Marriage overseas vs in the US

[Recondo 0]

Forgive the noob nature of this initial post. I have an immense amount of research to do, however, I thought I would begin here.. if someone would be so kind as to start me off with some solid info. And by the way, thank you very much in advance!

Basics-

My girlfriend/(soon to be)fiance is British, I am American. We are hoping to get married in about 13 months (late summer 2013). As of now, our thoughts are that we would get married in Italy and then she would move to the U.S. with the proper applications/forms of course. My questions are these:

1. Getting married outside of the U.S. to a non-U.S. citizen.. is there anything that I need to do prior to our marriage in Italy on the U.S. end? (anything prior?) I understand that I will need to visit the U.S. consulate while there, I think 3 days prior at least, to complete proper paperwork, however, would there be anything that would make sense to do well in advance on U.S. soil?

2. Is it easier or harder to get married in or out of the U.S. to a non-U.S. citizen and then enter the U.S. and live as a married couple? In other words, would getting married in NYC, for example, be easier.. or is it just a matter of filling out different forms?

3. How far in advance of our marriage should we begin the paperwork so that afterwards, she can move to the U.S. with me on a marriage visa (or similar title)? Or is it only something that we can apply for and have to wait for after our actual marriage? Being apart from her as husband and wife, obviously, is not desirable if it can at all be avoided.

For now, that is it. I very much appreciate any initial advice as we begin this journey.

[Anh map 2,098]

You can't begin the paperwork until you are married. Plan on her getting the visa and relocating to the US in Spring 2014

You will have learn what is required to be married in Italy.

[Ryan H 3,821]

1. Getting married outside of the U.S. to a non-U.S. citizen.. is there anything that I need to do prior to our marriage in Italy on the U.S. end? (anything prior?) I understand that I will need to visit the U.S. consulate while there, I think 3 days prior at least, to complete proper paperwork, however, would there be anything that would make sense to do well in advance on U.S. soil?

There is nothing you need to do on the US end prior to getting married in Italia. You also do not need to visit any US Embassy or Consulate in Italia unless you need something from there to satisfy procedures for getting married in Italia.

[GlobeHopperMama 95]

Yeah, the process of marrying in Italy is a bit complex, but totally do-able and so beautiful for those I know who have done it.

Honestly, you can choose either way, but generally having your foreign spouse enter on a tourist/vWP entry with the purpose of getting married in the US is a bit risky as in certain cases, the POE officials get skittish about it and think people are going to marry in the US and then stay rather than complying with the terms of their visa or VWP entry. For that reason alone, I would go with the picturesque Italian wedding, personally!

Yeah, you do need to go to the US Embassy I think to get them to sign off on your declaration of freedom to marry or whatever. Do check on all those requirements ahead of time, which I'm sure you've already done. Also, try to avoid having to get any other documents notarized at the Embassy since the fee is like $50 and you can do it for free in most of the US, if that's where you are, although I don't know how much it costs in the UK.

The main thing to do in advance is make sure both of you gather all your necessary documents and certifications to obtain the marriage license AND for immigration purposes. Lots of copies of birth certificates, any prior marriage/divorce paperwork, get things apostilled and translated for Italian purposes since I think they need those things, and it probably wouldn't hurt to have your future wife start collecting her employment and residence information for the purposes of the DS-230. Will you be filing DCF as a resident of the UK? If so, your process will likely move faster than for those filing stateside, so do have your forms and documents prepared a bit ahead of time if you want things to move quickly.

Edited July 24, 2012 by GlobeHopperMama

[Penguin_ie 5,996]

Just to be absolutely clear: there is no visa that allows you to get married abroad and then move with your new foreign spouse to the USA within a week or two. If you file for a spousal visa, you cannot do so until after the wedding has taken place, and it will take 8+ months to process (if you reside legally abroad, it is faster but still several months). If you file for a K1 fiance visa, you do all the paperwork before marriage, it takes 6-8 months, but you must get married in the US.

[Recondo 0]

I appreciate the responses, all have been great. Thank you, as well, for the straight-forwardness. I am not sure that we'd be interested in waiting until the Spring of 2014 to finally live together as husband and wife, so perhaps a fiance visa (application sent fairly soon for a summer 2013 wedding) and a US wedding is a better choice.

Follow up question though, should we choose this, would, after our marriage in the US within the 3 months of the fiance visa, she then be able to stay in the US? I understand that further paperwork and visas would be needed, and am no discouraged by that.. I just wouldn't want her to have to go back to the UK for months on end (after all, that's what we would be wanting to avoid by not going with a foreign wedding).

[Anh map 2,098]

I appreciate the responses, all have been great. Thank you, as well, for the straight-forwardness. I am not sure that we'd be interested in waiting until the Spring of 2014 to finally live together as husband and wife, so perhaps a fiance visa (application sent fairly soon for a summer 2013 wedding) and a US wedding is a better choice.

Follow up question though, should we choose this, would, after our marriage in the US within the 3 months of the fiance visa, she then be able to stay in the US? I understand that further paperwork and visas would be needed, and am no discouraged by that.. I just wouldn't want her to have to go back to the UK for months on end (after all, that's what we would be wanting to avoid by not going with a foreign wedding).

K1 gets her here to marry and stay.