Questions about Getting Married

[visaqueries 111]

Conclusions

1. Do we have to wait for the 6-8 weeks for the official document to arrive from Egypt--certifying our marriage--before we can apply for AP and AOS or will they give us an official paper sooner than that, so we can file for AP and AOS immediately after the ceremony?

Potential Conclusion:

When in New York (a state with an Egyptian Consulate), you can go to any town or city clerk to obtain a marriage certificate.

After obtaining it on that day, you must wait 24 hours from the time it was issued (some exceptions apply)to actually marry.

Someone registered in the state of New York (list provided above and in Section 11 of the Domestic Relations Law) can perform the wedding. (Not sure if that includes person at an Egyptian Embassy)

Certificate must be mailed to the issuing clerk within 15 calendar days.

Marriage certificate will be mailed to our home.

Additionally, any forms generated at the Egyptian Embassy to record the marriage could be filed with Egypt--to be recognized there.

Answer: No. If you apply for a New York Marriage license and it is mailed to the issuing clerk, it would then become validated in the USA.

2. Is a certificate of marriage from an Embassy recognized by the US as an official and acceptable marriage?

Potential Conclusion: Verdict is still out until a US authority provides appropriate answer to whether or not an official within an Embassy is potentially qualified to perform ceremony. Question asked to the state of New York...follow up call in a week. Also could call Embassy to see if their clerics have registered with the State of New York to perform marriages.

Answer: If it fits within the guidelines as listed in question 1, yes it will be official and acceptable.

3. My question: How do you go about trying to set up a wedding at the Embassy??? We'll have receptions and celebrations with my family, but he wants to make sure the marriage is recognized in Egypt and with his faith.

Potential Conclusion: Contact Embassy to discover their protocol. Call early enough in advance to make sure that if an appointment is required that it will coincide with arrival of fiance.

I've also researched how to be married in Missouri while using someone in the home (as suggested from earlier post) from a local mosque, and how to just have a civil service in Missouri--without the aid of a person from local mosque.

I think the erroneous conclusions came as I was justifying what and why I was trying to be married in an Embassy. Is it more trouble than it's worth? Maybe. But, that wasn't my question. It was, "Can it be done?" Now that I'm closer to having an accurate answer on that, I can sit down with my fiance, present all our options, and together we can decide what is best for us.

[Mithra 1,185]

Yeah because you got married in QATAR. This is the US. She wants to get married at the embassy in the US. If she were planning on getting married in QATAR it would make sense to get married at the embassy or an embassy related facility like Egypt. She can get a courthouse wedding recorded in Egypt also.

I know I'm kinda late to this topic, but we got married in a similar way that your fiance is wanting.

I am a USC, my husband is from Egypt, we're both Muslim. He was working in Qatar when we met and we got married in Qatar at the Egyptian embassy with the man who is authorized to do marriages.

I think I know what your fiance is talking about when he says he needs to get married at the Egyptian embassy to fulfill his religious requirement:

our marriage ceremony at the Egyptina embassy was Islamic and we spoke in arabic, followed the rules of having 2 witnesses (his cousin and a family friend). We both held each others right hands and put our thumbs together and repeated words in arabic to each other, repeating after the guy officiating the marriage (like in western style weddings). We got a huge marriage certificate with our passport pictures on it, stating both our religions as muslim, witnesses signatures and a ton of stamps all over it.

By having it done at the Egyptian embassy instead of just city hall in the USA, it is recorded in Egypt as an official Egyptian marriage and is valid in the USA. This may be what your fiance is wanting to make sure happens.

Best wishes

[Mithra 1,185]

Why are you putting off calling the embassy for a "rainy day?" Why not call today so you know if they even do such a thing? I feel like calling them myself just to know because now I'm curious lol.

[Mithra 1,185]

The research sounds like a lot of wasted time to me. But then it sounds like she's enjoying time spent on it and if that's the case, more power to her.

I don't see anyone fussing over the research so much as the erroneous conclusions being drawn from it.

[visaqueries 111]

Why are you putting off calling the embassy for a "rainy day?" Why not call today so you know if they even do such a thing? I feel like calling them myself just to know because now I'm curious lol.

There have been lots of reasons actually. This past month one of the second graders at my school experienced a terrible tragedy. Her 21 year old sister decided to commit suicide. It's taken a toll on many of us as this little girl is so quiet, and many of us have worked to find ways to help the little girl and her very distraught mother.

At my other school a boy was taking a nap with his father. When the boy tried to wake his father, his father had passed away by heart attack.

My own mother has been told time and again that she needs to see a kidney specialist. She refuses. Her response has been well I'm going to die eventually anyway. It breaks my heart because I would love her to fight. But, I also know we reached the 2 year mark of my dad dying from cancer (a few weeks ago). She still misses him so.

It's hard to call during the day because I teach until about 5 every night. I tutor kids, run a Broadcasting, and a Science Club after school. I'm trying to provide safe environments for "my kids".

