I married my cousin in the Dominican Republic for him to get VISA as a favor to a relative?

Question

I got married in the dominican republic to my cousin so he can get visa in the US. My family talked me into it. I was young and I wanted to make the world better. When I saw how he was living it made me think i was doing the right thing for his family. That if my cousin came to this country he could have a real chance to help his mom. I was young and stupid. I knew it was never going to work. But we got married. No paper work was filed and I never went back after I married him. I don't even know how to contact him. It's been over ten years. Nothing was ever done. Now I met someone and we started a family. Wev'e been together for five years and our son is now three. My relatives that talked me into marrying him in the first place have no idea where he is. All I have is a marriage certificate. We never got married because I don't even know how to start a divorce since I have no idea where my cousin is. Please Help. Can I marry the person I am with and forget what I did years ago.?

Answer 1

unfortunaltly, if you marry again, without getting a divorce from your previous marrige, you can get arrested.

its highly illegal.

now all you have to do is contact an immigration law attorney or the place where you got married and ask for reference to the documents etc.

now go to a lawyer and ask help on getting a judge to award you with a divorce on the grounds of abandonment , since im only 14 i dont know to much about this.

and im sure it will work out!

have a good life!

Answer 2

You have a marriage certificate, the marriage is legal in the US, and you can be charged with bigamy if you get married now.  You need to hire a divorce attorney.  The attorney will know your state's procedures to follow to annul or divorce someone whose whereabouts are unknown.  Do not try to do this one yourself.  If you do not strictly follow your state's procedures, you cannot get your divorce or annulment.  Your attorney will inform you whether you qualify for annulment, which might be faster and easier than a divorce.

Answer 3

wow ur cousin

Answer 4

Did you marry him here or in the DR? Is the marriage even recognized here? You should check with social security or something to see if you're even married. Are you first cousins? If so, you can probably get it outright nullified depending on the state you're in as you're not allowed to do that in most places for genetic health reasons. Best of luck!

Answer 5

(this reminds me of angela montenegro and jack hodgins's predicament in Bones... anyway... hah.)

well you've got a marriage certificate, so it's definitely an official, legal marriage. do a lot of research, googling, maaaybe get a private investigator to track him down...? but from the looks of it, you've got to get a divorce before marrying who you're with now.

Answer 6

wow that is crazy jerry springer

Answer 7

hire a pi or anyone that will be able to track this person down and get this whole mess in the past.  good luck!

Answer 8

totally jerry ^^^^^^^

yes marry him. its not like your cousin is gonna come and kill you. i mean really. marry the man you love not only for you, but for your son =D

good luck!!!!

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

Answer 9

Haiti, Mexico, and The Dominican Republic are fairly Easy to get express divorces. These countries people typically go to get an overnight/long weekend divorce, or to get a quick and relatively painless contested divorce. In Haiti in particular you can get an uncontested divorce in a weekend stay

Divorces granted by other countries are recognized ("Full faith and credit...") by the United States as long as no person's rights were infringed upon. The most notable in this situation is the notion of "due process", which is required by the Constitution of the United States and thus is not flexible. This means that the spouse whom is the defendant in the case must be notified of the proceedings and be given a certain time frame to respond to the allegations and state their case. This is only the case in a contested divorce, as in an uncontested divorce both spouses agree to the terms ("uncontested" means just that and the other spouse does not need to admit guilt, just waive their right to contest,) and sign off on the divorce; although in almost any if not all of these countries only one spouse is required to physically visit the country. While a contested divorce where due process was not observed is likely to be ruled invalid if challenged, it is not illegal, as matrimonial law is civil law and not criminal law, and is valid (by default) unless or until it is challenged (usually in the state or country of residency of either spouse.)

Thus, getting a contested divorce in another country is not likely to achieve the goals of the spouse requesting it, and is possible to even create a larger problem than before. An uncontested divorce is likely to be upheld in a court of law however, regardless of the general validity of contested divorces from these countries. While a "quick" contested divorce is likely if challenged to be declared invalid, it is, by case law, not considered bigamy if you remarry as long as the obtainer believed the divorce to be valid.

There are two types of divorces available to foreigners in the Dominican Republic: divorce by mutual consent and divorce for cause. The majority of Dominican divorces granted to foreigners are mutual consent divorces. In such divorces, the demanding party does not have to prove a specific cause for dissolving the bond of matrimony, but rather must show mutual agreement to dissolve the marriage. Although residency is not required, at least one of the parties must appear at the hearing. An attorney authorized by power of attorney duly filed in the Civil Registry Office may represent the other party.

