Religious marriage on K-1

[KAT&Allie 0]

I'm not sure if this is the right forum to ask this question but since we are taking K-1 route, thought to post it here.

OK, so the question is, does anybody know if a religious wedding ceremony is legal by itself in the USA and particularly in Florida or do we need to have a civil ceremony as well? I've heard different stories and now I'm well and truly confused. What I'm unsure about is that our names would be unrecognisable to the government since they are different from our everyday names (e.g. the names we have on our birth certificates and passports) and are used for religious purposes only. So if they cannot tell who got married, how valid is that ceremony in complying with K-1 requirements?

I can't believe I might have to plan not one but two wedding ceremonies (Girls, should I get two wedding dresses ?)

Any advice would be much appreciated.

[pushbrk 12,824]

I'm not sure if this is the right forum to ask this question but since we are taking K-1 route, thought to post it here.

OK, so the question is, does anybody know if a religious wedding ceremony is legal by itself in the USA and particularly in Florida or do we need to have a civil ceremony as well? I've heard different stories and now I'm well and truly confused. What I'm unsure about is that our names would be unrecognisable to the government since they are different from our everyday names (e.g. the names we have on our birth certificates and passports) and are used for religious purposes only. So if they cannot tell who got married, how valid is that ceremony in complying with K-1 requirements?

I can't believe I might have to plan not one but two wedding ceremonies (Girls, should I get two wedding dresses ?)

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Only a county or state issued marriage certificate in the names used in your passorts is accepted as having complied with the requirement to marry the USC petitioner within 90 days of entry.

[KAT&Allie 0]

Only a county or state issued marriage certificate in the names used in your passorts is accepted as having complied with the requirement to marry the USC petitioner within 90 days of entry.

Thanks for the speedy reply pushbrk. OK, that makes sense. But does that then mean we could have our religious ceremony at any time, even before the K-1 is approved?

[Cassie 8]

We had a religious ceremony in the US. It's considered a legal marriage, so we didn't have another civil ceremony on top of that.

[KAT&Allie 0]

We had a religious ceremony in the US. It's considered a legal marriage, so we didn't have another civil ceremony on top of that.

But how am I to prove to the authorities that it is actually us who got married if the names on the marriage certificate are unrecognisable? They are not even the translations of our "normal" names! The whole document will be written in non Latin script (according to the religious requirements) so it would be impossible to read unless you are taught how to do so. Wouldn't somebody down the line of AOS process ask what this paper is? And even if we get it translated it would still have different names to our birth certificate names on it. I’m going around in circles here…

[*Robert* 2]

Do not confuse a "religious" ceremony or wedding with a legal marriage.

It is entirely possible to have a religious ceremony, where no marriage license is required, and no marriage certificate is issued.

Thanks for the speedy reply pushbrk. OK, that makes sense. But does that then mean we could have our religious ceremony at any time, even before the K-1 is approved?

The answer to that question is Yes.

[pushbrk 12,824]

We had a religious ceremony in the US. It's considered a legal marriage, so we didn't have another civil ceremony on top of that.

But how am I to prove to the authorities that it is actually us who got married if the names on the marriage certificate are unrecognisable? They are not even the translations of our "normal" names! The whole document will be written in non Latin script (according to the religious requirements) so it would be impossible to read unless you are taught how to do so. Wouldn't somebody down the line of AOS process ask what this paper is? And even if we get it translated it would still have different names to our birth certificate names on it. I’m going around in circles here…

You can only prove you got married by showing a certified copy of a legally registered marriage in your official legal names. That can be accompished in either one religious ceremony or separate religious ceremonies. Most clergymen in the USA are licensed and authorized to do both. It's just a matter of paperwork.

I would not interview for or try to use a fiance(e) visa if you consider yourself married. Lots of horror stories on that but a UK citizen cannot legally marry a foreigner in the UK unless the foreigner has a fiance visa.

[KAT&Allie 0]

I would not interview for or try to use a fiance(e) visa if you consider yourself married. Lots of horror stories on that but a UK citizen cannot legally marry a foreigner in the UK unless the foreigner has a fiance visa.

