Implications of religious ceremonies on N400

[AbuA 1]

I am a naturalized US citizen. I met my wife right after she got her student visa. Through some relatives here in the states, we were introduced and thought it is great as she already holds a visa. I went overseas and met with her twice and got the families to agree on letting us travel here along as a religious ceremony is help, in which we did. 

 

We moved to the US and she started school. We decided to marry and start a family. We have a 3 years old daughter, bought a house together, both have good jobs etc. 

 

when we moved to the US, we did a civil marriage here and used the certificate to to adjust her status.

 

it turns out unlike I had planned, the religious ceremony back in the West Bank Palestine is officially considered legal and we were recorded married? We never signed anything as families did that on their part. 

 

She just did her  biometric for the N400. 

 

What implications does the religious ceremony overseas has on her application? 

 

Thank you. 

[Coco8 1,054]

If she is applying for naturalization then she has the green card. Why would this matter now? I am guessing you already put information on marriage, etc., for AOS application so now you have to fill in the same information.

[AbuA 1]

That’s correct. She has a 10 year green card. We put the same info we used on Ajust of status and removing conditions. 

[CarlHamilton 252]

It does matter.   I assume you ask this because she came on a student visa and didn't disclose that she was in fact married to an American citizen.  This obviously speaks to intent to remain, and students aren't supposed to have that intent.  There is a different immigration track for married people.  I think your concern is valid and you should probably talk to a lawyer. 

Edited February 23, 2018 by shomer

[AbuA 1]

My question is not about the intent as she already had her visa before we met she is still studying after the adjustment of status. 

[CarlHamilton 252]

4 minutes ago, alamro said:

My question is not about the intent as she already had her visa before we met she is still studying after the adjustment of status. 

Intent is relevant because she arguably violated the terms of her visa if she didn't declare her intent to remain at the border.  Or maybe not.  You're asking this question for a reason. If the reason is that you want confirmation of what you already believe to be true, so be it.  But immigration officials won't necessarily see it the way you do.

[Coco8 1,054]

3 hours ago, shomer said:

Intent is relevant because she arguably violated the terms of her visa if she didn't declare her intent to remain at the border.  Or maybe not.  You're asking this question for a reason. If the reason is that you want confirmation of what you already believe to be true, so be it.  But immigration officials won't necessarily see it the way you do.

That is not how it works. You can come back and maybe you are not sure if you'll AOS. Besides, if she got a green card, it means they went through this.

 

What I still don't understand is the original question. What are you trying to figure out exactly?

[Villanelle 4,123]

19 minutes ago, Coco8 said:

That is not how it works. You can come back and maybe you are not sure if you'll AOS. Besides, if she got a green card, it means they went through this.

 

What I still don't understand is the original question. What are you trying to figure out exactly?

Hes saying they did a ceremony that was considered legal. So they legally got married- she came to the US where they got married again (thinking it was the first time since they didnt know the ceremony prior was legal) and used the US paperwork to file AOS and were approved/ Hes asking what kind of problem that will make for n400.  

[AbuA 1]

12 hours ago, Damara said:

Hes saying they did a ceremony that was considered legal. So they legally got married- she came to the US where they got married again (thinking it was the first time since they didnt know the ceremony prior was legal) and used the US paperwork to file AOS and were approved/ Hes asking what kind of problem that will make for n400.  

Ultimately that is the question. Thank you. 

[deezwho 7]

Since it didnt come up when she applied for a green card, Im guessing they probably wont bring it up again ... however ...

 

The concern would be when she entered the US prior to your civil ceremony. What visa did she use? If she entered on a student visa but the intent was to get married and remain in the US (as evidenced by a religious ceremony - which is recognized as legal by the US - prior to entry) and she didn't declare this at the border then she technically violated immigration law. Ignorance is usually not considered a valid excuse in the US legal/immigration system.

Also if you adjusted status under 90 days after she entered on the student visa that also implies to USCIS that her intent was different than what the visa was approved for.

 

Keep in mind that even after you have been naturalized as a US Citizen, they can revoke it if it turns out you lied or intentionally omitted information that could have negatively impacted your case if it's discovered at a later date.

 

I would highly advise retaining an immigration attorney at this point to see how to address it ... 

[AbuA 1]

On 2/24/2018 at 1:54 AM, deezwho said:

Since it didnt come up when she applied for a green card, Im guessing they probably wont bring it up again ... however ...

 

The concern would be when she entered the US prior to your civil ceremony. What visa did she use? If she entered on a student visa but the intent was to get married and remain in the US (as evidenced by a religious ceremony - which is recognized as legal by the US - prior to entry) and she didn't declare this at the border then she technically violated immigration law. Ignorance is usually not considered a valid excuse in the US legal/immigration system.

Also if you adjusted status under 90 days after she entered on the student visa that also implies to USCIS that her intent was different than what the visa was approved for.

 

Keep in mind that even after you have been naturalized as a US Citizen, they can revoke it if it turns out you lied or intentionally omitted information that could have negatively impacted your case if it's discovered at a later date.

 

I would highly advise retaining an immigration attorney at this point to see how to address it ... 

Thank you for the response. 

 

We really have no official record for the religious ceremony nor we signed anything. Folks in our village literally signed on our behalf. She had the visa however way before any meeting between us. She was never asked about intent when moved to the US. She wanted to study and she is still studying and will study. 

 

We applied for adjustment of status 6 months after she entered the US. Marriage was after 115 days from her entry. 

 

This never came up during adjustment of status or ROC. 

[deezwho 7]

23 minutes ago, AbuA said:

Thank you for the response. 

 

We really have no official record for the religious ceremony nor we signed anything. Folks in our village literally signed on our behalf. She had the visa however way before any meeting between us. She was never asked about intent when moved to the US. She wanted to study and she is still studying and will study. 

 

We applied for adjustment of status 6 months after she entered the US. Marriage was after 115 days from her entry. 

 

This never came up during adjustment of status or ROC. 

If you didn't participate in the "book" ceremony as I believe it's called then you were not married by the legal definition. your best bet might be to pretend it never happened.

 

again l would consult an immigration lawyer before proceeding as they may have experience with this topic 

[AbuA 1]

We actually already submitted n400 about 4 months ago. Fingerprints were done 91 days ago exact. Should we withdraw the application and consult a layer?