zheniok1980
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California
Hi all,
My friend (woman from Russia) went through a wedding ceremony in Russia in 2002; however, there was no license/marriage certificate issued. They presented themselves as husband and wife to the community.
6 month after the ceremony the person left to the US. She did not hear from her "husband" since then. The person indicated in her asylum application that she was married and her husband was still back in Russia. I know that California requires license for marriage to be valid. I also know that California recognizes marriages as valid if the marriage was concluded outside of California and was valid under the law of the state/country where marriage was concluded. At the same time, however, Russia also requires license for a valid marriage, so the marriage was not existent at its inception as far as I understand.
She would like to marry in California now. More than 6 years passed and she would like to move on with her life. As far as I understand, the options are:
1) Marry another person without doing anything. The concern with this option: she is a green card holder and will have a citizenship interview in about 2 years. If the issue of her marriage pops up and she is married to another person, I am concerned about bigamy problem during the citizenship interview. Since she indicated in her asylum application she is married (she thought so in good faith belief), shouldn't be there some judicial determination she is not validly married? I guess this option would be wonderful if there would be no further inquiries or problems.
2) Annulment action: since there was no marriage license, there was no marriage at all. Here, I am not sure whether declaratory action should be filed or whether nothing has to be done....
3) If she is legally married, then she can file for divorce. Since she does not know whereabouts of her husband, she can serve him by publication. However, there is no marriage certificate, and I am not sure whether a judge can divorce a person when all we have is husband's name without knowing his whereabouts.
I am totally confused and any advice would be HIGHLY appreciated. Thank you!
Hi all,
My friend (woman from Russia) went through a wedding ceremony in Russia in 2002; however, there was no license/marriage certificate issued. They presented themselves as husband and wife to the community.
6 month after the ceremony the person left to the US. She did not hear from her "husband" since then. The person indicated in her asylum application that she was married and her husband was still back in Russia. I know that California requires license for marriage to be valid. I also know that California recognizes marriages as valid if the marriage was concluded outside of California and was valid under the law of the state/country where marriage was concluded. At the same time, however, Russia also requires license for a valid marriage, so the marriage was not existent at its inception as far as I understand.
She would like to marry in California now. More than 6 years passed and she would like to move on with her life. As far as I understand, the options are:
1) Marry another person without doing anything. The concern with this option: she is a green card holder and will have a citizenship interview in about 2 years. If the issue of her marriage pops up and she is married to another person, I am concerned about bigamy problem during the citizenship interview. Since she indicated in her asylum application she is married (she thought so in good faith belief), shouldn't be there some judicial determination she is not validly married? I guess this option would be wonderful if there would be no further inquiries or problems.
2) Annulment action: since there was no marriage license, there was no marriage at all. Here, I am not sure whether declaratory action should be filed or whether nothing has to be done....
3) If she is legally married, then she can file for divorce. Since she does not know whereabouts of her husband, she can serve him by publication. However, there is no marriage certificate, and I am not sure whether a judge can divorce a person when all we have is husband's name without knowing his whereabouts.
I am totally confused and any advice would be HIGHLY appreciated. Thank you!
