How to get married so we can start IR-1/CR-1 process

[jq123 1]

Hi everyone,

My fiance is from the UK (British Citizen) and I live in Florida (U.S. citizen). We want to tie the knot soon, however, we discovered that for me to get married in the UK, I basically have to stay there for a month.

Is it possible for her to travel here on a travel visa, get married, and then she can just return home so she can finish her studies while I start the visa process?

[jaycali 415]

Yes, there is nothing wrong with getting married on a tourist visa, in her case as a British citizen she won't need a visa, just fill out an ESTA form online 72 hours or more before arrival.

That being said, she'll still have to satisfy the immigration officers at the airport that she intends to return to the UK after her wedding.

Edited February 23, 2012 by jhsm85

[jq123 1]

Yes, there is nothing wrong with getting married on a tourist visa, in her case as a British citizen she won't need a visa, just fill out an ESTA form online 72 hours or more before arrival.

That being said, she'll still have to satisfy the immigration officers at the airport that she intends to return to the UK after her wedding.

I heard that you can't just "get off the boat" and get married, and that there's a waiting period. Is that true?

[USArmyWifey 2]

Hi everyone,

My fiance is from the UK (British Citizen) and I live in Florida (U.S. citizen). We want to tie the knot soon, however, we discovered that for me to get married in the UK, I basically have to stay there for a month.

Is it possible for her to travel here on a travel visa, get married, and then she can just return home so she can finish her studies while I start the visa process?

I dont know how it works in the UK since i got married in the US, your fiance can fly to the states on the VWP by filling out an ESTA form (as stated above ) and that gives you 90 days to arange everything and get married but make sure she brings ties to the UK for when she gets to the POE so she can prove she is going to return home. Just a side note: I dont know what its like in florida but in Texas where we got married there is a 3 day waiting period before you can get married (unless your military) so if she does come to visit make sure you leave enough time if thats the case in florida also. Good luck!

[jq123 1]

I dont know how it works in the UK since i got married in the US, your fiance can fly to the states on the VWP by filling out an ESTA form (as stated above ) and that gives you 90 days to arange everything and get married but make sure she brings ties to the UK for when she gets to the POE so she can prove she is going to return home. Just a side note: I dont know what its like in florida but in Texas where we got married there is a 3 day waiting period before you can get married (unless your military) so if she does come to visit make sure you leave enough time if thats the case in florida also. Good luck!

It's a three day wait if you are a Florida resident and you don't complete a pre-marriage training course. That's easy though, I'm pretty sure you can take it online.

I need to figure this all out soon.

I asked a question to an immigration attorney and he suggested that you can't get married on a travel visa without there being a waiting period. One can't plan a week trip, and as soon as she gets off the plane, she gets married and leaves.

Edited February 23, 2012 by jq123

[USArmyWifey 2]

It's a three day wait if you are a Florida resident and you don't complete a pre-marriage training course. That's easy though, I'm pretty sure you can take it online.

I need to figure this all out soon.

I asked a question to an immigration attorney and he suggested that you can't get married on a travel visa without there being a waiting period. One can't plan a week trip, and as soon as she gets off the plane, she gets married and leaves.

It all depends what kind of wedding you want, if you want a big ceremony and everything then it will take a lot more planning than if you just want a court house wedding. We just had a quick court house wedding, if you are doing that your best bet is to call the court house in advance and ask for the requirements because we were ment to get married in Louisiana but they needed a birth certificate and all kinds of other documents but texas only needed a passport which is why we got married there because ovbiously i didnt have anything else with me, but if you plan ahead you can make sure your fiance has all the right documents for a florida wedding and it shouldnt be a problem as long as you give yourself enough time to cover the waiting period. I didnt fly to the US with the intent to get married, so i dont know how kindly they would take to a pre planned event when she gets to the POE though.

[jq123 1]

It all depends what kind of wedding you want, if you want a big ceremony and everything then it will take a lot more planning than if you just want a court house wedding. We just had a quick court house wedding, if you are doing that your best bet is to call the court house in advance and ask for the requirements because we were ment to get married in Louisiana but they needed a birth certificate and all kinds of other documents but texas only needed a passport which is why we got married there because ovbiously i didnt have anything else with me, but if you plan ahead you can make sure your fiance has all the right documents for a florida wedding and it shouldnt be a problem as long as you give yourself enough time to cover the waiting period. I didnt fly to the US with the intent to get married, so i dont know how kindly they would take to a pre planned event when she gets to the POE though.

I was wanting just a legal thing done. No full blown ceremony. How do they determine 'intent'?

[hamigirl710 112]

From what I understand, intent would be to come to the USA with the plan to get married. Your fiance can be denied at the POE if the immigration officer knows that the immigrant is entering the USA just to get married, because once married the immigrant can file an AOS and stay in the USA while the paperwork is processing. This can be considered immigration fraud if they chose to pursue it.

[USArmyWifey 2]

If you come in the country through ESTA you have to return home after the 90 days no matter what or its classed as an over stay, and since ESTA is the easiest and cheapest way to visit the US i would asume that is how they would go about it? I spent ages trying to find a loophole after we got married so i could stay and file in the states but there just doesnt seem to be one.

