K1 visas / teenagers

[hoy123 2]

Hello i just have a question about K1 visas and teenagers being allowed to marry and immigrate. I understand this may be a controversial subject for some people but I am hoping just to keep this thread clear of any opinions and that we can discuss immigration law here. I am not involved in a relationship with a teenager either so please do not direct any questions or judgements towards me.

In the United States many states allow teenagers to marry with either parental consent or review of the marriage before a judge. There are also laws that allow marriage in the case of pregnancy.

On the other end there are different laws all over the world regarding age. Some allow marriage at an early age and some more conservative countries require some sort of parental consent even after the age of 18

Just wondering how the embassies handle these cases. Do they grant K1 visas towards couples with regards to those countries laws? In other words would you need a parental consent form for a K1 visa if that country the fiance resides in requires one for persons at the age of 20? Or does the embassies consider he laws that the United States citizen's state in which they reside in?

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

The laws of the state where the marriage will take place are applied. If either party needs parental consent to marry, then the consent must be provided in order to get the visa.

They would likely not consider a case where a judge's consent was required for a foreign beneficiary, since the foreign beneficiary is not under the jurisdiction of the court and the court can't provide consent until after the beneficiary comes to the US. The beneficiary has to be eligible to marry when the visa is approved.

The laws of the foreign country are irrelevant with the caveat that they might affect the beneficiary's ability to actually LEAVE that country. The Philippines, for example, has a requirement that the beneficiary attend a seminar about immigration and marriage. The US consulate can require the beneficiary to meet the foreign government's requirements for immigration before issuing a visa, since it would be pointless to issue a visa to someone who can't actually use it. However, the consulate isn't going to apply the foreign governments requirements for eligibility to marry.

[hoy123 2]

The laws of the state where the marriage will take place are applied. If either party needs parental consent to marry, then the consent must be provided in order to get the visa.

They would likely not consider a case where a judge's consent was required for a foreign beneficiary, since the foreign beneficiary is not under the jurisdiction of the court and the court can't provide consent until after the beneficiary comes to the US. The beneficiary has to be eligible to marry when the visa is approved.

The laws of the foreign country are irrelevant with the caveat that they might affect the beneficiary's ability to actually LEAVE that country. The Philippines, for example, has a requirement that the beneficiary attend a seminar about immigration and marriage. The US consulate can require the beneficiary to meet the foreign government's requirements for immigration before issuing a visa, since it would be pointless to issue a visa to someone who can't actually use it. However, the consulate isn't going to apply the foreign governments requirements for eligibility to marry.

[hoy123 2]

Ok thanks Jim, so you are saying even though the beneficiary meets the requirements of the jurisdiction in which the person will marry, The country in which the person resides in can be denied their exit from the country on grounds that the visa granted does not meet their requirements? So i guess they stop them at the airport?

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Ok thanks Jim, so you are saying even though the beneficiary meets the requirements of the jurisdiction in which the person will marry, The country in which the person resides in can be denied their exit from the country on grounds that the visa granted does not meet their requirements? So i guess they stop them at the airport?

Ok, let's make sure we're talking about the same thing. There's "eligible to marry" and "eligible to emigrate". "Eligible to marry" depends on the laws of the state where the marriage will take place. "Eligible to emigrate" depends on the laws of the country where the beneficiary lives.

The CFO seminar in the Philippines is a requirement of Philippine law. A Philippine national won't be able to leave the country without having attended this seminar, even if they have a valid passport with a K1 visa in it. They'll be stopped at the airport. If they are applying for a new passport or renewing an expired passport in order to apply for a K1 or spousal visa then they need to attend the seminar before they'll be issued a passport. In that case, they can't even get the K1 visa until they've attended the seminar because they need a valid passport to apply for the visa.

The US consulate requires that the beneficiary be eligible to marry. Whether they are also eligible to emigrate will depend on the country. For example, a beneficiary may be eligible to marry at age 16 in the petitioner's state with parental consent. Presuming he/she can get that consent, then he/she is eligible for a visa. However, if the beneficiary's country will not permit a 16 year old to emigrate, regardless of whether or not they have parental consent, then the beneficiary won't be able to leave the country. If the US consulate in that country is aware of the local law, they may refuse to issue a visa if they know the beneficiary won't be permitted to use it.

[hoy123 2]

Ok Thanks Jim. Just wondering then, does the consulate in the Philippines grant K1 visas for cases where the beneficiary is 16 17 with parental consent and i guess more importantly does the Philippine government allow them to emigrate from the Philippines.? From doing a little more research it looks like they would have to have a cfo certificate and some sort of stamp on their passport

Does anyone else have any experiences or stories on the subject in regards to other countries around the world? Please share

This seems to be a taboo subject and its hard to find information on this matter on the internet. I plan on finding data on this through the UCIS and maybe i will post it here