Hi hon,
I actually know this answer with 100% certainty, for one because I WAS an young American woman (in the process of a very contentious and complicated divorce) and I married my husband, an Egyptian, from Cairo (although he was unmarried) and also bc my husband is an attorney of family and immigration law. If you marry him IN Cairo (or egypt at all for that matter, it CAN in fact be legally done-although I would caution you against hastily marrying a man as a second wife particularly due to the fact that he is in a pre-marital "dating" relationship and as an American it is hard to be fully aware of the challenges this dynamic may present to you upon living with him. What are his plans with his current wife? He plans to reside with both of you? Which country do you plan to make your home?) In any case I'm not trying to preach just trying to give you a heads up as I am Palestinian American (my parents received asylum while my mom was pregnant with me- and although it is technically legal, multiple wives is not widely practiced and isn't typically a truly happy and healthy marriage behind closed doors, just sayin.) IF you are planning to seek the K-1, he must be single and unmarried (therefore eligible to marry in the USA, since polygamy is NOT legal or permissable here) and you must be planning to make USA you permanent place of residence (as much documentation re: your relationship, current financial/employment/housing status etc. Is re required, you have to have met at least once within the last 12 months (it may be 24 so dnt quote me on this part as it differs wth diff visas and has recently been updated), and of course, under the K-1 he would not be automatically eligible to work in the USA (in fact he would be UNABLE to under the k-1 and only after marriage can he go about applying for permanent residency and the benefit of working privileges and a SSN that PR provides. Which means you have to show income and support abilities for yourself as well as him and any dependents for the K-1 as well as PR reviews/investigations anf that duration can be a significant amount of time just FYI. (What the government deems "adequate support and what you can actually support him and yourself on are two entirely different numbers as well, they determine the amount you must make and a cosigner can be required regardless at the discretion of th US state Dept.) Also if you marry in the USA it is NOT also legally recognized in Egypt, you must marry separately with the Imam @ the ministry of Justice in Cairo in a normal islamic process (assuming he is Muslim, whether you are or not doesn't affect anything in that regard). You must be legally divorced for at least 90 days prior to be being eligible to remarry in egypt per their requirements, and must also (this next step is KEY, and is relatively new change to the previous proceduee and directly affected us so since we were advised incorrectly and know per the ministry of Justice we were far from the only ones, I'd hate to have you have the same headache and inconvenience so take note as either way, I am assuming you will Want your marriage legal in egypt and will thus have to undertake this process sooner or later). You must send a original notarozed copy of your divorce decree to the Egyptian embassy location (IN THE USA!! CANNOT BE DONE IN EGYPT!! This is the kicker) assigned to your state of residence (this can be located online they have a list of locations and which one you would use for correspondence) and a letter requesting that the documents be certified/stamped and explain the nature of the request, you must also include a envelope with postage paid for them to return the documents to you and your phone number and email address on the cover letter as you will receive a call from an embassy employee with the cost to complete (mine was $25, I overnighted a money order to them and had them overnight the documents back, as they can't accept card and unfortunately there isn't a means of verifying the cost prior-this is something you will grow accustomed to dealing with egypt and the workflows there (Its just a diff culture, alot of Americans find it annoying but I am rather used to it being from a middle eastern family and having most of my family there). In any case, I hope that makes it a bit more clear, the main question聽 that one would need to knoe is where and how you plan to reside? I.e. USA or egypt and whether he intends to remain married to his current spouse and what the post marriage living arrangement would be if she were to be included in the picture. Inshallah all works out for you if I can give you any further help or answers im happy to
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