Marry outside US with foreigner finance?

[rpav 0]

Hi, I hope this is in the correct forum. I have a question about getting married to my fiance in the near future, basically about where and how we can do it. A little bit about my finance and I:

I'm a male US citizen with a valid passport.

My fiance is studying in Kiev, Ukraine on a student registration (almost done), but is originally from Bahrain. I visited her recently in Ukraine October of 2012. We have been corresponding with each other for over a year and a half and have been discussing plans of where to get married.

The thing is, we have been discussing to live outside the US, so at this point, we are not looking at a K1 visa. One possibility is to have her get a visa to the US, we marry and then move soon after. I read on this and the technicalities with a visitor visa and how a foreigner needs proof of leaving back which can be tricky. We both were interested with marrying in Thailand, but she is unsure if she can validate her marriage back in Bahrain.

So my question is can we marry in Thailand? I know myself as a US citizen, it wouldn't be much of an issue, just need to register correctly in Thailand with their ministry and probably some certificate back in the US, but would about my finance's home country of Bahrain? Any other suggestions would be helpful. Thanks!

[Boiler 45,532]

I would ask your fiancée to find out.

[rpav 0]

I would ask your fiancée to find out.

She was a little confused herself about this. She's an intelligent person, but the confusion of the situation makes it a little more difficult.

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

**** Moving from US Embassy forum as it's not a US embassy/ immigration question to MENA forum as the main problem seems to be with Bahrain laws ****

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Hi rpav!

From everything I've looked at online I don't think it will be a problem but get the official word from the Bahrain Embassy in Thailand. I've provided the contact information below along with several other links. Do let us know how it goes and what you find out.

Here are the requirements for getting married while in Thailand. Marriage in Thailand

From the link above this part tells me she'll have to contact her embassy in Thailand.

The affirmation of the freedom to marry has several steps to the process. A foreign-born national needs to contact their home embassy and make the application to them in person. They will need to take along a passport as proof of ID and will need to provide evidence that any previous marriage has been dissolved. The affirmation will then need to be translated into Thai. It will need to be certified at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A marriage license cannot be issued without the affirmation of freedom to marry.

Here is the official website and contact information for her Embassy in Thailand. Link It appears from that link you or her can email them directly and ask about marriage in Thailand for a citizen of Bahrain.

The Embassy of the Kingdom of Bahrain in Bangkok, Thailand

100/66-67 Sathorn Nakorn Tower,

31st Fl., North Sathorn Rd., Silom,

Bangrak, Bangkok 10500

Thailand

Tel. +662 636 7892-6

Fax. +662 636 7459

Email: bangkok.mission@mofa.gov.bh

Countries whose marriage registrations are accepted internationally: Link

According to the website Marriage in Thailand:

Foreigners planning to marry in Thailand are free to marry other foreigners or Thai nationals.

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Thought I'd add this because 99.8% of Bahrain is Muslim and I saw this mentioned Bahrain specifically.

Muslim Marriage in Thailand

Item #6. Letter from your Embassy or Competent Authority at your home country conforming that you can marry

This is required for KUWAITI & BAHRAINI nationals only.

[rpav 0]

Thought I'd add this because 99.8% of Bahrain is Muslim and I saw this mentioned Bahrain specifically.

Muslim Marriage in Thailand

Thanks for all your help and information Another option is to have my finance come to the US on a K1 Visa, get married, but what if we don't to stay here and apply for the Adjustment of Status? Would it then be a better and easier option to have her come on a visitor visa, marry, and leave? What if we want to come back to the US? Then does the process start all over and make it harder...K3 visa, etc...

Thanks

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Thanks for all your help and information Another option is to have my finance come to the US on a K1 Visa, get married, but what if we don't to stay here and apply for the Adjustment of Status?

This would be a separate question for the K1 forum. The K1 visa takes about around 11 months from start to finish. It won't be so easy. AP and AR can sometimes be lengthy and is often mandatory for people coming from the MENA region. However, women from the MENA region don't seem to have as long of AP/AR as men do.

As for what you do if you apply for AOS and you don't want to stay that's more complicated and depends on the circumstances. Here is a link to frequently asked questions about applying for AOS that may provide several answers to several questions you may have. FAQ

I think this one about Advanced Parole may be most helpful when applying for AOS.

6.7)...Can my spouse leave the United States, and then re-enter, before receiving the Green Card (conditional permanent residency)? LINK

Advance parole allows you to re-enter the US before approval of Adjustment of Status

This one talks about traveling abroad and the re-entry permit after becoming a permanent resident.

6.11.6)..Can I travel abroad after becoming a permanent resident? LINK

There are a couple more on that list that might apply so please take a look and read it for yourself.

Would it then be a better and easier option to have her come on a visitor visa, marry, and leave?

I'm going to go with no on this. It is not easier. More often then not a visitor visa is denied from the MENA region, especially if they discover the reason is for intention to marry, which is seen as intent to immigrate, which is seen as immigration fraud. You don't want to go this route at all. I'm not saying that this doesn't happen but it's risky. She'd have to show that her reason to visit wasn't about marriage. That the reason for her visa would be that she had business or purpose here, that would not keep her here and that her visit was only temporary, and that she has strong ties to Bahrain such as work, property, finances that would mean her imminent return there. My husband applied twice for the visitors visa before we even talked marriage and both times he was denied.

What happens if she's approved for the visitors visa and comes here and gets married right away and then wants to stay? She'll have to go back to her home country for a spouse immigration and then explain why she married on a visitors visa so suddenly. That doesn't bode well. Neither does coming on the visitor visa, marrying and then over staying out of status. Which could result in a life time ban from the US for immigration fraud.

What if we want to come back to the US?

This depends on what route you take.

If a US citizen wants to come back you can. You'll have to petition for your non-citizen spouse to come with you while they are outside of the country. No way she can enter with intent to immigrate until you've gone through the process and it's approved.

However, there are some countries the US has agreements with about traveling visas where the citizens of those countries can enter and leave several time during the immigration process such as the UK, Germany, Canada, ect. But even this can be problematic for them at times if customs and boarder patrol learn about the immigration process for marriage. I've read stories of Canadian's being turned away at the boarder, and Germans being denied entry and put on a plane back to their home country because they'd made several trips back and forth to see their sweeties during the immigration process and the process wasn't finished yet. They'd get hassled after a couple of trips. It depends on who you come across on a certain day. You could have all the requirements to enter the country but you can still be turned away the Point of Entry (POE) and sent back home if they smell something funny. It does happen and is often shocking for those it happens to when it does.

MENA countries don't have this kind of arrangement afforded to their citizen with the States. Sure some can get visitor visas and make a visit during the immigration process but I'll tell you right now that it's not too common.

Then does the process start all over and make it harder...K3 visa, etc..

You'll want to decide what you guys want to do and then go from there because with immigration you'll have to invest time and money and it's no small gesture. We're taking years, thousands of dollars and a major emotional investment. The K3 visa is nearly obsolete so you will not want to go that route. If you do they will cancel one petition and make it a CR-1/IR-1 marriage visa.

There is no quick and easy way through US immigration. There are no short cuts. It all depends on what you decide you both want for your future together and there are no guarantees. If you don't want to live here then you'll have to do immigration somewhere else and you can see where that works best for you both. If it's not Bahrain then realize most likely it will be two people going through the immigration process instead of one where ever you decide to land and settle.

Edited March 25, 2013 by Dr. A ♥ O