Undocumented Immigrants and Divorce in Arizona

My husband is undocumented and resides in Mexico. Can I get a divorce without his signature?

The Question:

I want a divorce. My husband is undocumented and resides in Mexico. I live in Arizona. Can I get a
divorce without his signature? I married my husband in Mexico in 2015. I left Mexico shortly
after. I haven’t seen my husband since 2015. I want a divorce but I don’t know how to go about
the process.

RJ Says:

As long as you have lived in Arizona more than 90 days, you CAN file here. We can do so even
without having jurisdiction over Husband. If we are unable to serve Husband in Mexico, we do
have to serve him “by publication”, which means paying a local newspaper to publish the
summons that will be issued with your Petition for Dissolution.

There are limitations if Arizona does not have proper jurisdiction over your spouse. Even if
Arizona DOES not have jurisdiction, I can still get you single. The only drawback is that the
Divorce Decree cannot contain any Orders diving property or debt, and cannot contain any
Orders about child support or spousal maintenance.

Do you have a question? Send it to RJ, and we’ll get you the answer you need.