Pakistan marriage not valid in U.K. due to no divorce certificate

Good morning all

Please may I ask for some guidance.

I am British born and went to Pakistan in August 2020 and had my Islamic marriage (nikah). I have union council issued marriage certificate (states that my husband is divorced on it).

My husband was previously married (both his and hi ex-wife are Pakistani national), His wife applied through the Pakistan family court and got a marriage dissolution in October 2017. We used this dissolution as evidence that he was married for both the cleric solemnising the marriage and the union council took a copy for their records. It is accepted as evidence in Pakistan as proof of divorce for a male.

It is only now that my solicitor realised that we needed a union council certificate as the marriage dissolution won't be accepted by UKVI. Luckily my solicitor realised her oversight and withdrew the spouse visa application as my husband hasn't been for his biometrics as yet.

My husband is frantically going around all the union councils in the area they used to live in trying to see if he can obtain a copy of the divorce certificate, which should have been issued back in 2018 , as the court sends a copy of the decree to the union council for them to follow their process and after 90 days they issue a divorce certicate.

My question is that if he can't get a copy of the divorce certificate from 2018, would we able to apply for fiancé visa once we are issued with a union council divorce certicfate now (he will have to notify the union council of the dissolution and they will follow their process and wait 90 days before issuing a divorce certificate).

I am a civil servant, home owner, never been married before this, so my side is all clear.

Would I need to tell ukvi on my application that I had an Islamic nikah in August 2020 or is it irrelevant as it's not recognised in the uk as in the eyes of the uk law my husband wasn't officially divorced. Don't want the UKVI accuse of a fraudulent/sham marriage/fiancé application.

What was the happiest day of my life has fast turned into my biggest nightmare. Any guidance would be greatly, greatly appreciated.

Thank you all.

Eternalflame21 wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 13, 2020 7:27 am

we are issued with a union council divorce certicfate now (he will have to notify the union council of the dissolution and they will follow their process and wait 90 days before issuing a divorce certificate).

Better to wait and apply straight the spouse visa

4. SET13.4 Recognition of overseas divorces which took place on or after 4 April 1988
Under the Family Law Act 1986 an overseas divorce obtained by means of judicial or other proceedings is recognised in the UK only if:

it is effective under the law of the country in which it was obtained; and
at the relevant date (that is, the date on which proceedings were begun), either party was either habitually resident or domiciled in that country or was a national of that country.
The term ‘judicial or other proceedings’ requires that there should have been some formal proceedings, either before a court or some other formal body recognised by the state for that purpose (for example, in Pakistan the Union Council).

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... april-1988

Thank you so much for your reply.

However, the spouse visa is no longer an option as my Islamic marriage took place in August 2020 (my husband used the court dissolution documents as evidence that he was divorced). He now has to go through the 90 day union council divorce procedure for them to issue a certificate (even the family court granted the divorce in October 2017).

The fiancé visa is the only option now. I don’t want to hide anything in my application and I am going to mention in the covering letter that I had my Islamic ceremony, but it is not recognised in U.K. law, and that means I don’t meet the criteria for a spouse visa application hence the fiancé visa application.

A solicitor has advised that by doing this it will show that the relationship is indeed genuine and will support my fiancé application. Plus my scenario is there for the caseworker to read and that honesty is the best policy when dealing with the home office

Any thoughts anybody?

Eternalflame21 wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 13, 2020 3:52 pm

I don’t want to hide anything in my application and I am going to mention in the covering letter that I had my Islamic ceremony, but it is not recognised in U.K. law, and that means I don’t meet the criteria for a spouse visa application hence the fiancé visa application.

As per your previous post, where you went to Pakistan and had the Islamic Nikkah whilst your husband had the court marriage dissolution documents confirming his divorce, in that scenario I see no point where that marriage won't be recognised for immigration purposes. Any overseas marriage, legally performed, as per the rule of that country is perfectly valid for UK too. It couldn't have been considered if was performed in UK where Islamic marriage isn't recognisable for any purpose.

seagul wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 13, 2020 4:01 pm

Eternalflame21 wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 13, 2020 3:52 pm

As per your previous post, where you went to Pakistan and had the Islamic Nikkah whilst your husband had the court marriage dissolution documents confirming his divorce, in that scenario I see no point where that marriage won't be recognised for immigration purposes. Any overseas marriage, legally performed, as per the rule of that country is perfectly valid for UK too. It couldn't have been considered if was performed in UK where Islamic marriage isn't recognisable for any purpose.

This is not true. It is not the case that any marriage legal where it was performed is legal in the UK for immigration purposes. For example, Pakistan allows polygamous marriage, a 2nd marriage without divorce would be legal, but not at all in the UK.

OP's spouse is not considered to be her husband in the UK, as he has not proven he was legally divorced before he married her. He's still married to his first wife unless he proves otherwise.

OP, why does he not have a NADRA issued divorce certificate? If he got a divorce through the family court as you say, it should have been fully registered at the time and a NADRA cert would have been issued (or could now be issued, if not then). If you don't have one, something is not as you say.

A detailed information can be obtained from the UKVI official source as what they accept and what they don't.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source= ... OSH_5FarSq