# UK spouse visa for 2nd wife without divorcing 1st



## fahadali (Jun 1, 2015)

I got legally married (Nikkah) in Pakistan but now my wife does not want to come to the UK. I never applied for her spouse visa but when applying for my Naturalisation I did disclosed her details as the application asks for it. 

Now, I'm considering marrying some one else without divorcing the first wife. My questions are:
1. Can I apply for spouse visa for second wife (of course I get married) without producing a divorce certificate of the first wedding? My first wedding was not registered in the UK and first wife never entered UK.
2. I understand that UK laws recognise polygamy but allow bringing only one wife in to the UK as spouse. In this case can I only bring the second wife?

I would appreciate your help with these questions.


----------



## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

Why don't you just get divorced?


----------



## fahadali (Jun 1, 2015)

I'll divorce first wife but I don't want to immediately. My question is more about wether spouse visa for 2nd wife is possible without divorcing first wife


----------



## Poco (May 6, 2015)

fahadali, 

If im not mistaken, are you legally registered by law with the first wife or do you just have your Nikkah ?

A Nikkah is a religious marriage, as I have mine. But we are not registered by law. So therefore the state does not see our marriage as "legal". Meaning yes we are married between two people but not via legal channels. 

If you intend to bring the second wife over, as i assume you believe in many wives, it should not be such a huge issue if you intend to get married legally in the UK and not just a Nikkah. This is just my opinion. If you are Nikkah'd, yes you are married but you are not registered. 

Maybe call the immigrations office and find out properly as this is a tricky situation.


----------



## ALKB (Jan 20, 2012)

Poco said:


> fahadali,
> 
> If im not mistaken, are you legally registered by law with the first wife or do you just have your Nikkah ?
> 
> ...


In Pakistan, Nikkah is the point where you get legally married, although people refer to it as engagement in a cultural context.

The UK does not recognise any marriage that took place before any existing marriage has been dissolved (decree absolute). The OP needs to be free to marry under UK law before he can marry somebody else and bring that person to the UK.

Internet forums are full of people who didn't want to wait/didn't want to divorce because polygamy is legal in Pakistan, etc, etc. and who are now in an immigration mess.


----------



## fahadali (Jun 1, 2015)

I'm legally married in Pakistan. My nikkah was registered by union council. The reason I registered it was to sort out her visa but she has changed her mind.

My marriage is not registered in UK but I've given details of my first wife in my naturalisation application. 

I want to get married again in Pakistan but before divorcing first wife. I don't believe in polygamy but for some reason I don't want to divorce her now.

What I'm worried about is that I've given details of my first wife to the home office in the naturalisation application where it asks for partner details though my wedding is not registered in UK. Do I need to produce a divorce certificate before applying for spouse visa for a second wife? Producing a court divorce certificate takes considerable amount of time in Pakistan


----------



## fahadali (Jun 1, 2015)

@ALKB I agree with your point that I can end up in immigration mess. My understanding was that if you are married in country which allows polgamy then you can bring one of your wives to the UK. 

Does anyone knows the legal process of divorce in Pakistan? How should I go about obtaining a divorce certificate and how long the process takes?


----------



## ALKB (Jan 20, 2012)

fahadali said:


> @ALKB I agree with your point that I can end up in immigration mess. My understanding was that if you are married in country which allows polgamy then you can bring one of your wives to the UK.
> 
> Does anyone knows the legal process of divorce in Pakistan? How should I go about obtaining a divorce certificate and how long the process takes?


You can bring one wife. The first one. 

Any following marriages would not be seen as valid by the UK unless you divorce first.


----------



## fahadali (Jun 1, 2015)

@ ALKB and others I'm still confused. 
According to this website: <snip> (The forum doesn't allow to post full link to the website)
"_Being married to more than one person at a time is recognised in England and Wales if it took place in a country that allows marriages of this kind (not in the UK) and both parties were legally free to marry in this way. Therefore, if someone legally enters the UK and already has three wives under a foreign law, then they will not be considered to be committing an offence in the UK (provided they do not enter into another marriage ceremony within the UK)_".
"_The Immigration Rules state that a person should not be granted a UK spousal visa if their marriage to the UK sponsor is polygamous and there is another person living with the sponsor in the UK who is also their husband or wife. Therefore, a man married in the UK cannot obtain a spouse visa to bring a second wife into Britain_".

This suggests that the requirement of divorcing first wife before marrying second would only apply if my first wife was also in UK. As she never have been to UK and I never applied for her spouse visa, this suggests that producing a divorce certificate would not be necessary for applying spouse visa for the second wife.

Please correct me if my understanding is incorrect.


----------



## ALKB (Jan 20, 2012)

I am not an expert, lawyer or any of the sort. I just know of several people who cannot bring their second wife because they married before they got the decree absolute for their first marriage.



fahadali said:


> @ ALKB and others I'm still confused.
> According to this website:<snip> (The forum doesn't allow to post full link to the website)
> "_Being married to more than one person at a time is recognised in England and Wales if it took place in a country that allows marriages of this kind (not in the UK) and both parties were legally free to marry in this way. Therefore, if someone legally enters the UK and already has three wives under a foreign law, then they will not be considered to be committing an offence in the UK (provided they do not enter into another marriage ceremony within the UK)_".


Well, you are not entering the country, are you? You are domiciled in the UK.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploa...a/file/257802/marriage-validity-flowchart.pdf



fahadali said:


> "_The Immigration Rules state that a person should not be granted a UK spousal visa if their marriage to the UK sponsor is polygamous and there is another person living with the sponsor in the UK who is also their husband or wife. Therefore, a man married in the UK cannot obtain a spouse visa to bring a second wife into Britain_".
> 
> This suggests that the requirement of divorcing first wife before marrying second would only apply if my first wife was also in UK. As she never have been to UK and I never applied for her spouse visa, this suggests that producing a divorce certificate would not be necessary for applying spouse visa for the second wife.
> 
> Please correct me if my understanding is incorrect.


I think you are grasping at straws, here.

Anyhow, I have given my opinion and told you what I have observed happened to others (including one person whose first wife never entered the UK but had applied for a spouse visa before and was thus known to UK authorities).

Good luck.


----------



## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

You've quoted something from a random website.


----------



## fahadali (Jun 1, 2015)

Thanks ALKB. I checked the weblink you sent, it is very helpful. Being domiciled in the UK determines fate of any spouse visa application for a spouse in polygamous marriage!

Does anyone knows about the process of getting divorce certificate in Pakistan? How long does the process takes?


----------

