Marriage Options (advise)

[RONNIE T GEORGE 6]

Hello members! I finally made it to US to my fiancee. Now we are looking forward to the next step of marrying and file adjustment of status. 

Between Church  and Coart wedding, which one do u reccomend and why? , Your advise will make us reach our decision.  Thank you! 

[Rocio0010 5,573]

You HAVE TO get married through the court. Otherwise there is no legal marriage. The church portion of it is just your preference.

[Marieke H 2,355]

This really depends on your personal beliefs, preferences, and priorities. We did a quick courthouse marriage, because we wanted it to be fast and cheap. That is not what everyone would want, so I would not necessarily recommend it to others. It was what worked best for us at that time.

[powerpuff 6,029]

~ Topic moved from K1 forum to Moving to the US & your New Life in America as this is related to a marriage process, not immigration  ~

 

5 minutes ago, Rocio0010 said:

You HAVE TO get married through the court. Otherwise there is no legal marriage. The church portion of it is just your preference.

Just to note, it depends on a state. We had a religious ceremony (NY state) and it was must to get a marriage license before we had the ceremony. In fact it’s illegal for a religious officiant to conduct a marriage ceremony without a marriage license. Not sure how many other states have that, but it’s a thing in NY.

[Rocio0010 5,573]

Just now, powerpuff said:

~ Topic moved from K1 forum to Moving to the US & your New Life in America as this is related to a marriage process, not immigration  ~

 

Just to note, it depends on a state. We had a religious ceremony (NY state) and it was must to get a marriage license before we had the ceremony. In fact it’s illegal for a religious officiant to conduct a marriage ceremony without a marriage license. Not sure how many other states have that, but it’s a thing in NY.

Right, but what I’m saying is, if OP is thinking either or, a church ceremony by itself is not enough. I don’t think of is aware That States require a license prior to

[Rocio0010 5,573]

3 minutes ago, Marieke H said:

This really depends on your personal beliefs, preferences, and priorities. We did a quick courthouse marriage, because we wanted it to be fast and cheap. That is not what everyone would want, so I would not necessarily recommend it to others. It was what worked best for us at that time.

Same. We just did a courthouse marriage in May and only my in laws came. Then in August we did the church ceremony, which -although we invited more people- it was also small

[millefleur 5,039]

Best to research local requirements in your state how they handle marriage and if it goes only via the courts or not. There's no one federal law around this, everything varies by state.

[powerpuff 6,029]

6 minutes ago, Rocio0010 said:

Right, but what I’m saying is, if OP is thinking either or, a church ceremony by itself is not enough. I don’t think of is aware That States require a license prior to

Well if a religious ceremony in his state is recognized as a legal marriage (like in our case), he can get married in a church and it will be a legal marriage. We did not go to court after or anything. We got a marriage certificate in the mail in a few days.

Edited March 23, 2022 by powerpuff

[Marieke H 2,355]

2 minutes ago, Rocio0010 said:

Same. We just did a courthouse marriage in May and only my in laws came. Then in August we did the church ceremony, which -although we invited more people- it was also small

I was lucky that my parents flew in to attend our courthouse wedding (they had never met my husband before, so they got to meet him a few days before the wedding!). It was just my husband, me, my parents and my stepdaughter, and that was fine. We planned to have a bigger celebration later, but life happened and now we have been married for almost 5 years and never had that big celebration. Who knows, maybe we will do something for our 10 year anniversary! 🤣

[JeanneAdil 6,286]

. As per Section 2.001 of the Texas Family Code, a marriage license may be obtained from any county clerk's office. 

 

This is a personal choice but it takes weeks or months to find the venue for a church wedding that is free and a place for a reception

add that to cost of food,  the cost of renting place for reception,  the cost of a wedding dress, gifts for the people who stand up with u, flowers,  cake, etc

save the money for the AOS 

1. the cost to AOS after marriage is $1225 
2. marry at the courthouse
3. plan a party with family and close friends to celebrate 

if the woman wants a church wedding and its important ,  then get planning as its a lot of work 

Edited March 23, 2022 by JeanneAdil

[Crazy Cat 39,784]

1 hour ago, RONNIE T GEORGE said:

Hello members! I finally made it to US to my fiancee. Now we are looking forward to the next step of marrying and file adjustment of status. 

Between Church  and Coart wedding, which one do u reccomend and why? , Your advise will make us reach our decision.  Thank you! 

Court wedding asap......then file for Adjustment of Status........then a church ceremony later if you want one.  The longer you wait to file for Adjustment of Status, the longer it will delay your ability to work, ability to leave the US, get the Green Card, and to file for citizenship.  There are no benefits in waiting. 

Edited March 23, 2022 by Crazy Cat

[mam521 1,817]

Best to check your local state laws.  

 

In Texas, yes, a Texas clerk can issue your marriage license, but you have to wait 72 hours after obtaining the marriage license to get married unless a District or County Court Judge waves the requirement or you're active military and are shipping out.  

 

Ultimately, it comes down to preference within the law.  If you think you want a church wedding and can get it planned and taken care of before the 90 days, go for it.  If court is fine and you want to have a celebration of your union later on, go for it.  We got our marriage license and had a little ceremony, hubs, kids and I at our friends' house under the flowering pergola next to their pool.  We still dressed up and took photos and then took those friends to a local restaurant where my friend, the head chef, sent us this insane 9 course dessert after our entrée (if you're in The Woodlands, check out Tris for delicious eats!).  It was big enough for our needs and made us happy  . 

[Dashinka 23,402]

Vegas!  PM @Loren Y, he can get you married easily.  You can also consider the Utah Zoom thing if you are looking to get it legalized quickly.  You can always do a big family celebration after the fact.

 

Good Luck!

[Loren Y 2,745]

Agree with @Dashinka, do a quick trip to Vegas on Spirit or Frontier or Suncountry does cheap flights from Minnesota to Vegas, I'll be in Minnesota the end of June, and I'm flying Suncountry.  Arrive in the morning during the week, I can pick you up at the airport, drive to the License Bureau so you can pick up your license, do the ceremony  ( Symphony Park is where I usually do them), Quick trip to the clerks office to record it and get you your certified copies, and back to the airport to catch a return flight back. Can have everything done from Landing to back at the airport in 2 hours or so. Message me if you are interested, and I will get you my contact information.

 

Also, If you wanted to do it on the weekend, that is not a problem either, you can order certified copies online the Monday after and have them in a few days via mail.

Edited March 23, 2022 by Loren Y

[Rocio0010 5,573]

2 minutes ago, Loren Y said:

Agree with @Dashinka, do a quick trip to Vegas on Spirit or Frontier, arrive in the morning during the week, I can pick you up at the airport, drive to the License Bureau so you can pick up your license, do the ceremony  ( Symphony Park is where I usually do them), Quick trip to the clerks office to record it and get you your certified copies, and back to the airport to catch a return flight back. Can have everything done from Landing to back at the airport in 2 hours or so. Message me if you are interested, and I will get you my contact information.

That is just super nice of you!!!