Nontraditional wedding with K-1 visa?

[chelseaandyamir 0]

Hi everyone,

We have been in the States for a few weeks now and are trying to get the details ironed out for our wedding.

I had originally planned to have a friend be the officiant for the wedding as we are not looking for much of a religious ceremony.

We are getting married in Illinois and my friend is from California but that shouldn't be an issue according to our county clerk.

He says, however, that he is finding difficulties as far as us getting married through him due to the fact that my fiance is not a citizen.

Has anyone experienced this? Any tips? We have thought about still having our ceremony and then just going to the court house.

He is here with all of his paperwork, why would it be that only certain people can marry us?

Thanks!

[Ian H. 207]

I would get married with a registered marriage officiant. I'm not sure who qualifies in IL to be a marriage officiant, but I wouldn't risk doing it just in case the marriage may be considered invalid. Is your friend a religious minister? You have to make sure that he is able to legally perform the marriage in IL.

As for your fiancé not being a citizen, it has nothing to do with marriage laws. Any person with a valid ID and otherwise eligible to get married can get married.

[CowBoE 429]

Hi everyone,

We have been in the States for a few weeks now and are trying to get the details ironed out for our wedding.

I had originally planned to have a friend be the officiant for the wedding as we are not looking for much of a religious ceremony.

We are getting married in Illinois and my friend is from California but that shouldn't be an issue according to our county clerk.

He says, however, that he is finding difficulties as far as us getting married through him due to the fact that my fiance is not a citizen.

Has anyone experienced this? Any tips? We have thought about still having our ceremony and then just going to the court house.

He is here with all of his paperwork, why would it be that only certain people can marry us?

Thanks!

First of all, lack of your timeline update would suggest..."how can you marry now?"

But I'm assuming fiancee received the visa and have gone through the successful POE?

From what I've learned through K1 visa processing myself, and from endless VJ posts,

its just safer to follow standard procedures to avoid any complication later.

Check this out...

http://www.ehow.com/info_8555121_can-legally-perform-marriages-illinois.html

I'm planning to get officially married in court as soon as we can once she arrives,

and we will hold a ceremony at a later date, possibly even after 90 days.

[IcezMan_IcezLady 582]

An officiant has to be licensed in other to marry two people.some places require the officiant to be licensed from the state in which you plan to get married in.

I had the same thought.a family friend is a pastor from another state and he could marry my fiance and I but he can't since he is not licensed in Texas. The fee is around $600..it will save you a lot of drama.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

The officiant has to be there but doesn't have to do all the speaking. Talk to a local one and see if they would be ok just sitting back and let someone else do most of the talking ( worked for a friend that wanted their uncle from the west coast to marry them and he couldn't in NY )

[KayDeeCee 4,894]

~ Moved from K-1 Process to Moving to the US and Your New Life in America - topic not about K-1(or AOS) process ~

Edited August 12, 2014 by KayDeeCee

[Mike&Lin 39]

An officiant has to be licensed in other to marry two people.some places require the officiant to be licensed from the state in which you plan to get married in.

I had the same thought.a family friend is a pastor from another state and he could marry my fiance and I but he can't since he is not licensed in Texas. The fee is around $600..it will save you a lot of drama.

The State of Texas does not license or require registration of wedding officiants. If your friend is recognized as a pastor in the church authorized to perform weddings then he could perform the wedding in Texas.

http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/FA/htm/FA.2.htm

Sec. 2.202. PERSONS AUTHORIZED TO CONDUCT CEREMONY. (a) The following persons are authorized to conduct a marriage ceremony:

(1) a licensed or ordained Christian minister or priest;

(2) a Jewish rabbi;

(3) a person who is an officer of a religious organization and who is authorized by the organization to conduct a marriage ceremony;

(4) a justice of the supreme court, judge of the court of criminal appeals, justice of the courts of appeals, judge of the district, county, and probate courts, judge of the county courts at law, judge of the courts of domestic relations, judge of the juvenile courts, retired justice or judge of those courts, justice of the peace, retired justice of the peace, judge of a municipal court, retired judge of a municipal court, or judge or magistrate of a federal court of this state; and

(5) a retired judge or magistrate of a federal court of this state.

