the paperwork just in case there were questions, and I'd highly recommend having those things available just in case. They also didn't even ask to see his passport or his landing card, but it's also something you should absolutely have available, since every county can vary in terms of what they might ask for.

In terms of the actual visa, all my husband provided was his decree absolute, though the divorce itself was about a year old when we got married. I think the UKBA just wanted to make doubly sure that his divorce was legal, along with our marriage certificate to show a legally binding marriage.

Tim wasn't asked for his passport either.  He was asked for his driver's license, and even when he presented the British license he was never asked to show his passport. The requirements for the county did state that if you were a foreigner, you would need your passport, though. 

hi all,thanks for all responses,update is...went to local county court today,to see if they had my records,no joy,but they was helpful,and told me the other county court had them 15 miles away,so i rang them when i got back,they said they did have a quick look and for some reason they cannot find it,they see on the indexing it was granted,but dont have my absolute...so they need to contact somewhere in london where ALL divorces in England are kept,so tomorrow ( weds ) gotta drive 15 miles to the other county court,pay 40-00 pounds and they will contact london see if its there......also g/f rung back the local town hall in Usa,and they stated...they want to know...when,where,and why...i was divorced twice in the past????anyway will keep you updated on what happens....thank you for your replys

I think the decree absolute answers all those questions.  They don't want a sob story or anything like that, just the reason that was written on your divorce agreement.

Yeah, I think on the decree absolute it states the legal reason for the divorce, like in my husband's case it was just an irrevocable breakdown of the marriage or somesuch, and all the relevant dates (i.e. when the couple legally seperated, since at least in my husband's case he needed to be living seperately from his ex for two years before the divorce was formally granted). I think on the license in the States it asked for the date he got married and divorced and the number of prior marriages, but like Rebecca said the decree absolute should cover most of the stuff they would ask for.