International divorce (USA/India) -- My husband is a naturalized US citizen

[ps2012]

Hi, My husband is a naturalized US citizen and I was in USA on J-1 visa when we got registered marriage done 2 years back. Now i am back in India for last 8 months but my husband continues to work in USA most of time. He comes to India once in 2-3 months, takes care of his own priorities and goes back to USA. He does have property and ties in India from prior to our marriage. We are only together for 2-3 days during his visit to India. There has been or is no contribution from his side emotionally or financially now or even when i was in USA, and i am fed up of his selfish behaviour. I am working in India now.
My question now is will it be better for me to apply for divorce in India based on my USA marriage certificate (i did not register it with Indian consulate in USA) and whether i can still apply for divorce in the US state where my husband lives, if there will be too many complications of registering my marriage in India? My husband keeps telling me that i will have to support him since he has no income in India and I will not have any right to claim for share in his Indian property if i try to divorce him in India.

[AFFA]

I wish to inform you that you can file for divorce in India. In this regard you can claim spousal support from your husband and his Indian properties will be divided between you and your husband. Your husband may not have income in India but he has income in USA and thus you can have support. You can file for divorce at the place where you reside or in USA where your husband resides. The Foreign Marriage Act 1969, provides that a marriage performed outside India would be regarded as valid if it was performed in accordance with the law of the country where the marriage was performed. Therefore you have a valid marriage and thus divorce can be taken by you.

AFF

[Friend In Court]

Originally Posted by ps2012 Hi, My husband is a naturalized US citizen and I was in USA on J-1 visa when we got registered marriage done 2 years back. Now i am back in India for last 8 months but my husband continues to work in USA most of time. He comes to India once in 2-3 months, takes care of his own priorities and goes back to USA. He does have property and ties in India from prior to our marriage. We are only together for 2-3 days during his visit to India. There has been or is no contribution from his side emotionally or financially now or even when i was in USA, and i am fed up of his selfish behaviour. I am working in India now. My question now is will it be better for me to apply for divorce in India based on my USA marriage certificate (i did not register it with Indian consulate in USA) and whether i can still apply for divorce in the US state where my husband lives, if there will be too many complications of registering my marriage in India? My husband keeps telling me that i will have to support him since he has no income in India and I will not have any right to claim for share in his Indian property if i try to divorce him in India.

In order to file in the U.S. you will have to meet residency requirements of the state in which you file. My recommendation is that you take your legal advice from a lawyer, not your soon to be ex husband. First, try in India so you are clear about your rights under Indian law. A lawyer will give you the straight facts on the law where your husband may be telling you what he wants you to believe. Also, with property in India, filing for divorce there makes sense since no U.S. court will have jurisdiction over property in India to make any awards.

Your U.S. marriage should be qualified to be registered in India since both countries give comity to each other's official acts. A lawyer will tell you what is needed, the form the paper work needs to be in order to be registered in India.