I Divorced At The Thai Consulate In Los Angeles Usa

[wasabi]

I was married at an Amphur in Bangkok. I divorced my Thai wife at the Thai consulate in LA in 2006, that same day she returned to Thailand. I am now planning to marry again. I had thought the divorce at the consulate took care of everything. However a lawyer who I've been consulting and from everything I can tell is very knowledgeable and who's opinion I respect has told me I am divorced by Thai law but not by US law. He believes the LA consulate does not have jurisdiction over US law. He has told me I must contact my ex wife and divorce again at an Amphur in Bangkok to have the divorce recognized in the USA. While my ex wife and I didn't depart as enemies, we weren't exactly best friends either. I really, really would prefer to never see her again and I wouldn't be surprised if she feels the same. I want to find out am I divorced or not? The lawyer feels if I petition for my fiancee to come to the USA I will get past the first few steps but once the case reaches an embassy it will be rejected and I will need to get divorced in Thailand, then start again.

My lawyer has said he has never dealt with this before, but I can't be the only person who has divorced at a consulate then married again. Does anyone here have experience with this? I would like to get additional opinions. I am going to the USCIS and US embassy here in BKK tomorrow. Is there anywhere else I should go to ask? Does anyone know if my lawyer is right and I have no choice but to find and again divorce my ex?

He said there is one other way and that is to petition a court in the US to acknowledge my divorce and be able to do it solely based on my wife not showing up, but that could take a year or more.

This seems like a cruel joke. Having to divorce is painful enough, but having to do it twice?

Edited August 14, 2008 by wasabi

[the scouser]

If US law is anything like UK law, your lawyer is probably right and you are not considered to be divorced.

Member Yorkieb's experiences.

Scouse.

[wasabi]

If US law is anything like UK law, your lawyer is probably right and you are not considered to be divorced.

Member Yorkieb's experiences.

Scouse.

The aspects of his situation involving divorce seem identical to mine. I doubt UK law and US law are much different. It seems my lawyer is right and I better hunt her down and offer a little pay off.

[joskydive]

Your Lawyer in the US is absolutely correct. Sorry

[Carib]

I feel for you, this is not a situation you want to be in.

What is the the value of getting divorced at the Thai consulate if you have to do it all over again at the amphur you got married ?

I mean if you can get divorced there but it is not valid in the eyes of the Thai law, what is the point of them offering this `service`.

Are they at fault ?, don't they relay this divorce information to Thailand, to get it stricken from the records there?

If you have to divorce at the amphur, it is not really a big deal, just as long as you both still have the original papers and agree to be divorced without any hassle. In that case it will take about 5 minutes ( well..) .

Good luck

PS . Did you check at the amphur in Bangkok what you status is??

Edited August 14, 2008 by Carib

[Carib]

I am sorry, I just reread the original post and there in it says that your lawyer thinks that the divorce is valid for Thai law. That makes it even more puzzling, because how can you have a divorce if you already are divorced ?

If the amphur has stricken the marriage from the record, wouldn't that be proof enough that the Thai law recognizes this divorce, wherever the divorce took place, so why shouldn't someone else? Or am i missing something here?

In order to get married you will have to proof that you are either single or divorced. If the amphur can state that you have been divorced by the rules of Thai law, who will say it is not so ?

Will you be asked where the divorce took place? Or will you just have to proof it did take place? In my eyes you have been a law abiding citizen, who officially finished the marriage and can proof that, and wants to marry again.

How did the US law recognize that you were married? It cannot been have something else than being based upon a statement from the Thai amphur, so if you can get a statement from the same amphur that you had a divorce recognized by Thai law, they will not accept that? Or..again am i missing something here?

Edited August 14, 2008 by Carib

[wasabi]

The USCIS said I can't do the fiancee visa because of the way I divorced but I could marry in Thailand and do the I-130. My lawyer is going to check on Monday if this is correct.

[Carib]

The USCIS said I can't do the fiancee visa because of the way I divorced but I could marry in Thailand and do the I-130. My lawyer is going to check on Monday if this is correct.

Hope it works out for you . Good luck.

[aussiestyle1983]

Just out of curiosity, if you only got divorced in the ampur you got married in and not in farangland, would the divorce still be recognised in farangland? Or, do you have to get divorced in both coutries all the time, after only getting married in Thailand?

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Australian law recognises both proper Thai registered weddings and divorces.

[wasabi]

Just out of curiosity, if you only got divorced in the ampur you got married in and not in farangland, would the divorce still be recognised in farangland? Or, do you have to get divorced in both coutries all the time, after only getting married in Thailand?

I don't know the answer to that. But I think the best thing to do if you married in Thailand is to divorce in Thailand. It seems the consulates have limited authority to issue divorces. It seems that divorcing in Thailand would have covered all bases but the consulate did not.

In the meantime I have been trying to contact the ex to see if she'll come in to sign the divorce papers. I have only been able to contact my former brother in law, married to her sister but it's a start.

[hellohello]

Maybe this helps;

I am too from Cali. I got married in Mexico to another American, 8 years later we divorced. Even though WE NEVER REGISTERED our marriage in Cali and it was not recognize by the Bear on the Cali flag (as our lawyer stated).

We had to get divorced, legally in Cal, by Cal Law.

So, You are not divorced in the eyes of California/US Law.

You must divorce in the US or the Amphur here in Thailand and then get it translated if you wish to remarry. Good luck

[yorkieb]

Dear OP

Your case is very similar to mine. Based on my eperience of going through the whole process. I would say you only have one option. That is to petition the US courts for a divorce. There is no point in returning to Thailand and divorcing because you can not get divorced twice in Thai law. The Thai authorities recognise the divorce in their overseas embassy so the marriage is desolved in accordance with Thai family law.

Yes you can petition the US courts to have you single status recognised. I was advised this course in the UK, but as you have been advised this will take 12 - 18 months. The only way to get around the situation of your divorce not being recognised in the US is to divorce through the US courts. We did this in the UK and it took 6 months. Nowbody had to attend court as the seperation was over 5 years. But we did have to get a PI to track down the ex hsuband and get the divorce petition signed. However if you cant find your exwife you can elect to demonstrate to the court that you have made every effort to track her down. In the UK this constitutes putting advert in a local paper for a few month etc. After that the divorce should go through uncontested. If you are in the position of no children and have been apart for over 2 years the judge is likely to see it for the paper excercise that it is.

Yorkieb

[yorkieb]

Dear OP

Sorry I omotted this from my previous reply.

You have what is technically refered to as a 'Limping marriage'. Which means whilst you are divorced in accordance with Thia law your divorec is not caperble of recognition in the US, as it was not processed on accordance with US family law. Only one road forward : make your original divorce caperble of recognition buy processing it through the US court.

Yorkieb