US Citizen Married in Canada? You may only THINK you're married...

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Originally Posted by foxyshaman

Conspiracy accusations aside

It has been my experience that small departments within the Department of Justice, do, all the time, opinions that are no "ok"ed by the Big Boys. I am not saying that Nicholson and others were in the LIGHT; however, it would appear as though a lawyer was assigned the task of preparing a briefing note and opinion based on a question, posed by another lawyer within the Department. A divorce case, as has been described here, is a test case. And a very good one.

While I am sorry SoulShineFemme that you, and others, are caught in limbo, this appears to be a very intrinsic question to be answered. Can someone be legally divorced in a country that does not recognize them as married. It appears that perhaps the rulings made by the Supreme Court were short sighted, or perhaps overly optimistic, in not considering that question. The Supreme Court ruled on the 'rights' of same sex couples to be married. They were not asked to consider, or rule, on whether a divorce would be obtainable within a less open minded jurisdiction - residency requirements aside.

I cannot comment specifically on the laws regarding residency requirements for divorce. I do have compassion for individuals seeking divorce and having to incur, on top of those expenses, further costs to legally prove they are married, therefore eligible for divorce.

I attended many of the hearings where I live regarding this issue, and was surprised, and humbled, by the number of people who came out to support same sex marriages. Despite being the Red Neck Capital of Canada, well except maybe Regina, but I am not throwing stones . I am confident that the Harper gov't, despite its valium like qualities, has no intention of back tracking on this issue. This is an important issue to be resolved. I am interested to see what policy has to be put into place to ensure divorces for those couples who are not residents.

I put in red in your post what I am addressing.
I am also very interesting in knowing more about a policy to ensure divorces for couples who are not residents. As you have read in SS (SoulShineFemme) post this affects her and also myself. As I do live in Canada, we are hoping at one point that maybe she can stay for a year and then hope she can divorce, and eventually live here. If anyone knows anything to help us out, please let me know (PM me, if you like). Thank you.