No Marriage Registration, no name change! What do I do?

[AKSinghSingh79 143]

For those of you who haven't read my latest post, my husband and I were married in India in May. After our marriage we attempted to register our marriage with the local authorities in his district as this is required for him to change his passport, etc....

The officials have not made our lives easy by first refusing us outright, ignoring court issued mandates to register our marriage, and even turning down bribe money. Needless to say, this has put us in quite an awkward position. I have been second guessing myself, should I file the CR-1, risk getting it rejected, and then lose the substantial amount of money that is the filing fee or should I just wait and try and convince the official to register the marriage?

I have called USCIS several times. The first person said I was free to file the petition. The second one said he could not give me an affirmative answer, and the third woman suggested I make an InfoPass appointment. So that's what I did and on Monday I will be going to my local USCIS office and speaking directly with an IO.

The second concern. First the marriage registrar in India wanted me to provide a document from an Indian Consulate verifying my address, place of employment, and citizenship status. I contacted the consulate and they said they had no idea which document I was referring to. I quoted a portion of the law which states "where any party to the marriage resides outside India by the Indian consul or vice-consul , as to the indentity of the parties to the marriage and the correctness of other particulars appearing in the application and may either be delivered personally to the Registrar concerned or sent to him by post." The Indian consulate said they have no authority over marriages outside of the U.S. I would like to go in person to speak with them but the nearest consulate is in New York and I can't take off of work.

The issue that most concerns me is my name change/marital status. I cannot change my SSN card, my passport, my bank account, or other legal documents with the marriage certificate I currently hold (from the temple in India). My employer will not let me add my husband to my life insurance even though I sent them a copy of my marriage certificate. Most people I speak with seem confused and tell me to return when I have a US marriage certificate. I told them I will not have a US marriage certificate as I am already married.

I'm worried that we may never get our marriage registered. Then what? Will I never be allowed to legally change my status to married? I'm so confused about all of this mess and everybody I talk to seems to have no knowledge of marriages which occured outside of the U.S.

A requirement of the I-130 is to provide proof of a bonafide marriage. How do I do that when I can't even change my name or marital status?

[Touch of Treble 39]

Is your husband able to fly over to you and you get married in USA then fly back and file. At least then you would have an acceptable cert of marriage etc...just a thought.

[AKSinghSingh79 143]

Is your husband able to fly over to you and you get married in USA then fly back and file. At least then you would have an acceptable cert of marriage etc...just a thought.

We've considered this but I don't have much hope that he will be approved. Young Indian males (he's 26) don't seem to have a good record of successfully applying for a B-2. He doesn't have many strong ties. I don't even know what he should refer to me as. Am I his wife? Not according to U.S. law. Am I his fiance? We're "too married" to apply for a K-1 but "not married enough" to apply for a CR-1.

[pgupta 19]

For those of you who haven't read my latest post, my husband and I were married in India in May. After our marriage we attempted to register our marriage with the local authorities in his district as this is required for him to change his passport, etc....

The officials have not made our lives easy by first refusing us outright, ignoring court issued mandates to register our marriage, and even turning down bribe money. Needless to say, this has put us in quite an awkward position. I have been second guessing myself, should I file the CR-1, risk getting it rejected, and then lose the substantial amount of money that is the filing fee or should I just wait and try and convince the official to register the marriage?

I have called USCIS several times. The first person said I was free to file the petition. The second one said he could not give me an affirmative answer, and the third woman suggested I make an InfoPass appointment. So that's what I did and on Monday I will be going to my local USCIS office and speaking directly with an IO.

The second concern. First the marriage registrar in India wanted me to provide a document from an Indian Consulate verifying my address, place of employment, and citizenship status. I contacted the consulate and they said they had no idea which document I was referring to. I quoted a portion of the law which states "where any party to the marriage resides outside India by the Indian consul or vice-consul , as to the indentity of the parties to the marriage and the correctness of other particulars appearing in the application and may either be delivered personally to the Registrar concerned or sent to him by post." The Indian consulate said they have no authority over marriages outside of the U.S. I would like to go in person to speak with them but the nearest consulate is in New York and I can't take off of work.