Yes, I enjoy finding the answers to obscure things sometimes. Is it a waste of time...for some, yes. However, I can't do much else right now. I can't speed up the process of the USCIS, so instead of lamenting the extended time it's taking, I just want to find answers to questions I've had. Besides, it gets my mind off the other things occurring in and around me.

[Sarah Elle-Même 660]

I don't see anyone fussing over the research so much as the erroneous conclusions being drawn from it.

x1000

Research is all well and good. But the reasons you gave for your (and your fiance's) desire to marry at the Egyptian consulate are nonsensical. He wants a halal marriage? Fine - we already explained to you how to do that as simply as possible. He wants it recognized in Egypt? You REGISTER your marriage with the Embassy. You do not need to get married there on the grounds. There is no just cause for you to go harass and bully Consular staff to make special arrangements for you as others may have done.

Here are the instructions on the Embassy website in DC: http://www.egyptembassy.net/service_ma.html They are written in Arabic only and my skillz are fairly rudimentary since I started my MSA classes but I concluded this: You present yourselves (both husband and wife) at the Embassy or Consulate with the following:

1) Your shiny new marriage certificate from wherever you got it in the United States

2) 2 people who witnessed the nikkah

3) Both your passports

4) 5 passport size photos of you and 5 of your husband

5) Cash to pay the fee. It said $80 but then it started talking about a fee plus interest based on the dowry amount and I was just super confused. This you should definitely call them about.

Bring all the above items and fill out the paperwork and they will grant you an Egyptian marriage certificate. 4 copies are made - 1 for you, 1 for your husband, 1 that will be sent to the Department of Civil Status in Cairo and 1 they keep. This is my understanding. Native speakers can feel free to correct if I missed or misread something. What you really should do is print out the page and show it to your fiance. He wants his marriage recognized in Egypt? This is the service the Embassy will offer you.

Edited March 7, 2013 by Sarah and Adnan

[Mithra 1,185]

Ok so during this most difficult time you managed to find time to contact agencies in NY to inquire about marriage requirements in the state of NY but a call to the Egyptian embassy was too much trouble? Seems the thing you're most interested in is the least important on your list. Your research is bass ackwards. It's not a waste of time if you enjoy the research but it is a waste of time if your research for marriage at the Egyptian embassy is for naught because they don't even do marriages there (that is if they don't).

Sorry about the issues with your students.

There have been lots of reasons actually. This past month one of the second graders at my school experienced a terrible tragedy. Her 21 year old sister decided to commit suicide. It's taken a toll on many of us as this little girl is so quiet, and many of us have worked to find ways to help the little girl and her very distraught mother.

At my other school a boy was taking a nap with his father. When the boy tried to wake his father, his father had passed away by heart attack.

My own mother has been told time and again that she needs to see a kidney specialist. She refuses. Her response has been well I'm going to die eventually anyway. It breaks my heart because I would love her to fight. But, I also know we reached the 2 year mark of my dad dying from cancer (a few weeks ago). She still misses him so.

It's hard to call during the day because I teach until about 5 every night. I tutor kids, run a Broadcasting, and a Science Club after school. I'm trying to provide safe environments for "my kids".

Yes, I enjoy finding the answers to obscure things sometimes. Is it a waste of time...for some, yes. However, I can't do much else right now. I can't speed up the process of the USCIS, so instead of lamenting the extended time it's taking, I just want to find answers to questions I've had. Besides, it gets my mind off the other things occurring in and around me.

[tun2usa 5]

No, I have a lot of time on my hands right now to start investigating what will and won't work. That is all I'm trying to do is gather information, so we can make an educated decision. Here is my research strategy:

1. Find out if what my fiance is asking about is possible. I will contact the Egyptian Embassy/Egyptian Consulate to determine if what my fiance is saying is actually valid--that we can get married in and Egyptian Consulate/Embassy. I have read that as long as the marriage is done following the requirements of the US, it would be considered a valid marriage in the US. I believe the Consulate/Embassy might even provide the appropriate paperwork that I would need to file with the state where I will be married.

It is possible but i think you should contact them way in advance to know when they are available. Your fiancé is not asking a weird nor impossible request.Many people marry at embassies. For those who do not understand why her fiancé is requesting such marriage is because the civil contract in a city hall lacks so many islamic aspects therefore , islamicaly speaking, the wedding is not valid. Since you two do not want to have a religious wedding at a mosque, he requested that because in the embassy, the guy who will marry you, will read Al-fatiha (Quran) and basically it will be a mix of civil and islamic wedding. Just like in tunisia there is no such thing as islamic wedding and civil wedding but when you go to a city hall many of the islamic aspects of a wedding are there such as muslim witnesses, reading of Al-fatiha etc... However this is done when both husband & wife are muslim. Im not sure what is the procedure when the wife is not muslim but I think its the same since muslim men are allowed to marry women of the book (i.e jew or christian)

I know that egyptian consulate is concidered an egyptian land but you simply need to call them & make sure your wedding in a consulate wont be considered as fraud or any of that.

