Hi everyone,

I have a big question for you guys. I was planning to DCF in Spain, and my fiancee' (Spanish national) and I have the date with the judge October 30th, from then hopefully two weeks to get married. It was a big disappointment because we started gathering the documents in January and finally turned in all the paperwork in April. Spanish bureaucracy is horrible!

Anyways, my fiancee' is going to visit the U.S. for the first time in August and I am staying a month as well to get everything I need in order to begin graduate school in January. I was wondering if during his stay on the visa waiver program we would be able to get married. Would that be legal if his intention is to return to Spain? Additionally, would we be able to DCF if I return and file in September? (I called the embassy a few months ago and was told it would be okay to visit the U.S. if it's for vacation.) Or would I have to file for the K3 visa?

Any advice would be great! I am desperate to return to the U.S. to live and find a job to be able to help pay for school.

Thanks in advance,
Sonia

You already filed for DCF? DCF is if you already married and the USC lives abroad.

Hello! Yep, it's totally legal to visit the US and marry and then return to Spain. If you meet the residency requirement in Spain (should be 6 mos or less on a resident type visa), then you can file the I-130 in Spain and your husband can apply for a CR1, no need for a K3.

MArgo, don't both partners need to live abroad for doing this? And also the marriage has to happen abroad? I am confused and think I may have given someone else coo-koo advise....
L.

Both partners do need to be living abroad. She says that she is currently living in Spain, and it sounds like she's been there for a while. It doesn't matter where the marriage happens as long as it's legal and recognized by the US. My UK husband and I married in the US while visiting and we are now going through DCF in London.

I also got married in the US on a tourist Visa... it's totally legal and no problem... rules in the US depend on the county, but it's probably like a 1 week wait and 60$ or something. Call the embassy in Spain and ask specifically if you are fulfilling the residence requirement for your husband filing the petition in Spain if you were in the US for vacation one month... alternatively you could marry in Denmark, where it's fast easy and cheap...

Len_and_Bren,

The US partner has to be living abroad. The foreign partner does not. (Would be an unusual situation if they weren't, though.)

The marriage, as others have said, can have taken place anywhere.

Yodrak

Thanks everyone!

I am so relieved that we can get married in the U.S. Don't know why it didn't occur to me until I read someone else's story. Oh, and yes I've been here in Spain for two and a half years now. I don't have a visa, but the embassy told me with certificate of residence and contract of apartment it was fine. I will call just to make sure about going to the U.S. for a month, but last time I called they said it was okay to go for vacation.

I know it's only a few months I'm saving, but we've been waiting so long now to get a date (six month wait because I'm a U.S. citizen). Now, I can go back earlier and prepare without rush for graduate school and my future husband's arrival

Thanks again (this forum is awesome!),
Sonia