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Cedric - Evalyn

Wedding in Belgium then moving to US

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Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Country: Belgium
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Hey everyone,

My fiancée is coming to belgium in 2 weeks to go to the US embassy in Belgium to go get her certificates so we can go to city hall in Bruges to plan our wedding.

She will bring her birthcertificate but i've been told that we can get the rest of the papers at the US embassy, then we have to go to the ministry of foreign affairs to have the certificates legalized. I'll also have her signature legalised so she doesnt have to come back here to set a date for the wedding... My question is, do i have to have her birthcertificate translated to dutch before we go to city hall? thing is that she can only come from thursday till sunday everytime because of her job...

Could any of you plz tell me what to keep mind so i dont have to have her fly over to belgium twenty times...

I would also like to have some more info on the matter that i'm moving to america after the wedding, what is the best option?

Thx so much for replying

08-23-2008 : First met

06-20-2009 : Engaged

10-06-2009 : Wedding

________________________________________

01-20-2010 : I-130 sent

01-22-2010 : I-130 received

01-28-2010 : NOA1 received

04-01-2010 : NOA2 received

05-05-2010 : DS-3032 sent

05-26-2010 : DS-230 sent

05-26-2010 : Affidavit of support sent

06-24-2010 : RFE missing tax papers

06-25-2010 : sent missing papers

07-01-2010 : missing papers arrived at NVC

08-11-2010 : SIF / case closed at NVC

08-28-2010 : finally received interview date

09-16-2010 : medical

09-25-2010 : medical approved

10-07-2010 : interview at 2pm in Brussels embassy cancelled

10-14-2010 : new interview date at 2pm in Brussels !!! APPROVED !!!

10-21-2010 : back to Brussels to pick up Visa! :-)

12-22-2010 : POE Memphis

01-11-2011 : back to Belgium to sell my business

06-11-2011 : flying to my wife to stay!

HXmRp1.png

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Not sure how reliable this website is but I found some info here: http://brussels.angloinfo.com/countries/belgium/marriage.asp

It says: "All official documents issued in a country other than Belgium need to be authenticated and if they are written in a language other than Dutch, French or German, they must be accompanied by a translation from an approved translator. If the translation is not undertaken in Belgium, the translator's signature will require authentication."

As for moving to America afterwards, start here: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...page=i130guide1

Naturalization

N-400 package mailed: 04/16/2013

N-400 package delivered: 04/16/2013

NOA1 date: 04/17/2013

Biometrics: 08/23/2013

Interview: 10/07/2013

Oath: 01/23/2014

DONE!

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Hey everyone,

My fiancée is coming to belgium in 2 weeks to go to the US embassy in Belgium to go get her certificates so we can go to city hall in Bruges to plan our wedding.

She will bring her birthcertificate but i've been told that we can get the rest of the papers at the US embassy, then we have to go to the ministry of foreign affairs to have the certificates legalized. I'll also have her signature legalised so she doesnt have to come back here to set a date for the wedding... My question is, do i have to have her birthcertificate translated to dutch before we go to city hall? thing is that she can only come from thursday till sunday everytime because of her job...

Could any of you plz tell me what to keep mind so i dont have to have her fly over to belgium twenty times...

I would also like to have some more info on the matter that i'm moving to america after the wedding, what is the best option?

Thx so much for replying

Hi Cedric,

We were in exactly the same position as you. I am Belgian, my (now) husband is American.

I first contacted city hall, to ask them what exactly they needed. I would advise going in person. (From some cases I had handled (I was a Belgian attorney) in the past, I knew that - even though the legal requirements are the same for all cases - some city halls can be difficult about international marriages, so I also sent them an email so I could have their response in writing.) Also check out their website, sometimes it contains info about this.

When I was in the US, visiting my fiance, we gathered all the documents we needed on his end, so I could take it all back to Belgium and could file our marriage request on both our behalf (your girlfriend does not need to be there in person, you can do that by yourself. There is thus no need for her to come over several times, should you not have all the documents).

If I remember correctly - but again, go talk to burgerlijke stand in Brugge - it is:

1. Birth certificate of Belgian fiance (at city hall)

2. 'attest van woonst' of Belgian fiance (at city hall)

3. Birth certificate of American fiance: legalized by Belgian State Dept. (very easy, you can either send it by letter or go in person) and translated (unless burgerlijke stand tells you a translation is not needed, just get the translation. ALSO make sure whether they require you to have it translated by one of the translators they accept in Leuven they did this, they have a list). Your

4 - 5 - 6: 'Attest van woonst', 'attest van nationaliteit' and 'attest van ongehuwdheid' of American fiance: these documents do not actually exist in the US, so my fiance wrote a statement (addressed 'to whom it may concern') where he stated his name, date of birth, address, US nationality, and that he was at that time unmarried.

7. 'gewoonterechtsverklaring': it can by obtained at the US Consulate in Brussels. It is basically a declaration of what the legal marriage requirements are according to US law. The Consulate issues this document often so they know what it is. You can go to the Consulate in person and get the document immediately.

8. Power of Attorney: since my fiance would not be present at the time I would file our marriage application, I needed a POA by him to grant me authority to file on his behalf as well.

We also handed in a copy of his passport.

We had the two documents my fiance wrote himself (the POA and the statement confirming his nationality, address and unmarried status) notarized in the US. It is much much easier to do this in the US than in Belgium: you do not have to make an appointment to go there, it does not cost much, and your girlfriend will basically just sign the documents in front of the Notary Public.

Those documents were also legalized (if I remember correctly) at the Belgian Dept. of State in Brussels, and translated into English.

And that was it.

I am a little bit hazy on the precise documents, since we did this already a while ago, so sorry if there is an error in the above info. If you need any further info, send me a message.

Veel succes en groetjes

Katrien

Website US Department of State, Consular Affairs Bureau: http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/info/info_1339.html

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