2. After I find out if it is indeed possible for a wedding to take place, I will figure out who I need to contact in the United States to verify that the wedding would indeed be valid. I imagine I have to register my marriage license in the state where I'm married for it to be valid (I've never been married before, but I'm sure I can find out who to call to find out how to file my marriage documents). I can't even apply for AOS from a K-1 if my marriage isn't recognized. So, say my marriage at the Consulate/Embassy isn't recognized. I then have the rest of my 90 days on the K-1 visa to rectify that situation by getting married at a courthouse.

If you contact the egyptian consulate in your area, they will tell you if your wedding will be recognized in the US or not. Also ask them if they will apply the EGYPTIAN civil contract since your rights in an Egyptian contract are different from yours in a US contract(licence or whatever they call it haha). Make sure you know everything about the content of the contract before you sign anything. Even if you love your fiancé, always protect your rights and he can protect his too.

3. Once I determine what is accurate infomation, as well as a feasible plan, I will report my findings to my fiance. At that point we will decide how and where we will marry. We will leave the when up to the American Consulate in Cairo.

Sure.

As for the man in Juarez, he had a lot of issues I don't have. I have a valid passport (which isn't really applicable in this case). I am applying for a K-1 Visa and waiting for the entire process to be complete before I try to get my foreign fiance into the country (We are not trying to get my fiance inside the borders of the USA by obtaining a shopping visa). My fiance has not received any kind of ban, and I don't think that if we decided to marry at a Consulate/Embassy inside the borders of the United States, where he will legally be allowed to be, he will receive a 5 year ban (I don't believe marrying at a Consulate/Embassy constitutes breaking any laws in the US).

I dont know about this man but he seems to be an interesting person with an interesting story. Your story is a normal one so dont worry. A phone call will make everything clear.

All I'm asking of this forum is, "Does anyone have any experience with this kind of situation?" Gathering research...not trying to do anything more than that.

Let me know how was your research and I hope my reply helps a little bit even though I only advised you to call the embassy. That is the only place where you will get a good, accurate response.

Best

[zahrasalem 114]

Yeah because you got married in QATAR. This is the US. She wants to get married at the embassy in the US. If she were planning on getting married in QATAR it would make sense to get married at the embassy or an embassy related facility like Egypt. She can get a courthouse wedding recorded in Egypt also.

I said we got married in a "similar way" (at an Egyptian embassy) to give her a general idea, not an exact way and i know this is the US

[zahrasalem 114]

Right.

My perfectly halal wedding - as well as the kajillion other perfectly halal weddings I've been to IN EGYPT - weren't like this.

Thumbs together? Really?

Yeah, really............and? Our marriage was also perfectly halal and each ceremony doesn't have to be EXACTLY the same from any given country.

[Cathi 5,744]

Wouldn't the easiest thing be to just call the Egyptian Embassy? Seriously...I am sure you have a lunch break and could take a few minutes to just pick up the phone and call. I understand your students are having problems, for that I am sorry, but if it were me, my impending nuptials would be on the top of my priority list, and certainly a phone call on your lunch hour wouldn't have any negative effect on your students. Just my opinion.

[Mithra 1,185]

You got married in Qatar in an embassy for the same reason those of us who got married at the Ministry in Egypt - to secure a visa to the US. So in that vein of thinking, all of us who married in Egypt at the Ministry had a "similar" wedding as what the OP is after. The OP is filing for a K1 so getting married at an embassy isn't necessary. It's an option. Yes, it's a halal marriage but it's not the only way to have a halal marriage.

If the OP wants to get married at the embassy then fine no problem. Her reasoning and her fiance's reasoning for it is ridiculous. It's not the ONLY halal marriage, it's not NECESSARY to fulfill a religious requirement, it's not CULTURALLY important. I think the issue is her reasoning not the fact that she wants to get married at a consulate. Who cares where she wants to get married? Some people want to get married by fake Elvis in Vegas and some people want to get married at an Egyptian consulate. Different strokes.

I said we got married in a "similar way" (at an Egyptian embassy) to give her a general idea, not an exact way and i know this is the US

[Mithra 1,185]

Yeah you would think but sounds like calling them is the piece de resistance of this whole research endeavor. Seems she's saving the best part for last.

Wouldn't the easiest thing be to just call the Egyptian Embassy? Seriously...I am sure you have a lunch break and could take a few minutes to just pick up the phone and call. I understand your students are having problems, for that I am sorry, but if it were me, my impending nuptials would be on the top of my priority list, and certainly a phone call on your lunch hour wouldn't have any negative effect on your students. Just my opinion.

[sandinista! 1,816]

I'm feeling miffed that my husband didn't have any embassy shouting matches on my behalf. We didn't even get married in an embassy, but it's still just making me feel inadequate now.

[Nasturtium 500]

I'm feeling miffed that my husband didn't have any embassy shouting matches on my behalf. We didn't even get married in an embassy, but it's still just making me feel inadequate now.

I just found out I am a fornicator for not pressing my thumb to his. Dammit. I've been living a lie.