The issue that most concerns me is my name change/marital status. I cannot change my SSN card, my passport, my bank account, or other legal documents with the marriage certificate I currently hold (from the temple in India). My employer will not let me add my husband to my life insurance even though I sent them a copy of my marriage certificate. Most people I speak with seem confused and tell me to return when I have a US marriage certificate. I told them I will not have a US marriage certificate as I am already married.

I'm worried that we may never get our marriage registered. Then what? Will I never be allowed to legally change my status to married? I'm so confused about all of this mess and everybody I talk to seems to have no knowledge of marriages which occured outside of the U.S.

A requirement of the I-130 is to provide proof of a bonafide marriage. How do I do that when I can't even change my name or marital status?

you need to get NOC from us consulate in india, then goto court and get it registered. hire a lawyer they can help you in registering marriage.

[AKSinghSingh79 143]

you need to get NOC from us consulate in india, then goto court and get it registered. hire a lawyer they can help you in registering marriage.

I already got an NOC from the U.S. consulate prior to our marriage. We have showed it to the registar. It is not helping. Also, we have a lawyer as well. He has helped a lot in preparing documents and aiding us in getting the court mandate. What can we do though if the official is still refusing to register our marriage even after the district magistrate ordered him to?

Edited November 2, 2012 by AKSinghSingh79

[pgupta 19]

I already got an NOC from the U.S. consulate prior to our marriage. We have showed it to the registar. It is not helping. Also, we have a lawyer as well. He has helped a lot in preparing documents and aiding us in getting the court mandate. What can we do though if the official is still refusing to register our marriage even after the district magistrate ordered him to?

Any reason for not registering?

You can try any Arya Samaj Temple, they will do marriage ceremony and register you as well. this time try another city so you dont get same registrar.

Edited November 2, 2012 by pgupta

[dhr 2]

both of u hindu or not? if u r not then u shoud got married with special marriage act in which u have to inform local marrige beauro and then got marry after 1 month ...and if u r both hindu then according to hindu marriage act u can marriage any time with hindu vidhi...and then u can register it...why ur local marriage ragistrar refusing to ragister marriage? and how u got marriage certificate without ragistration???? i really dont undearstand

[dhr 2]

and there no need to change ur name after marriage ....this is fake rule in india..i just confirm with it at passport office..when i had go for add my wife name in my passport..they said my wife should have my name as her middle name ...and we have different last name..so she has to put my last name as her.and they said this is rule in india....but.i just contact to senior authority they said its does not matter ...if my wife want to change then i can change otherwise no matters ...

Edited November 2, 2012 by dhr

[tipsytopsy 0]

Copying my reply from your other thread:

Your marriage date at temple is the only date. Your marriage certificate will mention your wedding date and registration date separately. Registration date is useless. I'm not sure why you're having trouble in registering your marriage. You need to change your lawyer even though you feel he has worked hard. Your lawyer is crappy and needs to be dumped, period.Chances are that the registrar has grudge with your lawyer. Anyways, dump him and get a new one. This is a simple process which only needs a hindu wedding process and no catches to it. No registrar can deny it with a valid reason.

[RnS 0]

Okay so you already got married in Temple. Cool. I have read your earlier post about not getting your marriage solemnized at marriage registrar office.

You both are MARRIED now and Hindu marriage Act considers this marriage legal and it can be registered at local marriage registrar office without ANY single issue.

As other poster said, you need to hire a better lawyer. You do not actually need a lawyer to get it registered as its just simple paperwork with two witnesses who were present at the time of marriage.

http://www.netlawman.co.in/acts/hindu-marriage-act-1955.php

Edited November 2, 2012 by RnS

[AKSinghSingh79 143]

Okay so you already got married in Temple. Cool. I have read your earlier post about not getting your marriage solemnized at marriage registrar office.

