Hope you're managing to cope with life. Drop us a line when you can.

Missing you and thinking of you fondly,

F.T.

i'm fine, thanks FT. much more serene now that he's gone.

took his name off the lease, he has his own apartment now. he took everything, even all my towels, the spatula, and frying pan.

Sorry to hear of your situation Josie. When was he *supposed* to file his I-751?

Sphy

She posted some time ago that it would be in May 2005, I think.

here's some irony.

next week, i am going to start the process of becoming a Catholic.

meaning, i can't divorce him, can i?

will still file joint I-751 in May, ONLY for his childrens sake.

You can get annulment, which is OK to remarry in the eyes of the church.

Josie Jo,

If you are becoming Catholic it means your wedding was not Catholic (your husband is Muslim, right?). That means, under the Church's eyes, you were never married.

You are allowed to have a Catholic wedding only once in your life. So you can still enter Church with you long white dress and a new groom (which I am sure you will find). One fine example is the new princess of Spain. She got married in a civil ceremony then divorced. Then she married the Prince of Spain. Lucky her, she didnt have a religious wedding otherwise you wouldnt be able to marry the future king (Spain is a Catholic country and it would be an outrage if the Prince was not married by the Church).

And just for the record, trying to get an annulment (which would allow you to marry again in a Church) from a Catholic wedding is extremely difficult, almost impossible. Remember the marriage is for good and for worst.

Take care and cheer up Josie Jo.

thanks guys!

i was never married in a church, nor wore a white dress.

i can annul on the grounds that he is Muslim, not married in a church, or both?

as far as the future goes, i don't care about marriage, i just want to find someone to have a child with and live happily ever after, before it's too late to have a child.

peace.

Oh Jo!
You know I was reading your posts but I really have nothing to add, all I can say is I know how you feel right now.

Void ab initio marriages are thought to be contrary to public policy and the state has an interest in ending the marital relationship. Support and property rights are generally waived if an annulment is granted on void ab initio grounds, not so with an annulment granted on voidable grounds.

Generally speaking, you have to file for an annulment within 2 years of the date of marriage or you will be barred from seeking an annulment.

A divorce is the dissolution of a legally valid marriage whereas in an annulment, the court acknowledges that the marriage never existed in the first place.

In Virginia, there are very specific and narrow requirements which must be met to obtain an annulment.
One can void ab initio marriages, if it was:
a. Same s-e-x marriage
b. Bigamous marriage
c. Marrying a relative (in Virginia this includes ancestor and descendant; brother and sister whether whole blood, half-blood, or by adoption; and uncles and niece or between and aunt and nephew)
d. Underage marriage

Voidable marriages are considered those which involve:
a. Mental and physical incompetence at the time of marriage
b. Marriage to a felon if the other person did not know at time of marriage
c. If one person had been without the knowledge of the other, a prostitute
d. If mother is with child by another person other than the husband at the time of marriage
e. Fraud (to include Sham marriages)
f. Duress
g. Marriage in jest

thanks injoy and swiss.

a. definitely applies.

i am mentally incompetant, i think one of my other personalities married him.

You may be able to void you marriage LEGALLY (State law). But that has nothing to do with voiding a marriage RELIGIOUSLY (Cannon Law). As I told you before, you need not to worry because you dont have a Catholic marriage, therefore there is nothing to void in the eyes of God.

Now, if you marriage is legally void, it means that "it never occured". It is a legal fiction. But the important point is that that marriage can not produce consequences (i.e. the adjustment of status of a foreign national, AKA Mian). Unless there is nothing specific in the INS law, if a marriage is void, so is the residency adquiered based on such marriage. Again, this is all legal theory. You have to check the law.