We are not married either civilly or religiously and by the look of things won't be for some time . I was told by the religious court in UK that we could get married here (UK) but the government would not recognise it without the civil ceremony and therefore in the eyes of the government officials we would not be married. We discussed the idea and in the end dismissed it. As I would consider myself married if I had a religious ceremony, I could not lie to anybody who asked me if I was married or not. Hence, fiance route... So it looks like we shall need two different marriage certificates .

But thanks for the advice. Much appreciated.

[KAT&Allie 0]

Do not confuse a "religious" ceremony or wedding with a legal marriage.

It is entirely possible to have a religious ceremony, where no marriage license is required, and no marriage certificate is issued.

Thanks for your input. Unfortunately in our case, the main focus of a religious ceremony is the certificate (contract) that I would be given. So the license per se is not required but the result of the ceremony is a certificate.

[*Robert* 2]

Do not confuse a "religious" ceremony or wedding with a legal marriage.

It is entirely possible to have a religious ceremony, where no marriage license is required, and no marriage certificate is issued.

Thanks for your input. Unfortunately in our case, the main focus of a religious ceremony is the certificate (contract) that I would be given. So the license per se is not required but the result of the ceremony is a certificate.

Oh... Okay.

But the purpose of a K-1 visa is for a fiance(e) to get a visa to come to the US and marry. If you really want to get married in the UK, then you need to use a different method for entering the US, such as CR-1 or K-3.

[KAT&Allie 0]

Oh... Okay.

But the purpose of a K-1 visa is for a fiance(e) to get a visa to come to the US and marry. If you really want to get married in the UK, then you need to use a different method for entering the US, such as CR-1 or K-3.

I think I've done a good job in confusing just about everybody else (I’ve been chasing my own tail for weeks now ). To state the facts as they are at present: we are engaged and we do not plan to get married in the UK, USA or anywhere else for that matter before I get the K-1 visa. Once I get the visa we'll get married in Florida. And by the replies I got we would need to have both religious ceremony (so we could live together ) and a civil one to satisfy the requirements of K-1 visa that AB and CD got married within 90 days of entry into the USA. Hope that makes it a bit clearer. And thanks for all your very useful comments.

[pushbrk 12,824]

Oh... Okay.

But the purpose of a K-1 visa is for a fiance(e) to get a visa to come to the US and marry. If you really want to get married in the UK, then you need to use a different method for entering the US, such as CR-1 or K-3.

I think I've done a good job in confusing just about everybody else (I’ve been chasing my own tail for weeks now ). To state the facts as they are at present: we are engaged and we do not plan to get married in the UK, USA or anywhere else for that matter before I get the K-1 visa. Once I get the visa we'll get married in Florida. And by the replies I got we would need to have both religious ceremony (so we could live together ) and a civil one to satisfy the requirements of K-1 visa that AB and CD got married within 90 days of entry into the USA. Hope that makes it a bit clearer. And thanks for all your very useful comments.

What you are still not clear about is that both can be accomplished with a single ceremony if the clergyman is empowered by the State of Florida to perform legal marriages. Chances are you need one ceremony and two certificates. Check with the Clergyman in Florida to find out.

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

Assuming your religion is in anyway mainstream/ recognised as a religion by the US government, you should have no problems. Your celebrant will most likely be authorised to perform legal weddings- s/he can perform the religious ceremony according to your custom and then afterwards, you just sign the legal marriage cert in english with your legal names in a side-room or something (it's what a lot of Jewish couples do with the ketubah in Hebrew and then the legal marriage cert in English). If that is not an option, you can have a courthouse legal wedding performed by a judge the day of or after your religious ceremony.

Like pushbrk says, check with your clergy, they will know what to do.

Edited October 3, 2008 by Penguin_ie

[Donna-marie 0]

i say 2 dresses wooooohooooooo lol

i cant advise you on the ceremony part.

Just dropped by to say hey.

Good luck in whichever way you choose

Donna x

[bhajishah 4]

Dont show , dont tell it will be allright. legal is legal by contract definitions and legal def of where you were married