A foreigner can obtain a divorce for cause (e.g., incompatibility of character, adultery, etc.) if he or she resided in the Dominican Republic and the cause of action or reason for the divorce arose during the period of residence. The divorce for cause requires the personal appearance of the plaintiff or his/her legal representative. In a divorce for cause, the judge has extensive powers, including the right to determine the disposition of marital properties and support payments, if any, for the spouse and children.

A divorce in the Dominican Republic, whether by mutual consent or for cause, has no effect or validity until such time as certain precise steps have been taken during the final phase of the divorce process. The judgment or "sentencia" must be rendered and filed in the Office of the Civil Registry, or "Oficina de Registro Civil." This filing date begins the 60-day period during which either party may appeal the judgment.  The next step is to have the judgment "pronounced" by an appropriate, non-judicial official of the Office of the Civil Registry. The pronouncement ends the marriage. The parties are then considered single. Within eight days of the pronouncement, the divorce judgment must be published once in a newspaper of general circulation.  This publication is the responsibility of the parties involved and/or their lawyer. Without the pronouncement and publication of the judgment, the divorce is not valid under Dominican law.

Among the different effects produced by divorce are:

a) Spouses who remarry each other may only do so under the same system that governed their prior marriage; and

b) Divorced women cannot get married again until 10 months after their divorce is finalized, unless her new husband is the same man she divorced.

Obtaining a Copy of a Dominican Divorce Decree

The Dominican public registry offices operate differently from those in the U.S. and documents concerning legal procedures are obtained differently here. The only record of a divorce is a hand-written entry in a book in one of the many civil registry offices in the city where the divorce was performed. Since the records are not entered alphabetically but chronologically, they can only be retrieved on that basis. In addition, registry employees do not perform searches for the public. Books for a particular month are made available so that an individual or her/his representative can locate the desired entry. An extract of the record can then be prepared by the registry employee for a fee.

Wish you great luck with your current Husband and Child!!

Answer 10

Well here its illegal to marry your cousin.  I'm kind of at a loss maybe you should consult a lawyer and I just can't believe your family would try and talk you into something like that.

Answer 11

Not without getting a divorce.

Seek a lawyer honey, If they can't find him, they'll probably give you an annulment .

Good Luck

Answer 12

contact an immigration law attorney.

Answer 13

yeah, that's what i would do

Answer 14

u cant have two marriges at the same time...its against the law, u need to talk to anyone in your family who may have a idea and get i divorce a.s.a.p. as soon as you find him

Answer 15

Well, legally you are not married in US because you have never registered your Dominican Republic marriage certificate in american court of law. Therefore, you are not married and you don't have to obtain the divorce here. You can do it only in Dominican Republic claiming the abandonment like one person has mentioned it here. Yes, you can marry the person you're with right now.  

Answer 16

You may want to consider going to an authority (I'm not sure about the US department) on marriage and ask about divorce or annulment. It will lay your fears to rest if there's nothing, and you can take care of it if there is.

Answer 17

YOU ARE IN REAL TROUBLE LOL. Thats a sad dillema but its really possible you only have to contact an avoca(im not sure thats how we write it in english) and it can be settle. Another thing, it will be easy and you CAN forget about it even if its your cousin. You dont love him you dont even see him and like you said no papperwork was done so i dont really see the problem.

Answer 18

wow you married your cousin whats wrong with you? did u sleep with him on your honeymoon. SICK!

Answer 19

I didnt read tha whole thing but. My mom married a guy from the dominican and it took alot of money and years to get his visa and get him here in america. Once he came he became a heroin seller, and she divorced him. So our stories match, VOTE ME BEST ANSWER <3

Answer 20

yes, of course you can do something.

your divorce would be very easy.

just start the process and since you can prove that you guys never

lived together , or even better, that the marriage was never consumated, the divorce papers or the dissolution of your strange

marriage would be easy as 123.

...just start the process, girl!

Answer 21

Whoah...he is ur cousin how can you not keep in contact with him? crazy people.

Answer 22

A judge will award you a divorce on the grounds of abandonment.

It's a simple process. You can either look it up and file yourself...or get an attorney.

Answer 23

maybe your family could help you track him down.

Answer 24

Since the paperwork is in the Dominican Republic, there likely won't be an issue unless your cousin comes forward and starts trouble, especially if you have never filed any paperwork in the US stating yourself as 'married'.

You should check with a lawyer that has experience in international law.