Actually, I have to disagree. In the USCIS language, they permit a waiver of the joint removal of conditions, for marriages that were terminated or annulled. As far as I can see, there is nothing which suggests that such annulment is only based upon religious grounds.

thanks swiss and cayita, sweeties!

as of the moment, we are still married, separation started Jan 1st (by me taking him off the lease).

will not do anything till after he gets his 10 year card, even though he doesn't deserve it.

i just want my first husbands last name back.

i advised him to divorce me ( 6 month wait) and file I-751 waiver.

it disturbs me that i am good-hearted enough to file for him, after he tried to have my rights totally taken away by trying to get a medical power of attorney against me and having me locked away forever.

that's how important the green card is to him.

thanks again guys, so good to see you swiss sis!

is my SAMMY reading this? hello sweet SAMMY, would love your comment...

Catholicism? Why, Josie, why?

As someone who grew up under a strict Catholic regime I want to know!

Thought to make a "walk-away" comment to clear it up that it's seemed very obvious that Swiss were unable to understand/comprehend Cayita's above-said statement, otherwise she would not have made a statement like this: "In the USCIS language, they permit a waiver of the joint removal of conditions, for marriages that were terminated or annulled." Because Cayita has said the same stuff what Swiss has said. As Cayita has said that if your marriage gets void then it won't produce any consequences to Mian like ˜adjustment of status'. Cayita even went further in explaining more about it when she said that this kind of situation is a legal fiction and that there is nothing specific in the INS law about a marriage that gets void then residency acquired based on such marriage would be taken away too.

However, I would say that USCIS has taken favorable position on this issue lately. But I must say that even though USCIS permit processing of any other subsequent application/petition, even naturalization one, or a waiver of the joint removal of conditions for marriages that were terminated or annulled, still they would revoke a status of an alien if marriage is annulled/terminated based upon ˜fraud' ground than any other ground of annulment. That's why USCIS always ask to provide full explanation if an alien would notifies to them that his/her prior/current marriage has annulled.

Other than this, I'm so sorry to hear what Mian is doing to you. You take good care of yourself, sweetiepie. "If God made anything better than women, I think he kept it for Himself."- Kris Kristofferson

"Happiness is being married to your best friend."- Prince Charles

"I'll Be There for You,"- Bon Jovi

Perhaps, in this case, I do have a reading comprehension problem.

Cayota wrote "Now, if you marriage is legally void, it means that "it never occured". It is a legal fiction. But the important point is that that marriage can not produce consequences (i.e. the adjustment of status of a foreign national, AKA Mian). Unless there is nothing specific in the INS law, if a marriage is void, so is the residency adquiered based on such marriage. Again, this is all legal theory. You have to check the law."

To me, this statement was a little confusing. Ergo, the clarification.

I've realized that Cayita's statements could go either way being a little bit confusing to understand. My apology, but only in this case.

Jo, sweetiepie/precious, did you see what happened? Someone really has saved my bu-tt here. "Saving My Heart,"- by Yes

Perhaps, that's why it is said: "Romantics are good at thinking in uncommon ways."

Jo,
All my respect goes to you for keeping your word and helping the guy regardless of what deserves.

Keep it up baiiiiby

Sorry if I didnt explain myself clearly. I will be as simple as possible. Welcome to Law 101:

- A legal act can be void because it didnt fulfill all its the formal requirements. For example: if you point a man with a gun and make him sign a contract, said contract can be void because he was coerced (all contracts are supposed to be signed voluntarly -- free will is a must).

- Once a legal act (like marriage) is declared void, the judge will also rule about the consequences of such acts. The rule is "if void, it never occured, therefore it can not produce consequences". I.e. You marry a married person, that person dies, you claim the inheritance. The judge declares your marriage (bigamy) void, therefore you have to return the inheritance. This is the rule but there can be exceptions. I.e., he children born out of that relationship will not be considered ilegitim.

- If a marriage was commited with fraud intention, can make it void (you need a judge ruling on that, nothing becomes void automatically). IF and I am saying IF, INS follows the normal rule (I dont know if it does), such fraudulent marriage, once void, will not bring consequences (like alimony, legal residency, etc.)

Hope this explains the situation. For further information, check the marriage law of your State. Said law will describe the consequences of an annulment. If INS follows the State law for a marriage, it may also follow said law for annulments.