& Im not going to condone lying to an immigration officer ever because that will only hurt you in the long run and would violate my morals completly but as said above they can deny you entry if they know you are there just to get married so you will have to think carefuly about how you choose to go about this if you do, and what your other options are. Have you considerd apply for a different visa?

[jq123 1]

I am against lying.

But she has no intent to stay here. She needs to go back to finish her studies. The point is to just get legally married and that's it, and then I can start a legal immigration route while she finishes her studies. We want to do a legal marriage because we see no reason not to since we're committed. Plus, she has the time to come over here and get it done, then she can go back and finish her degree (approx a year) and by that time she'll be able to move here.

There will be no visa fraud going on here. She's not going to stay here after she gets legally married.

Edited February 23, 2012 by jq123

[jq123 1]

Have you considerd apply for a different visa?

Another option for me is to get "religiously married" to remove all the barriers of communication (since me and my fiancee follow Islamic customs when it comes to communication, and once you're married "religiously" the relationship becomes less strained and more open), but not get a civil certificate (this can be done without issue since the Islamic marriage is very easy to conduct) and apply for a fiancee visa. The reason we wanted to do the marriage was to remove strain on the relationship while the visa is undergoing processing.

Is this considered fraudulent? If they found out that I was "religiously" married but I have no legal certificate, could my wife be denied a fiancee visa?

Edited February 23, 2012 by jq123

[louise1234 0]

Hi everyone,

My fiance is from the UK (British Citizen) and I live in Florida (U.S. citizen). We want to tie the knot soon, however, we discovered that for me to get married in the UK, I basically have to stay there for a month.

Is it possible for her to travel here on a travel visa, get married, and then she can just return home so she can finish her studies while I start the visa process?

Hi, I am a british citizen and married my husband who us a US Citizen within 5 days of arriving in the US.....My husband sent of my documents and the whole process took 5 months from finish to start...My interview happend and now am in AP which is so frustrating.. Good luck

[Orando 57]

Another option for me is to get "religiously married" to remove all the barriers of communication (since me and my fiancee follow Islamic customs when it comes to communication, and once you're married "religiously" the relationship becomes less strained and more open), but not get a civil certificate (this can be done without issue since the Islamic marriage is very easy to conduct) and apply for a fiancee visa. The reason we wanted to do the marriage was to remove strain on the relationship while the visa is undergoing processing.

Is this considered fraudulent? If they found out that I was "religiously" married but I have no legal certificate, could my wife be denied a fiancee visa?

There was a recent thread where this very issue was debated. One school of thought said that the US GOVT would acknowledge the religious marriage as being legally binding and view you as a married person for immigration purposes. The other school of thought said that the US Govt would not acknowledge the religious marriage as a legally binding marriage. The jury is still out for me on this, I have not heard a convincing argument or heard a convincing example of why the US GOVT would acknowledge religious marriages as being legally binding and demand that someone produce a civil marriage certificate from a religious ceremony. I would have to talk with someone at the USCIS or an Immigrant Visa Unit to get the precise answer on how the US GOVT interprets this law to be satisfied myself. I would advise you to get an "Official" ruling from the US GOVT in this regard before proceeding down this path to save yourself time and make sure you are in compliance with the US GOVT immigration laws. I am sure they have run into this scenario on many occasions.

[pushbrk 13,616]

It's a three day wait if you are a Florida resident and you don't complete a pre-marriage training course. That's easy though, I'm pretty sure you can take it online.

I need to figure this all out soon.

I asked a question to an immigration attorney and he suggested that you can't get married on a travel visa without there being a waiting period. One can't plan a week trip, and as soon as she gets off the plane, she gets married and leaves.

Lots of people get confused with the bulk of information. I think the attorney was advising that if you wanted to have your spouse stay and adjust status, it's best not to marry right away. It's kind of an old wive's tale really but that is not the context of your question here. If your then spouse will return to the UK and pursue an immigrant visa, the only waiting period for marriage is that imposed by the State, if any.

[jq123 1]

There was a recent thread where this very issue was debated. One school of thought said that the US GOVT would acknowledge the religious marriage as being legally binding and view you as a married person for immigration purposes. The other school of thought said that the US Govt would not acknowledge the religious marriage as a legally binding marriage. The jury is still out for me on this, I have not heard a convincing argument or heard a convincing example of why the US GOVT would acknowledge religious marriages as being legally binding and demand that someone produce a civil marriage certificate from a religious ceremony. I would have to talk with someone at the USCIS or an Immigrant Visa Unit to get the precise answer on how the US GOVT interprets this law to be satisfied myself. I would advise you to get an "Official" ruling from the US GOVT in this regard before proceeding down this path to save yourself time and make sure you are in compliance with the US GOVT immigration laws. I am sure they have run into this scenario on many occasions.

If I were to get a religious marriage in the UK, yet the UK requires a civil certificate for something to be considered legal and the religious marriage alone doesn't satisfy the requirements of being legal, then by all means, how is it considered a legal marriage? This is beyond me.

Edited February 24, 2012 by jq123