Civil Marriage to USC

[Vince42 0]

Hi All,

I am a Canadian citizen planning to marry a US Citizen. We met in India and ended up getting engaged in Jan 2011. Both, me and my fiance are born in India. We are planning to get married just by the civil ceremony for now so that she can initiate the legal process for me.

I would like to know if it’d be better for me to go to the local county where she currently stays and get married there in US or she travels to Canada and we get married here the same way. As of now we are planning to have the religious ceremonies to be performed in Jan 2012 in India but meanwhile would like to get the immigration process taken care of.

In addition, if I opt to get married in US would the 90 Days stay law still apply to become eligible for immigration? Please suggest the fastest and the surest way to be considered for immigration process under a bona fide marriage as I am not sure if we’ll have to have religious ceremony performed to be considered as a married couple eligible for IR-1 category?

Thanks in advance,

V

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

You can get married in any country you like. You don't need a visa to get married in the US (not sure about Canada) but you cannot come to the US on a (non-immigrant) tourist visa with the intent to immigrate. So there is no 90 days or anything. You can marry here and get the paperwork started and go home, like you plan. You could get married in Canada and get the paperwork started. A civil ceremony is just as good as a religious one in USCIS's eyes. You will be applying for CR-1/IR-1 spousal visa. It takes about 10 months. You will have a chance to explain your plan to have the religious ceremony later, which sounds smart. Good luck.

[OBX 51]

^^ Agree.

Keep in mind that wherever you marry you will need to include a copy of your marriage certificate with your I-130 petition. If you marry in Ontario you may be looking at up to an 8 week wait for the document (not sure about other provinces) which would delay the submission of your petition.

We married in a civil ceremony in the US, were able to obtain our marriage certificate the same day and submitted our petition the following week. I then returned to Canada to wait out the process.

Good luck.

[Vince42 0]

You can get married in any country you like. You don't need a visa to get married in the US (not sure about Canada) but you cannot come to the US on a (non-immigrant) tourist visa with the intent to immigrate. So there is no 90 days or anything. You can marry here and get the paperwork started and go home, like you plan. You could get married in Canada and get the paperwork started. A civil ceremony is just as good as a religious one in USCIS's eyes. You will be applying for CR-1/IR-1 spousal visa. It takes about 10 months. You will have a chance to explain your plan to have the religious ceremony later, which sounds smart. Good luck.

Thanks for your input. I really appreciate it.