American and Venezuelan marryibg in Spain

[badra 0]

Hey all,

Im an American Citizen working in Spain and will be here until next year. I am planning on marrying my venezuelan girlfriend here in spain. She has been living here with me and overstayed her thre month tourist limit and is here illegaly. If we marry here in Spain how do we go about getting her a visa to live in the USA??? Will she have problems getting in?

Thanks so much.

[YuAndDan 153]

The problem is that your fiancee is not a resident of Spain, and will probably need to interview for the visa in her home country.

[Dr. Obvious 49]

I dunno. Have you found out if you marry her if you can get legal permanent residency for your wife in Spain through you? Can you even have a legally recognized marriage in Spain if she is illegal? I think you should be giving a call to the Spanish authorities first to find all of this out.

Edited May 30, 2008 by Wacken

[pushbrk 12,105]

The problem is that your fiancee is not a resident of Spain, and will probably need to interview for the visa in her home country.

Yes, that makes DCF a non-starter. Assuming you can accomplish the marriage in Spain, a K3 would interview in the country of marriage but you would need to deal with your own sponsorship and USA domicile issues along with any potential complications from her remaining in Spain. One of those complications would be the possibility deportation before the interview and not being allowed to re-enter for the interview.

You need to plan all this very carefully.

[badra 0]

The problem is that your fiancee is not a resident of Spain, and will probably need to interview for the visa in her home country.

Yes, that makes DCF a non-starter. Assuming you can accomplish the marriage in Spain, a K3 would interview in the country of marriage but you would need to deal with your own sponsorship and USA domicile issues along with any potential complications from her remaining in Spain. One of those complications would be the possibility deportation before the interview and not being allowed to re-enter for the interview.

You need to plan all this very carefully.

So DCF wold not be the best option Im guessing....

[pushbrk 12,105]

The problem is that your fiancee is not a resident of Spain, and will probably need to interview for the visa in her home country.

Yes, that makes DCF a non-starter. Assuming you can accomplish the marriage in Spain, a K3 would interview in the country of marriage but you would need to deal with your own sponsorship and USA domicile issues along with any potential complications from her remaining in Spain. One of those complications would be the possibility deportation before the interview and not being allowed to re-enter for the interview.

You need to plan all this very carefully.

So DCF wold not be the best option Im guessing....

It's not an option at all because she both must be legal residents of the country in which the DCF takes place. That's what I meant by "non-starter".

[Dr. Obvious 49]

You don't know that until you have contacted both the Spanish and US authorities on the matter.

You need to contact the Spanish authorities in your region and ask about marrying someone who is illegal, if these marriages are allowed by the Spanish govenment or if there are alternatives in the church, if you are both Catholic. You need to ask if you can get married, can she get residency though you as your wife to stay.

If that seems OK, you need to go next to the US consulate and ask them if she needs to have a legal Spanish residency permit to file.

You cannot write DCF off until you have done your homework about it.

[badra 0]

yea so i looked into it and its possible to get married on spain but would complicate things. After reading up all the options i think ill go the k3 route. Well head back to venezuela in december get married there (in her home country) and file through K3. any advice? Would this be my best option???

thanks again!

[Vivi and Michael 0]

I think that if you are going to Venezuela to start an immigration process there, in my personal opinion a K-1 (visa fiance) would be faster. Once in Venezuela you are not dealing with her illegal status anymore. I personally went through the whole K-1 process to bring my fiance from Venezuela (he's cuban but living in Venezuela for 15 years)....his process was smooth and he got his K-1 visa in 2 months from the filing date. We got married as soon as he got here in March and he already received his green card.

A very important advise before your venezuelan fiancee leaves Spain: GET THE POLICE CERTIFICATE FOR HER FOR THE TIME SHE LIVED IN SPAIN. She'll need it for K1 or K3, that requirement won't be waived and it can be a problem to get it once you guys are not in Spain anymore. She needs also the police certificate from Venezuela but that one will be easy, let me know if she needs information on how to get it. Also, you'll need your last 3 years tax returns and W2.

I hope everything is fine and she can come here soon.

Good luck!!!

[Vivi and Michael 0]

.......also, I forgot to tell you that mail service in Venezuela DOES NOT WORK AT ALL, and your fiancee will never receive US Embassy's correspondence at home. In our case, we filled out all the forms using the links indicated at the Caracas US Embassy website and also, I found out about my fiance's interview date because I personally emailed the consulate in Caracas looking for that information. They repplied my email the same day with the interview date for my fiance. It was the following week and we didn't have time to obtain his Police Certificate and Medical Results on time. He had to go back to the US Embassy 2 weeks after his interview to provide the pending documents. He never received his interview notice nor any other info from US Embassy cause as I said, mail in Venezuela SUCKS. And don't be afraid, interviewer officers are really nice overthere. If you decide the K1 route (in my opinion a lot faster), just get as much evidence or your relationship you can (photos, emails, letters, stampped correspondence from mail in Spain showing you guys shared the same address and lived together for a while, etc)....it will be very easy for you to prove your relationship. Police certificate and medical results are for the interview date, and also more evidence of the bona fide relationship (photos, etc...)

Ok, hope everything will be smooth for you guys too.

[Muergana 0]

You might want to get married in the USA instead of abroad, as it will probably be easier to provide evidence of a real marriage certificate. I seem to remember that my early research led me to believe that getting married in the USA was the way to go, which is what i did, but I dont remember exactly what I read. If she is sentimental about family etc you can do a ceremony somewhere else if you like. Think about it, it is probably better to get married in the USA just for the sake of a better document, as it guarantees this issue will not give you hassles later.

I dont know anything about police certificates but you need to start saving evidence of your relationship right now -get creative, even if it is just emails or whatever you can get your hands on which may be challenging since she is illegal.

by the way venezuelan women are the best.

good luck

[Vivi and Michael 0]

You might want to get married in the USA instead of abroad, as it will probably be easier to provide evidence of a real marriage certificate. I seem to remember that my early research led me to believe that getting married in the USA was the way to go, which is what i did, but I dont remember exactly what I read. If she is sentimental about family etc you can do a ceremony somewhere else if you like. Think about it, it is probably better to get married in the USA just for the sake of a better document, as it guarantees this issue will not give you hassles later.

I dont know anything about police certificates but you need to start saving evidence of your relationship right now -get creative, even if it is just emails or whatever you can get your hands on which may be challenging since she is illegal.

by the way venezuelan women are the best.

good luck

the problem on getting married here in USA is that his venezuelan fiancee needs to get a visa to get here!!! That's what we are talking about here, we are trying to find the better route for him to bring her.