(b) For the purposes of Subsection (a)(4), a retired judge or justice is a former judge or justice who is vested in the Judicial Retirement System of Texas Plan One or the Judicial Retirement System of Texas Plan Two or who has an aggregate of at least 12 years of service as judge or justice of any type listed in Subsection (a)(4).

(b-1) For the purposes of Subsection (a)(5), a retired judge or magistrate is a former judge or magistrate of a federal court of this state who is fully vested in the Federal Employees Retirement System under 28 U.S.C. Section 371 or 377.

[agnesb 47]

Or you can just make it unofficial and then go to a court house (before or after the wedding) and sign the marriage certificate there.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Hi everyone,

We have been in the States for a few weeks now and are trying to get the details ironed out for our wedding.

I had originally planned to have a friend be the officiant for the wedding as we are not looking for much of a religious ceremony.

We are getting married in Illinois and my friend is from California but that shouldn't be an issue according to our county clerk.

He says, however, that he is finding difficulties as far as us getting married through him due to the fact that my fiance is not a citizen.

Has anyone experienced this? Any tips? We have thought about still having our ceremony and then just going to the court house.

He is here with all of his paperwork, why would it be that only certain people can marry us?

Thanks!

The country clerk is being dense (or is it the friend that says this?). His citizenship will not matter for a marriage. He can get a SSN now, if he likes, but he can also get married without a SSN, if he does not have one. It's a federal law.

You can have the marriage you like with whatever legal officiant you want. No need to have separate weddings. Good luck.

[dhufstader 0]

as an ordained minister, it all depends on the laws where the marriage is happening, and they require for an out of state officiant.

I did a wedding in NY, I didn't have to provide anything, I did one in Massachusetts and I had to fill out a form and register with the town office a month in advance.

this link explains illinois laws and what is needed for your friend.

http://www.themonastery.org/wedding-laws/illinois-marriage-law

[jjbandero 39]

My husband and I got married in Chicago and I was not a permanent resident of the US, nor was I a resident of Illinois. All we were asked for were IDs and the county clerk administrator asked us questions to establish that we were eligible to marry (e.g. we were not related, and if we were related had to be over the age of 50 I think). While you can have a friend go through some internet processes to become an officiant, I would not recommend it, find someone truly official so that there is no question about the validity of your marriage ceremony and you don't have to deal with it later. We were married by a friend of my husband's boss, but he was a judge.

Cheers

[GandE 0]

Hi Chelsea and Yamir!!, I'm an Argentinean guy, we got married at the court house first to accelerate the process of the paperwork, you don't need to be a citizen or have SSN or green card to get married at the Church or court house, Yamir have the K1 visa and his passport what is more than enough to get legally or spiritually married.

If you want to know more about our case you can call us to our cellphone and we will be really happy to help you guys with this.

Be strong and anything will be possible.

Gabe and Em

[IcezMan_IcezLady 582]

I will just do a court wedding then maybe a ceremony (blessing) later...good luck

[yuna628 9,690]

Look on weddingwire or weddingbee for reviews of an officiant and then pick one and call them. I'm sure they will be happy to marry you with no problems. You'll just need a license beforehand and it should be absolutely no problem to obtain one at your local courthouse. Most officiants will do non-religious ceremonies.

[Ryan H 3,819]

***Post containing personal information removed and returned below without said information. For your own safety and security, please do not post personal information in the public forums. The VJ personal messenger function is available to exchange such information.***

Gabe (phone number removed - VJ Moderation) We live in Elgin, Illinois, but my wife's family is from Iowa, I feel really identified with Yamir in a lot of aspects.

We're looking forward to hear from you guys.