Have been married for 14 yrs and had no children w/ wife who did ask for divorce. Did give her written statement w/ only 1 witness, the 2nd witness she had said she'll care of it. So she left the house, for 3.8 yrs now, but kept close contact w/ me. We live in an islamic country

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

If your question is about the ruling on your communication with this woman after what had happened between you, the answer is: this very ruling is based on whether what happened between you is considered divorce or not, stressing meanwhile that we believe that it is divorce. That is because divorce is effective, whether made through pronunciation [orally] or in writing without pronunciation. So, if it is made by pronunciation, divorce automatically is effective; however, if it is made in writing, the existing evidence indicates that the husband intends to make it effective. Besides, though making divorce in writing is considered one of the inexplicit forms of divorce, the most authentic opinion, according to our viewpoint, is that it is effective in case it is espoused with the husband’s intention and the testimony to that writing. As far as the inexplicit divorce is concerned, your intention and testimony to the writing are considered clear-cut evidence of your will to divorce. We meanwhile stress that requesting witnesses to the divorce is not mandatory, nor is the effectiveness of divorce conditional on it.

According to our viewpoint, we believe that your wife has been divorced from you by the end of her waiting period, which means that you cannot approach her except within the Shareeʿah regulations. So, it is impermissible for you to communicate with her or to talk with her unless there is a need, taking into account that you should fulfill the Shareeʿah regulations and conditions in this regard and avoid all that may lead to temptation.

However, if you can take her back in marriage and she agrees to that, do so but with a new marriage contract.

Allah knows the best.