Marriage Certificate Not Accepted

[Salahadin 0]

Hi everyone,

 

Please help...... I marred before six years from my wife who is USC in Thailand, our marriage certificate issued from Islamic Committee in Sonngkhla city. After marriage my wife came to Saudi Arabia to live with me and she got "Resident ID card "  also we have gifted two beautiful kids who are US Citizens too.

 

Our Marriage certificate accepted in Saudi Arabia when she got resident Visa but when i uploaded the document in NVC they rejected with this notice : This document is from an incorrect issuing authority Please replace this with an acceptable marriage certificate. 

 

Thank you all in advance

 

 

[givionte 138]

Is your marriage registered in Thailand?  Or which country are you legally married?  

[Salahadin 0]

 

i did my marriage in Mosque for Muslims Community so it's not registered in Thailand  but it's recognized in Muslims country and at that time there was no plan for immigration.

[givionte 138]

To qualify for a marriage-based visa or green card, you must be legally married and officially recognized by the government in the country in which you were married.  So you need to produce an official record of your marriage from a public office, in this case, Thailand.  A religious certificate would likely not be accepted, hence the rejection.  What's officially recognized in Saudi Arabia may not be recognized by the United States immigration services.

Edited May 29, 2019 by givionte

[Bayman 65]

42 minutes ago, givionte said:

To qualify for a marriage-based visa or green card, you must be legally married and officially recognized by the government in the country in which you were married.  So you need to produce an official record of your marriage from a public office, in this case, Thailand.  A religious certificate would likely not be accepted, hence the rejection.  What's officially recognized in Saudi Arabia may not be recognized by the United States immigration services.

was thinking the same.

[WeGuyGal 1,052]

A marriage must be registered in the jurisdiction it took place in for it to be recognized the world over. The registration makes it an official record. 

[AstroCanada 206]

The state department will tell you what documents are accepted in their reciprocity tables here:
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Visa-Reciprocity-and-Civil-Documents-by-Country/Thailand.html

[pushbrk 12,969]

1 hour ago, AstroCanada said:

The state department will tell you what documents are accepted in their reciprocity tables here:
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Visa-Reciprocity-and-Civil-Documents-by-Country/Thailand.html

While that link will describe the required document, the one I'm providing will describe the process a US Citizen goes through to legally marry in Thailand.

 

https://th.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/local-resources-of-u-s-citizens/getting-married-in-thailand/

 

Did you submit the same marriage certificate to USCIS with the I-130 petition, that you are now submitting to NVC?  If you submitted something other than what is described in AstroCanada's link then, I suspect you'll need to withdraw the petition, then get legally and lawfully married where you can and start over.  I do not think a non-Arab can marry a Saudi in Saudi Arabia.  If I'm right, (and she is not Arab) you'll need to travel to a country that DOES allow the two of you to legally marry.

[carmel34 3,639]

16 hours ago, Salahadin said:

 

i did my marriage in Mosque for Muslims Community so it's not registered in Thailand  but it's recognized in Muslims country and at that time there was no plan for immigration.

You will have to fix this, and either get the religious marriage officially recognized by the government of Thailand, and proper documentation to prove it, or get married again legally somewhere and re-file the I-130.  In the eyes of US immigration, and many other countries, you are not legally married right now.

[Salahadin 0]

7 hours ago, pushbrk said:

While that link will describe the required document, the one I'm providing will describe the process a US Citizen goes through to legally marry in Thailand.

 

https://th.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/local-resources-of-u-s-citizens/getting-married-in-thailand/

 

Did you submit the same marriage certificate to USCIS with the I-130 petition, that you are now submitting to NVC?  If you submitted something other than what is described in AstroCanada's link then, I suspect you'll need to withdraw the petition, then get legally and lawfully married where you can and start over.  I do not think a non-Arab can marry a Saudi in Saudi Arabia.  If I'm right, (and she is not Arab) you'll need to travel to a country that DOES allow the two of you to legally marry.

