Re: CUSTOMARY DIVORCE DECREE FROM GHANA

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First and foremost, there are people working in the office of
customs and immigration who require some little information
regarding these issues.

The Ghanaian customary marriage and divorce registration law
consists of the
Customary Marriage and Divorce (Registration) Law of 1985
(P.N.D.C.L.112) and
the Customary Marriage and Divorce (Registration) (Amendment)
Law of 1991
(P.N.D.C.L. 263).
One important change that the 1991 amendment introduced was
making
registration of customary marriage and divorce, which was
mandatory under the 1985 law optional.

The Customary Marriage and Divorce Law of 1985 required
Ghanaians to
register customary marriages. The 1991 amendment, however,
made it no longer compulsory to register a marriage contracted
under customary law.

Counsel for the USCIS therefore asserts as follows:
The 1991 amendment . . . does not require Ghanaians to
register the divorce affidavits
with the court in order for the divorce to be valid. The
amendment allows for the
heads of the families (fathers of the husband and wife) to
declare the divorce final
following the customary tribal divorce proceeding. The
declaration must confirm the
date, place, and time of the divorce, such as customary
tribal. See UK Border &
Immigration Agency § 2: General Information Section, Section
30.42 on Divorce.
Note that not all employees have the time and comfort to read
these things for insight. Therefore you are better off mailing
your application with a copy of this information.
Thanks

On 6/11/11, Anthony Pasu wrote:
> I attended aos interview with my wife who is the
> petitioner and I am the beneficiary. During the interview,
> the IO asked me a proof of termination of my previous
> marriage. I showed the IO a customary divorce registration
> document from my country which is a document that is
> prescribed by the Ghanaian law for customary divorces.
>
> The IO refused to recognize that document saying that the
> the proper divorce decree is a decree from a Ghanaian judge
> under an old law enacted in 1971 but that law has been
> superseded by a 1985 law.
>
> In addition, I the showed another document which is a
> statutory declaration by the representatives who sat in the
> helm of the marriage and divorce. Again that declaration is
> recognized by 1985 Ghanaian law on customary marriage but
> the i.o. refused to recognize that as well.
>
> I then showed the i.o. a copy of precedent decision by the
> board of immigration appeals in 2008 which has found that
> statutory declaration by heads of households confirming
> divorce is acceptable document proving divorce of a
> customary marriage in Ghana. Frankly the i.o. did not know
> of the BIA precedent decision, and USCIS has not in any way
> integrated that decision into their field manuals for
> guidance on acceptable documentation proving Ghanaian
> customary marriage and divorce.
>
> After submitting a copy of the BIA decision to the IO and
> that point, the IO told me and my current wife that she
> will review the documents we have submitted and if she
> needs more documents from us, she will write to us. No
> decision has been made on the aos application since the
> interview.
>
> What should we do? will we be denied? Our matter is 100&37;
> identical and the documents involved are identical to the
> matter and the documents which the BIA issued a precedent
> decision in 2008 on Ghanaian customary divorce.