2nd Marriage

TomaszTomasz

Hello
About 3 years ago I married Muslim girl in Morocco I have Moroccan marriage cert. As a Polish citizen I use my EU treaty rights to bring my wife to Ireland. No without fight of cos most of consulates are not aware of EU treaty rights, and Embassy play stupid.
Any way I finally did it. Unfortunately our relation did not last long and we now separated.
I thinking to remarry but I don't want my wife loose her visa status.
My question is. Is in case of separation and living in different cities If I marry another woman as second Muslim wife or in another faith like Catholic. Will I be able to use my EU treaty rights to bring her to Ireland?
or I need to have divorce paper first?
Also If divorce paper will be required. Is Moroccan divorce will be valid if marriage was taken in Morocco?

Peregrinus

If you marry a second wife without divorcing the first you'll be committing bigamy, which is a crime. The question of whether you can invoke your EU treaty rights will be the least of your problems.

You must get a divorce before you enter into any second marriage. I cannot tell you what effect the divorce will have on your wife's visa status.

As regards where you get the divorce, it doesn't matter where the marriage was celebrated. If you get a divorce in Ireland, where you are now both living, it will of course be recognised in the Irish courts. (You might want to check yourself whether it will also be recognised in Poland, should you ever wish to return there with your second wife.)

Or, as far as Irish law goes, you can get a divorce either in the country where you are domiciled (which is presumably Poland) or where you wife is domiciled (which is presumably Morocco). That would suggest that a Moroccan divorce would be recognised in Ireland but, again, you would be wise also to check if it would be recognised in Poland. But this is a fairly technical area, and before going to the expense of getting a divorce in any country you should speak to a lawyer and get a professional opinion about whether that divorce will be recognised in Ireland.

TomaszTomasz

Thank You for answer.
I was just wondering how the law works in bigamy cases with Muslims. Cos they allowed to have four wife's.
It was obvious for me that you cant apply for all four wife's tax allowances or social payments. But there is way for them to at least bring them all to the country.

Peregrinus

This one is complex and, again, you would need to check with a lawyer. But SFAIK the position is this.

1. Under Irish law, marriage is seen as intrinsically monogamous. Thus a polygamous relationship is not a marriage in Irish law, even if it's regarded as a marriage in the country where it was formed.

2. But the question is not whether, legally, the relationship allows one or both parties to take another spouse. A potentially polygamous marriage is recognised. It's only actually polygamous marriages that aren't recognised.

3. So, suppose I get married to A in Morocco (where, I assume, polygamy is permitted). I then seek to enter Ireland, bringing A with me. No problem. I have only one spouse. My marriage is potentially polygamous in Morocco, but it's not actually polygamous, so it's recognised.

4. But, suppose I marry A in Morocco, and then marry B in Morocco, and then seek to enter Ireland, bringing A, or B, or both of them with me. On a strict application of the law, and assuming the Irish authorities are aware of the facts, I can't bring either A or B as my spouse. My relationship with A is now polygamous, and my relationship with B has always been polygamous. Neither will be recognised as a marriage for Irish purposes.

5. Suppose I marry A in Morocco, then we enter and settle in Ireland, then I travel to Morocco and marry B? Obviously, I can't bring B into Ireland as my spouse. But A's right to remain in Ireland is also now in question, since her marriage to me is no longer recognised in Irish law. Of course, A may have acquired some other right to remain in Ireland in the meantime, and in any event I suspect the authorities would be slow to sling her out merely because they could, so there might be a degree of forbearance shown. But, in terms of her visa status, yes, as far as I can see she would be at risk.

Other EU countries might take a different view. I think the position in the UK is that if you are in a polygamous marriage you can bring one spouse to the UK as your spouse, but only one. It need not be the one you married first.

Gatica

TomaszTomasz wrote: »

I was just wondering how the law works in bigamy cases with Muslims. Cos they allowed to have four wife's.

The Irish (and EU, as far as I'm aware) law doesn't have a special case for particular religions, everyone's equal. The same law that applies to anyone else would apply to Muslims, or any other polygamous religions; that means that you can only be married to 1 person at any time. You cannot marry a second unless you've legally (as recognised by Irish law) divorced the first.

You situation seem to be a complex one, and this forum may not be the best to get an answer to your question, maybe the legal forum would suit better. You're also best off to talk to someone who can offer you sound legal advice (rather than a public forum), like a solicitor, the department of immigration or the gardai (although I doubt most of them would be trained for something so specific).