pakistan divorce spouse visa complications!!!

[confusedmonkey]

I am desperate for advice as i have a serious cocktail of problems and issues!

Here is the situation:

I was born and bred in the UK but was forced into a marriage in 2003 in pakistan and so did not consumate it. I got a 'backdoor' divorce in 2005 otherwise known as 'khulla' which was done in pakistan by my parent (I was not present) I have the Islamic papers of the divorce. My question is:

Do I still need to get a divorce here in UK because now I want to -re-marry another man of my own choice? I never bought my ex-husband over nor applied for a spouse visa.

secondly, the man I wish to marry is from pakistan but this is of my own accord and I am happy with it. The problem is that he issued a islamic divorce to his first wife 2 years ago verbally and has lived alone with his parents and only child. He does not have proof in paper of his divorce. He has cut all contact with his ex-wife and her family so if he asks for the divorce on paper, it will stir up alot of trouble as they wish to do nothing but cause him trouble over it.

My question is: can he still come over under a fiance visa as we plan to marry here? does he need to declare his previous marriage on the form? but he has no proof of divorce? will he need to issue a divorce certificate? what if he cant get one?

I am so confused with the mixed advice I am getting locally.

please help if you can

thank you so much!

[confusedmonkey]

anyone??

[Frontier Mole]

Way too difficult set of issues to get any reliable answers here. Suggest you go to a family lawyer who knows about the divorce side of things in relation to PAK religious marriages and their standing in the UK. With that information you can get a better indication as to the affects on the immigration side of things.

[t_kaay]

not sure about your divorce but i am pretty certain that the authorities won't recognise your "new" husbands divorce unless it is done through the courts in pakistan. i'm sure i've read it in the rules. i will try and find a link for you.

you would have to declare his previous marriage, mainly for 2 reasons i can think of: firstly, i wouldn't recommend hiding anything from the authorities....they usually find out and don't like it......and secondly, you say that his ex-wifes family want to cause him trouble...so the 1st thiing they will do when they hear of your application is call the embassy and tell them he was already married etc etc!! you know the pakistani family mentality, i am sure!! also, if he has a child already, will you be applying for the child to come to the UK? in which case the previous relationship will need to be declared anyway.

hope this helps

[paulp]

Removed: Information may be out of date

[paulp]

There have been posts about Nikah before. You can do a search on the forum.

Please be careful about marrying your fiance without proper documentary evidence (recognised here in the UK) of his divorce. Otherwise, you would be committing bigamy and it's punishable by 7 years of prison.