I have two wives, one of whom lives back home and the other lives with me here, and the only way to bring her here is by pretending to divorce my first wife here, I was wondering if I went through a fake divorce with my first wife here to bring my second wife over. Would my fake divorce be considered as a real divorce in Islam?

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

Writing the word divorce is one of the metaphors of divorce and divorce does not take place except with the intention of divorce.  If the matter is just writing the word divorce without uttering it and you do not intend to divorce your wife, then divorce does not take place.

However, you should look for other means to bring your wife over, and if you do not find any other alternative except by writing the word divorce on papers, then it is permissible to resort to it provided that you do not utter the word divorce before the judge.  Because if the judge asks you: “Did you divorce your wife?” and you answer “Yes”, then divorce takes place even though you did not intend it.  For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 90529.

However, you should endeavour to preserve the rights of this woman as a wife in regard to spending on her, inheritance and the like.

Finally, it should be noted that a Muslim should not reside in a non-Muslim country without a necessity or a dire need.

For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 86405.