My husband and I are currently living in London, UK. My husband sponsored the my residence card to live in the UK as he is a dual citizen (he is holding European and American passport). We both are working in London. We are planning to relocate back to the US next year. He was married in 2004 in the US and then he filed the petition for his ex-wife to obtain the green card. However, they have got official divorce in 2008. My husband and I met in 2010 in the UK and we got married in 2012 in the US. 1. Could you please advise if my husband is able to sponsor me? My husband doesn't have any document to about petition for his ex-wife and could not remember as the lawyer managed to do that for them. 2. Is there any chance to check that he had filed the petition for her? 3. Does he need to provide any documents relate to his previous petition as he doesn't keep any documents as at the end their marriage did not work out and they haven't kept in touch since 2010. Many thanks for all of your answers.
The same answer is relevant to both the questions. As long as you have the divorce decree/judgment from the court of competent jurisdiction, he can sponsor you. You do not need to worry about what papers were filed or not for the first spouse as it is not relevant. However, a lawyer has to look at the papers and a personal interview to confirm.
There is no prohibition against a U.S. petitioner sponsoring a spouse, later becoming divorced and marrying another foreign national, and then sponsoring the second spouse. A heightened level of scrutiny can be expected, however, by immigration officials who may suspect marriage fraud. That heightened level of scrutiny may apply both to the new application, and to evidence that the U.S. citizen lived in a bona fide marriage with the first spouse too. Documentation of the bona fide nature of the first marriage already would have been supplied to the USCIS in connection with the first application, and generally is not needed in connection with an application for a second spouse except when the USCIS may have substantial reason to suspect fraud (for example, in an instance where the couple became divorced extremely soon after the foreign national spouse received her "Green Card"). One may find information and documents about a previously filed case through filing an application under the Freedom of Information Act. Note, however, that this process can take quite a long time, and it may be worthwhile to try additional efforts to identify the immigration attorney who handled the application process for the first spouse - that might include, for example, reviewing decade-old emails, credit card and checking records. Some immigration law firms, including mine, offer legal services on a "flat fee" basis so that a client will know the total expense from the very beginning, and a few immigration law firms, including mine, offer an initial consultation free of charge.
Consumers can use this platform to pose legal questions to real lawyers and receive free insights.
Participating legal professionals get the opportunity to speak directly with people who may need their services, as well as enhance their standing in the Lawyers.com community.