You both are MARRIED now and Hindu marriage Act considers this marriage legal and it can be registered at local marriage registrar office without ANY single issue.

As other poster said, you need to hire a better lawyer. You do not actually need a lawyer to get it registered as its just simple paperwork with two witnesses who were present at the time of marriage.

http://www.netlawman...ge-act-1955.php

Not to challenge you but if it were that simple don't you think we would have gotten it registered by now? I also don't think it's a difficult process but the official's in my husband's area are making it problematic for us. I am not Indian which I think complicates matters as we were married under the Hindu Marriage Act and the officials in his area find it hard to believe that I am Hindu even though I did a legal conversion prior to getting married and I have proof with a document.

The day after our marriage, we went into the marriage registrar's office. First he looked at me and said "you have to do registration for Special Marriage Act in another office, this is for Hindu Marriage only." My husband said yes, that's why we are here and the official didn't believe us. My husband passed our envelope of paperwork to him but he took it and threw it back in my husband's face and told us we married illegally. I was given the run around for 3 weeks. So many different people just kept telling us to wait, "things will get done soon". I couldn't stay any longer because of my job so I had no choice to come back home without registering the marriage. Since then we have been trying to register it unsuccessfully. My husband went to his district magistrate and they ordered the registrar to register our marriage. He ignored the court mandate.

Tell me, if one officially doesn't want to do something, how can we force his hand? My husband goes back to this guy's office several times a week. Sometimes he chooses not to show for weeks at a time. When he does show, he asks for ridiculous information. He wanted proof of my address, citizenship, and identity and I have provided my passport, driver's license, birth certificate, pay stubs, and a copy of my apartment lease to prove this. This was not good enough for him. He is now requesting a letter from the Indian consulate which has authority by them of my address, identity, and citizenship status. The problem is the Indian consulate has no idea what I'm talking about.

Please don't tell me this is simple. Sure, it is simple on paper but nothing about this has been simple.

[AKSinghSingh79 143]

Copying my reply from your other thread:

Your marriage date at temple is the only date. Your marriage certificate will mention your wedding date and registration date separately. Registration date is useless. I'm not sure why you're having trouble in registering your marriage. You need to change your lawyer even though you feel he has worked hard. Your lawyer is crappy and needs to be dumped, period.Chances are that the registrar has grudge with your lawyer. Anyways, dump him and get a new one. This is a simple process which only needs a hindu wedding process and no catches to it. No registrar can deny it with a valid reason.

Yes you are right. The magistrate of my husband's district said the exact same thing in court mandate. Yet that same official is ignoring the mandate and refusing to register our marriage without a valid reason. Why? I have no idea.

[AKSinghSingh79 143]

both of u hindu or not? if u r not then u shoud got married with special marriage act in which u have to inform local marrige beauro and then got marry after 1 month ...and if u r both hindu then according to hindu marriage act u can marriage any time with hindu vidhi...and then u can register it...why ur local marriage ragistrar refusing to ragister marriage? and how u got marriage certificate without ragistration???? i really dont undearstand

We are both Hindu. I am not of Indian origin so I did a formal conversion to Hinduism prior to being married. I only have the marriage certificate given to us by the Arya Samaj temple in which we were married.

[dhr 2]

hey i have also here in gujarat contact arya samaj for marriage they said they provide lawyers for marriage certificate and court matter of registration...they didnt say me that they will provide marriage certificate...what exately they said while u r going to register ur marriage...and say them if they denied ..that give u in written why they denied to ragister ur marriage.. make sure that u have pics of mangal fera in front of fire,sindoor,mangal sutra,and all hindu vidhi..because that will evidence for ur legal hindu vidhi marriage..this is very difficult time...hope u will get rid of it soon..best of luck