What Is a “Spouse”?
A. A “spouse” is a husband or wife. Q. My spouse and I have a Separation Agreement on file in the County Clerk’s Office. I went to Family Court to get the child support that the Agreement gives me and the court said I couldn’t get it there. What do I do? A. The Family Court can’t do anything with a Separation Agreement. You can file a new petition for child support in your county’s Family Court or begin a divorce case in your county’s Supreme Court. Depending on the amount of money, you can sue to get everything in the Separation Agreement in one of the civil courts.
A spouse is a legally wedded husband or wife. Cohabiting partners do not qualify as spouses for immigration purposes. Common-law spouses may qualify as spouses for immigration purposes depending on the laws of the country where the common-law marriage occurs. In cases of polygamy only the first spouse qualifies as a spouse for immigration. U.S. law does not allow polygamy. If you were married before, you and your spouse must show that you ended (terminated) all previous marriages before your current marriage. The death and divorce documents that show termination of marriages must be legal and verifiable in the country that issued them. Divorces must be final. In cases of legal marriage to two or more spouses at the same time, or marriages overlapping for a period of time, you may file only for the first spouse.
