<p>I’m trying to help out a friend and have Googled around trying to find this answer for her - do any of you happen to know? She married her foreign-born husband in his country and a little while later he was able to move here. They never got married in the U.S. They’re now splitting up and from what I’ve been able to find, it looks like she doesn’t need to bother paying to file for divorce here in the states because their marriage isn’t valid here. They haven’t been together long enough to have common-law marriage come into play. They have no children, own no property.</p>
<p>This isn’t legal advice, but unless the marriage is contrary to the stated public policy of the state in question (underage, polygamous, gay), it is generally be enforceable in the U.S., just as a foreign sales contract would be.</p>
<p>Again as a general rule, if you’re married to someone, they can ruin your credit, you can’t remarry, etc. Your friend should seek help from a local family lawyer immediately to ensure that she protects her rights and her property.</p>
<p>Most bar associations have a “hotline” that you can call and get quick answers to such questions. Call your state’s bar association and ask. (I’d be surprised, though, if Hanna were not correct.)</p>
<p>I did a super quick google and found this:</p>
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<p>Question</p>
<p>I am a resident of Michigan marrying a citizen of Italy. The wedding will be in Italy. Is the marriage recognized in the USA and Michigan?</p>
<p>Answer</p>
<p>According to our County Clerk, if the marriage is valid in Italy, it is recognized as valid in Michigan.</p>
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<p>I agree with Hanna–with certain exceptions that she mentioned, you’re probably looking at a valid marriage.</p>
<p>Usually a marriage legally recognized in another country is legall here. Your friend needs an attorney…saving a some money now could cost her alot more later.</p>
<p>If she is American, she is most likely married here…depends on how the ceremony was done there…</p>
<p>here is something to consider…is his being here in the US contigent on the marriage…and did they claim that anywhere, that they were married for his visa’s, work permit, etc…if she did that…be very careful…</p>
<p>When he was 17, my brother married in Australia, they broke up 5 years later. Fast forward 25 more years, he’d like to marry in the states…guess what? He’s still married. Now he must go through all the legal mumbo-jumbo to become unmarried to the Australian. </p>
<p>Without encumbrances, property, kids, etc. there’s likely a filing process, and a 6 month waiting before it finalizes.</p>
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<p>Did he get a divorce when he “broke up after five years?” If not, I should hope that he would need to “go through all the legal mumbo jumbo to become unmarried to the Australian.” If he does not, he will be a bigamist. It does not matter that it happened 25 years ago.</p>
<p>Just because someone married a foreigner abroad should not be license–no pun intended-- to be a bigamist, which it would be if the mere fact of marrying a non-American abroad rendered the marriage legally invalid in the US.</p>
<p>Marite, I agree wholeheartedly; I was just relating my brother’s story to that of the friend of the OP. Married out of the country, do they need to divorce.</p>
<p>In answer to your question, no, my brother and his Aussie wife didn’t leagally divorce. He came back to the states and he never really thought his marriage was “recognized” in the US. He’s going through the proceedings now.</p>
<p>"Just"aMom:</p>
<p>I did not mean to sound so critical, but to point out the abyss that would open if foreign marriages were not considered valid. A girl in every port, a spouse in every country… And why stop at marriages which, after all, are one form of contract? What about contracts between firms from different countries? This is why I am surprised that the question even came up.</p>
<p>It should be clear that foreign marriages are valid in the US. If they weren’t then when foreign couples immigrated to the US they would need to get remarried in order to remain married. Since this obviously doesn’t happen, their old, foreign marriages must still be in force.</p>
<p>Of course, you have to dot all the i’s and cross all the t’s in getting married in a foreign country. If you don’t, you aren’t considered married in the new locale. Even Mick Jagger’s $$ people didn’t get it right…with the result that his marriage to Jerry Hall was not considered valid in the UK.</p>
<p>“Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall’s wedding coordinator (assuming they had one) overlooked a few key matters when they exchanged vows in a Hindu ceremony in Bali in 1990. When Hall sued for divorce in 1999, it was discovered that the couple never completed the civil paperwork required by Indonesian law. Whoops! Turns out the rocker and model were never married after all.”</p>