Thanks for a your valuable information, after religious married in the Islamic committee in Thailand i went to Malaysia and register my Marriage Certificate in Somali Embassy and i got official attestation from Ministry of Foreign Affair and also from Saudi Arabia Embassy because we were planing to live in Saudi.

 

 This Certificate i sent to USCIS and Accepted.  For NVC i sent both but they rejected.

Now i am thinking to go again Thailand and do new official registration certificate. 

 

My question is it possible to do marriage registration in tourist Visa or not? 

 

[Salahadin 0]

6 hours ago, carmel34 said:

You will have to fix this, and either get the religious marriage officially recognized by the government of Thailand, and proper documentation to prove it, or get married again legally somewhere and re-file the I-130.  In the eyes of US immigration, and many other countries, you are not legally married right now.

Thanks for help, but if i do new marriage certificate in another country do i need to refile again I-130 or only send it to USCIS. 

[pushbrk 12,969]

4 minutes ago, Salahadin said:

Thanks for a your valuable information, after religious married in the Islamic committee in Thailand i went to Malaysia and register my Marriage Certificate in Somali Embassy and i got official attestation from Ministry of Foreign Affair and also from Saudi Arabia Embassy because we were planing to live in Saudi.

 

 This Certificate i sent to USCIS and Accepted.  For NVC i sent both but they rejected.

Now i am thinking to go again Thailand and do new official registration certificate. 

 

My question is it possible to do marriage registration in tourist Visa or not? 

 

First, let me make a correction.  It's Saudi women who are not allowed to marry non-arabs.  

 

You and your wife would BOTH be tourists in Thailand.  Google "tourist marriage in Thailand".  This is not an immigration question.  If you are Somali, why not marry in Somalia?

 

You need a marriage certificate that indicates you are legally and lawfully married in the country the marriage took place.  So far, you are NOT.  That Saudi Arabia and/or Somalia recognizes your marriage is not the same thing.

[pushbrk 12,969]

2 minutes ago, Salahadin said:

Thanks for help, but if i do new marriage certificate in another country do i need to refile again I-130 or only send it to USCIS. 

Start over.  Withdraw the existing petition and file a new I-130 AFTER you are actually legally and lawfully married somewhere and have a government issued marriage certificate.

 

Note that you are "too married" for a fiance visa and not married enough for a spouse visa.  Your circumstances fit one of several scenarios with that result.

Edited May 30, 2019 by pushbrk

[Salahadin 0]

7 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

First, let me make a correction.  It's Saudi women who are not allowed to marry non-arabs.  

 

You and your wife would BOTH be tourists in Thailand.  Google "tourist marriage in Thailand".  This is not an immigration question.  If you are Somali, why not marry in Somalia?

 

You need a marriage certificate that indicates you are legally and lawfully married in the country the marriage took place.  So far, you are NOT.  That Saudi Arabia and/or Somalia recognizes your marriage is not the same thing.

My wife is USC. 

If you are Somali, why not marry in Somalia? Because i am not living in Somalia since my age 9 years old i am living in Saudi Arabia.

my wife was living in Malaysia but in Malaysia you can not marriage if you don't have residency ID for Both husband and wife.

 

[pushbrk 12,969]

2 minutes ago, Salahadin said:

My wife is USC. 

If you are Somali, why not marry in Somalia? Because i am not living in Somalia since my age 9 years old i am living in Saudi Arabia.

my wife was living in Malaysia but in Malaysia you can not marriage if you don't have residency ID for Both husband and wife.

 

OK, so you married (not legally) in Thailand as tourists.  If you want to live in the US, get legally married and start all over.  No need to waste more time and money on the process you're in now.  Withdraw the petition and start over after legally marrying.  Chose a country where you CAN marry and obey their laws sufficiently to get the applicable government issued marriage certificate.

Your immigration related questions have been answered, for now.  Time to get "legally married".