Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Pennsylvania

To whom it may concern,

I am an American who married an Egyptian in the country of Egypt in August 2004, who resides in the United States. We had our marriage documents legalized in the U.S. and we later went through a divorce in the U.S. which has been completed and certified in March 2010. I would like to obtain a divorce decree from the country of Egypt where I was married and the only way to do this is for him to enter the Embassy Of Egypt, to sign a simple divorce document that will only take a few minutes in the U.S. and without his participation I am un-able to move forward with my life and get re-married. My ex-spouse has caused me a lot of physical and emotional stress by, his un-willingness to finish this simple document in a timely manner. I would like to know if you, as an attorney, could send him a letter to request him to enter this embassy to complete the paperwork that is necessary to receive a divorce within a certain amount of time, or that I would take him to court for all the physical and emotional stress he has caused me. Could this be a possibility!? And which branch of law does my current issue fall under!?

I appreciate your time and I look forward to hearing from you.


Asked on 7/23/10, 9:12 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Rachel Hunter

I have a lot of questions. Frankly, I do not understand why you feel a need to go through with this. You are divorced already in the US. Why is that not good enough? Are you planning on finding another Egyptian and you must get a divorce from Egypt too?

I can send a letter to him for a fee, but what makes you think he will respond to a letter from a lawyer? Is he in the US? Or Egypt? If he is in the US, is he near an Egyptian Embassy? Can he be compelled to sign the papers and why wasn't this done as part of the US divorce action? Did you have an attorney in the US divorce? Why will he or she not assist you? I do not intervene in existing attorney-client relationships as it is unethical. You should consult your prior divorce attorney if you have not already done so to make sure that this would be okay. I am not sure that your can sue your ex-husband for emotional distress. Divorce is a trying time, but unless he physically assaulted you, this may not be compensable.

I do not handle Immigration law at all and have no wish to do so . While your question does not concern immigration law per se, you might be better consulting an immigration law attorney to see if there is another way to accomplish this in the event that your ex-husband refuses. Or you may need to get a divorce in Egypt and hire an Egyptian attorney.

Contact me if you do not have an attorney and if other means will not work and we can try a letter. However, I am in North Carolina and it is not convenient for me to litigate in Pennsylvania. I would therefore not be able to bring any suit on your behalf if the need arises.

Rachel Hunter

Attorney at Law

[email protected]

Admitted in GA, PA & NC

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Answered on 7/24/10, 10:07 am


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