Spouse visa

[Goher1993]

Hi,
my case is quite complicated. I came to UK in 2021 on spouse visa from Pakistan. I got Islamic divorce last year but we never registered our wedding in the UK. now I want to marry someone in the UK.
Do I have to apply for a divorce in UK court before contacting council for wedding registration?
will that effect my current immigration status in the UK? how'd i stay legal during the process ?
any kind help would be appreciated.

[AmazonianX]

Hi,
my case is quite complicated. I came to UK in 2021 on spouse visa from Pakistan. I got Islamic divorce last year but we never registered our wedding in the UK. now I want to marry someone in the UK.
Do I have to apply for a divorce in UK court before contacting council for wedding registration?
will that effect my current immigration status in the UK? how'd i stay legal during the process ?
any kind help would be appreciated.

You need to be free to marry to be able to contact the council/registry.
This means legal dissolution of previous marriage.

[secret.simon]

I got Islamic divorce last year

Where did you get the Islamic divorce from? Was it done in a jurisdiction that recognises Islamic divorces in their law and were you issued a legal certificate from a judicial or other legal authority?

If the Islamic divorce was carried out in the UK, it is not legally recognised as a divorce and you will need to get a divorce through the family courts.

It does not matter that the marriage was not registered in the UK. It is recognised by the UK as a marriage (hence you got the spouse visa) and if either party (either your spouse or you) is domiciled in a UK legal jurisdiction (England & Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland), then the marriage can be dissolved through the relevant family court in that jurisdiction.

Any marriage conducted before a *legal* divorce (either in the UK or abroad) will not be a marriage from the viewpoint of the law. You have to be "free to marry" (i.e. without an existing spouse) at the time you marry for the second time.