G-325A

[Tuanv 2]

I am about to file an I-130 to spousal my wife. I am filling a G-325A form for USCIS. I am a little confuse by this question "Date of Marriage." Should I fill this out with the date of my ceremony and reception? Or should I enter the date when I go to court to get my marriage certificate? Thanks

[payxibka 10,045]

I am about to file an I-130 to spousal my wife. I am filling a G-325A form for USCIS. I am a little confuse by this question "Date of Marriage." Should I fill this out with the date of my ceremony and reception? Or should I enter the date when I go to court to get my marriage certificate? Thanks

the "legal" effective date of the marriage

[Scott and Mhay 57]

the date the certificate has on it...it should be the date it was signed when you were married....most likely the date that you had your ceremony unless you did civil first.

[Darnell 8,478]

use the date PRINTED on the wedding certificate.

[Tuanv 2]

Thanks. I am going to use the date on my marriage certificate.

[KayaEel 5]

This is such a great question, and I totally understand! Yes, use the date on your marriage certificate so that it will match the documents that are being sent with the G-325A. I realize that different countries have different rules about religious and civil marriages, and these often happen on different dates.

I would also like some input on my situation if anyone has a similar experience. Our civil wedding ceremony was held on July 1, 2009, but our marriage certificate says September 1, 2009. An alleged military coup occured in Honduras during the week of our civil marriage ceremony, and our Honduran attorney had difficulties getting our marriage processed in order to get the marriage certificate finalized. The capital city was in turmoil, and it took several tries. Finally, we received our marriage certificate 3-1/2 months after our ceremony, and it had a marriage date of September 1, 2009. The Honduran attorney says that it is impossible to get this date changed. Well, I wasn't even in the country on September 1, 2009, and the stamps on my passport show this. However, I did keep copies of all of the paperwork that was signed, fingerprinted, and processed from July 1st - mid-October, so that I have support for this date difference.

fyi..I spoke to an immigration attorney about this in the U.S., and he suggested that I use the date from the marriage certificate, and if I was worried about it, then I could make a special comment on the G-325A, or add a page explaining the situation. Needless to say, I did not add a special comment or note, and I am crossing my fingers that everything will work out.

Because the folks on this site have proven to know more than the immigration attorneys that I interviewed, but did not hire, I want to ask you guys for some insight on this. If any members have some additional suggestions or comments, please let me know.

[Jamaican JNR 2]

I am about to file an I-130 to spousal my wife. I am filling a G-325A form for USCIS. I am a little confuse by this question "Date of Marriage." Should I fill this out with the date of my ceremony and reception? Or should I enter the date when I go to court to get my marriage certificate? Thanks

The date that you got married. On the marriage certificate it should reflect that date.

[Tuanv 2]

I signed my marriage certificate with my wife on Jan/10/10 and received it on the same day, but our ceremony and reception was held on 12/24/09. So, I am going to put Jan/10/10 for my "date of marriage."

To KayaEel: best of luck, man.

[KenN 0]

I have a same problem. We signed on Sept 18, but it was entered in marriage register book on Sept 23. I put down Sept 18 in my G-325A. Maybe I got it wrong, Should I confirm this with USCIS? or is it ok?

[Tuanv 2]

Kenn,

May I ask how big was your I-130? Did you attach a lot of documents and pictures? I am in the same situation as you except I do not have a baby. I actually got married on my second visits too.

[KenN 0]

Kenn,

May I ask how big was your I-130? Did you attach a lot of documents and pictures? I am in the same situation as you except I do not have a baby. I actually got married on my second visits too.

Hi Tuanv,

For the bona fide relationship, I just sent my daughter's CRBA. After reading a lot of topics and getting advices from others, I decide to collect more informations about our relationship and front load everything including time-line of relationship instead waiting until the interview (front loading will let them have time to look at my files ===> not delay my case) and I'm gonna send all with the IV package. For my 1st trip to VN, I was there for almost 5 months and spent at least 4 months with my wife before we decided to marry. (Flew to VN on Dec 2nd 2007, 1st time met my wife on Dec 31, 2007 and came back to US on April 30, 2008, WHAT A DAY!!...I didn't notice it until my wife joked at me that "The American withdraw")

Edited February 7, 2010 by KenN

[Tuanv 2]

Kenn,

How did you fill out your time line? Did you write an essay?

BTW, you have a very beautiful daughter.

[KenN 0]

Thanks, I am writing my time-line like Bernie showed me (thanks again Bernie ). This is the link http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=240683

[Bernie C 24]

Tuan - If you do essay style it is more difficult to highlight dates and events.

Many of us feel it is better to do a "chronology" type format. Then you can list dates followed by events, places and some descriptions. This way the CO can look down through and its easy to follow.

[Tuanv 2]

Bernie,

Which one did you do? Do I need to write the exact date if I do it chronologically?