hey guys

I have been married a year and still am waiting for my husbands I-130 to go thru. the reson is that i did not have a coversion certificate. my father is a muslim and my mom is a hindu. i was raised in the hindu religon and have followed hinduizm since i can remember. iam a us citizen and even stayed in india for 90 day to file . the only reson they could give me was i did not convert as per the 1955 hindu marriage act. can any one help me. i have no idea what to do next..... please help

This post is probably better for the appropriate regional forum but USCIS doesn't care about whether you converted. Are you saying you were unable to provide adequate evidence you are legally married because your marriage could not be legally registered in India without this conversion certificate?

yes in india under the 1955 hindu marriage act . even after having a valid marriage lic my case has been denied. its sad but true . even being a us citizen living here where we have the right to practice aNY RELIGON , MY HUSBAND CANT BE TOGETHER .......

I think what they are saying is your marriage is not valid because it is not within the laws of India, where you were married. If you had gotten married in the U.S. this wouldn't be an issue. Perhaps you should post in the regional forum and they can help you there. I am sorry for your extra troubles.

You would best repost this in the South Asia forum - there is a woman who converted to Hinduism through Arya Samaj, as I did and married in India - maybe she can give you more information. This amazes me since AFAIK Nepal doesn't have this requirement and until recently it prided itself on being the only 'Hindu Kingdom', while India has been officially secular for a long time and has much larger religious minority groups than Nepal. Good luck and I hope someone can help you.

I'll move this to the appropriate regional forum for a chance to get more specific help for the OP

I-130 for a "spouse" requires a copy of a certificate for a duly registered legal marriage. If you have not complied with the local laws where in the country of marriage, then USCIS must deny a petition for a spouse.

As you discuss your case, it will be important to be precise in your descriptions and terminology. A "marriage license" can sometimes ALSO be a marriage certificate but the license itself without the certificication the marriage was duly registered under local laws, will not do.

Please get a legal counsel who is familiar with Indian - hindu marriage act and US immigration laws. good luck!

Arya Samaj will do conversion and issue a certificate. I converted prior to our marriage and submitted certificate along with registration with I-130 packet. you have to convert prior to marriage according to the law in india. the only other alternative is to return for cival ceramony or return and find arya samaj and convert then do another hindu ceramony.

No one has mentioned the possibility of doing a K-1 fiance visa. Perhaps the OP should consider this option. To me this would be less time consuming and inexpensive. They have already met within two years and the petitioner is a US citizen. K-1 would be a cinch.

I think that would hinder her case even more. She is already married and has claimed so with the USCIS, how can she apply for K-1 in this case? Most probably if she goes that way, it will be taken as Fraud.

India has both religious marriage laws/boards and civil marriage law. If you are a born Hindu, you don't have to convert or you don't need any conversion certificate. But there are many factors to it, OP, does say her father is a muslim, may be OP has a Muslim name/surname given by her father's side, and that raised the question of being a born Hindu. Also, did OP only have a religious ceremony (with pundit and family member) without attaining any kind of Certificate?

She is not already married, at least not married for immigration purposes.
From her post, it seems like USCIS did not see her marriage as legal in the country it took place. Therefore she was denied because she is legally not married in the eyes of USCIS. She can go around calling her "husband" all day but that won't make her marriage legal for immigration purposes.

I don't think she will have a problem with a K-1. In fact I think that the I-130 denial can work to her advantage as she can show to USCIS that "look you guys said we aren't legally married, therefore I'm petitioning for him as a fiance."

In my country, you can be "married" if you have a religious ceremony and call yourself "husband and wife". However, in the eyes of USCIS, I was not "legally" married. Therefore when I wanted to sponsor my spouse, I had to go through the civil process to be legally married. Being married can have many meanings but in this case the OP is not "legally" married in the eyes of USCIS.