International Marriage to a U.S. Citizen Recognized by U.S.?

[Aya820 33]

Okay, I have a question that has come up and kind of has turned into a debate in another forum that I belong to, and wanted to get everyone's opinion here...

If married in a foreign country, the U.S. citizen comes home and does nothing to register the marriage, i.e. name change, etc., can the U.S. spouse:

a. File as single on income tax?

b. Say the overseas marriage doesn't work...Can the U.S. Citizen marry another here in the U.S. even though the spouse is in another country and no paperwork has been filed here? Would this be considered bigamy in the U.S. and make the second marriage invalid/illegal?

My opinion on a) is No the USC must file either Married filing jointly, married filing separately, or head of household, if qualified. And on b) yes it is bigamy.

I ask these questions in the Sub-saharan forum because this has come up in a Nigerian forum. It is felt because Nigeria's lack of paperwork organization/computerization that until the spouse files paperwork in the U.S., then the marriage is not known/valid.

What say you?

[christeen 966]

Married is married is married...period... If it is a legally recognized marriage wherever you married, itis recognized here in USA ... Registered or not. USA has no national registry, but married is married. And you are correct, they would have to file married filing joint or seperate...

[Hypnos 6,578]

And if someone already married in a foreign country then goes on to marry someone else knowing that the first marriage has not been dissolved, that is certainly bigamy too.

[Aya820 33]

I agree with both of you. But some have locked onto the fact that NOT registering the marriage or doing anything like name change with social security, etc. here in the U.S. seems to make the marriage "invisible".

Edited May 25, 2014 by Aya820

[Hypnos 6,578]

There is no central registry of marriages in the US, so that argument is over even before it's begun.

[Aya820 33]

I know Hypnos, but they are thinking on the terms of the wife changing her name, social security, things like that. Not even sure what a male spouse would have to do, if anything...

[Ebunoluwa 6,136]

Marriages performed overseas are considered valid in the country where they take place if they are entered into in accordance with local law. Recognition of the validity of marriages performed abroad is dependent upon the laws of the place in which the marriage is to be recognized.

So, if the marriage is recognized by local law then the US considers it a marriage as well.

It may be "invisible" here if not followed up with a paper trail but by law it is still a valid marriage and therefore the person

would have to be properly divorced before marrying again. If they chose not to do that then it may bite them in the butt later, even if

they think nobody will know. It is hard to hide or make invisible anything these days and following the law is therefore a good idea.

[Boiler 45,908]

You go abroad, rune over by a bus, dead as a dodo.

Nobody in the US knows.

Are you then still alive?

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

People married in the US marry other people without the benefit of divorce ( my ex did that I was wife #1 for the first 14 years of his second marriage ) does that mean it wasn't illegal or bigamous ? There are people without social morals that marry more than one person. What they do is illegal and the second marriage is invalid . Should it ever come to light and the non spouse ( that is what the second and more is ) has ever collected any benefit based on the fraud then the bigamist will be expected to repay all those benefits. Also the second and more can never collect SS or other things based on the bigamists work. I am not surprised that Nigerian are debating yet another way to commit fraud.

[Aya820 33]

Actually Nigeriaorbust it is Americans who are thinking that way....not Nigerians.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

Then the American is a dolt

[Ebunoluwa 6,136]

Actually Nigeriaorbust it is Americans who are thinking that way....not Nigerians.

That is exactly how I took it, the USC marrying overseas then coming back and not wanting to go through the charade and effort

to divorce.

[Aya820 33]

Exactly Ebunoluwa

[Dusty345 3]

Nigeriaorburst....you say Nigerians are debating of another way to commit fraud? Crime is everywhere..even here in America. There are alot of crimes and fraud yet no one is labelling Americans of been fraudulent..there r good and bad ppl everywhere so pls stop labeling Nigerians as been fraudulent.

[Boiler 45,908]

Nobody is saying that all Nigerians are Fraudulent.

Just that the Consulate in Nigeria seems more fraud than anywhere else.