UK spouse 2021 for husband from Pakistan

[Kay9292]

Hi all,
I'm not sure if I am posting in the right section, so forgive me if I am not.
I need some advice/help in regards to my situation. My fiance is from Pakistan and has been previously married to a girl here in the UK. They got married in 23/4/2016 and he sent written divorce as per Islamic rules to her address here (UK) on 8/7/2021. She is a British citizen and he is a Pakistani national. Now my question is they were in process of applying for his spouse visa during the length of this marriage but personal issues led to them divorcing. They did not submit the papers for his visa as to the best of my knowledge so there is not any record of their application. They were mainly just accumulating the documents required. My questions are:

1. Because they got married in Azad Kashmir, in order to fulfill the visa requirements would this marriage had to be registered here as per the visa requirement? How do I or can I find out if the marriage was registered here just so that I don't run into problems when I start his application.
2. There is no divorce certificate issued to my husband as I am not familiar with divorce laws in azad kashmir, would this need to be done? He only has his divorce written on a piece of paper that states I'm divorcing you three times with the date on it. Is this sufficient?
3. If and when we get married will we need to declare this marriage and his divorce if there is no record or any registration of it in the UK.
4. He has no application submitted to the Home Office so would I need to mention this to my immigration solicitor about his divorce would they run a background check to see if he was previously married. He obviously will get all his Pakistani documents to state he is no longer married to her (e.g. NICOP card etc).

We will be getting married soon, so I just want to know beforehand any issues that may pop up if and when we submit the application for him to join me in the UK.

[Kay9292]

Many thanks for any giving me any advice.

[walker]

1. It is not a requirement for the marriage to have registered in the UK. It is unlikely that marriage would have been registered in the UK.

2. The only form of divorce which can be recognised there is the traditional bare form. If a bare talaq divorce takes place in Azad Kashmir, it will be recognised in the UK only if:
> the husband and wife are both domiciled in Azad Kashmir, and
> neither partner has been habitually resident in the UK in the year immediately preceding the pronouncement of the divorce.

If a bare talaq divorce takes place elsewhere in Pakistan or Bangladesh, it will not be recognised in the UK.

See: https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... rces-set13

3. Relevant details will have to be included on the application form and the relevant documents provided.

4. It should be mentioned to your immigration solicitor and the application should reflect the circumstances correctly.

Prior to marriage, you should establish that the divorce is valid in the UK.

If the divorce is not valid in the UK, you would have to assess your avaiable options.

[Kay9292]

1. It is not a requirement for the marriage to have registered in the UK. It is unlikely that marriage would have been registered in the UK.

2. The only form of divorce which can be recognised there is the traditional bare form. If a bare talaq divorce takes place in Azad Kashmir, it will be recognised in the UK only if:
> the husband and wife are both domiciled in Azad Kashmir, and
> neither partner has been habitually resident in the UK in the year immediately preceding the pronouncement of the divorce.

If a bare talaq divorce takes place elsewhere in Pakistan or Bangladesh, it will not be recognised in the UK.

See: https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... rces-set13

3. Relevant details will have to be included on the application form and the relevant documents provided.

4. It should be mentioned to your immigration solicitor and the application should reflect the circumstances correctly.

Prior to marriage, you should establish that the divorce is valid in the UK.

If the divorce is not valid in the UK, you would have to assess your avaiable options.

Hi Walker,

Many thanks for taking the time to answer my queries, can I just ask to reiterate. I have read this also: "it will be recognised in the UK only if:
> the husband and wife are both domiciled in Azad Kashmir, and
> neither partner has been habitually resident in the UK in the year immediately preceding the pronouncement of the divorce". They are not domiciled in Azad Kashmir and she has been living here since their marriage. What does this mean? Is this not recognised as a divorce because she has been living here preceding the the pronouncement of the divorce?? Can you explain what this would mean in our circumstances.

[Nadbo]

If the marriage was registered in Pakistan, then he should be able get a talaq nama (from the union council) which will be proof of the divorce. I think you may need to include it in the application.
I’m pretty certain the piece of paper that says he has given her talaq 3 times will not suffice.

[Kay9292]

If the marriage was registered in Pakistan, then he should be able get a talaq nama (from the union council) which will be proof of the divorce. I think you may need to include it in the application.
I’m pretty certain the piece of paper that says he has given her talaq 3 times will not suffice.

Under traditional Islamic Law, a bare Talaq divorce is deemed to have taken place when the husband pronounces three times ‘I divorce thee’. This pronouncement dissolves the marriage instantly.

However, the Muslim Family Law Ordinance 1961 (MFLO) sets out formal requirements for the recognition of full Talaq divorces in all parts of Bangladesh and Pakistan, except Azad Kashmir:

The husband must give notice in writing of the pronouncement of a talaq divorce to the Chairman of the Union Council of the Ward; and
The husband must also give a copy of this notice to his wife.
The MFLO procedures have not been formally extended to Azad Kashmir. The only form of divorce which can be recognised there is the traditional bare form. The traditional bare form being the 3 talaq he has written and posted to her from Azad Kashmir. I understand that this will be needed to be disclosed when the application is submitted, but if the marriage has no legal status in the UK and the bare talaq has been done in accordance to the Azad Kashmir laws, it should not pose a big problem. Right?

[Auk333]

Many thanks for any giving me any advice.

The piece of divorce paper from Pakistan will be enough.otherwise he can get it from family court in Pakistan too.

[walker]

The laws for Pakistan are different to Azad Kashmir.

Your proposed husband may wish to make an application for divorce or annulment.
Please see: https://www.gov.uk/divorce