Whether to Marry in Belarus or USA.

[FloridaMinsk 88]

We like the CR-1 option.... because of not having to file the AOS. But after looking at the requirements to marry in belarus, was wondering Has anyone had any experience with marrying in Minsk... I know i will need my passport, birth certificate, and my divorce papers. All translated to Russian. plus an apostille.. How easy/difficult is it to get these things done.... and am I looking at a massive cost?

Would love to hear someone else's experience with this process.

thanks in advance for reading my post. have a blessed day

[OLee 64]

We like the CR-1 option.... because of not having to file the AOS. But after looking at the requirements to marry in belarus, was wondering Has anyone had any experience with marrying in Minsk... I know i will need my passport, birth certificate, and my divorce papers. All translated to Russian. plus an apostille.. How easy/difficult is it to get these things done.... and am I looking at a massive cost?

Would love to hear someone else's experience with this process.

thanks in advance for reading my post. have a blessed day

I have no experience in Belarus (have experience in Lithuania, neighborhood country), but it must apply to the same law as Hague Convention (I may be wrong).

The marriage shouldn't be expensive at all, google on it. I believe you have to Apostille both: your Birth Certificate and your divorce decree first. Do it while you are in the USA, or you can mail it to the certain institution (depends on your state where you reside in the USA). Depends on the state it will cost you +- $10 each. Then you have to translate those two in Belarus by a certified translator. They will give you your originals back. Then you probably have to go to the American Embassy in Belarus to get the sworn and signed paper of something "no obstacles to marry" or "being free to marry". Don't remember the exact title. The document will be in English and in Belorussian so you don't have to translate it. It can be done in one day. You can do it in the USA too and bring it with you, but you have to translate it then. Notary at the Embassy charges about $50 for this.

This is all I can think of. We did it all, submitted application to be married at the Civil Marriage bureau, but then our personal situation has changed a bit and we got married in the USA. I then registered our marriage in my own native country.

[OLee 64]

Oh, as we applied for Apostilles us both being in Lithuania, we mailed the original documents (Birth Cert. and divorce decree) to the USA (google on what institutions and what addresses it will be in your state, call them to verify), attaching a personal check to each of them (one was $10, another $25, as it was different case - didn't have an original Birth Certificate, so they have issued the new one and apostilled it), put the cover letter to each packets, explaining what we need. It took about 30 days back and forth. Being in the USA you can do it in one week or faster.

[FloridaMinsk 88]

Thanks OLee... Yeah I wasn't sure if the cost of translating pages would just be insane. How do I find a certified translator? I did a search but the results looked dodgey.

I will verify with the USA embassy on the other form. This makes me feel much better about the process, thanks so much for sharing.

Its exciting but the process is also intimidating.... We just wanna be together.

Should we have an account with both our names on it for proof of legitimate marriage?

[OLee 64]

Thanks OLee... Yeah I wasn't sure if the cost of translating pages would just be insane. How do I find a certified translator? I did a search but the results looked dodgey.

I will verify with the USA embassy on the other form. This makes me feel much better about the process, thanks so much for sharing.

Its exciting but the process is also intimidating.... We just wanna be together.

Should we have an account with both our names on it for proof of legitimate marriage?

You are welcome

Translations: usually those certified/licensed translations cost somewhat ok for the documents, like Birth Certificates, divorce decrees, etc., because most of those documents are like templates - they know how to do it quickly. The worst case is if you need to translate plain text, but this was not the case at least during our CR1-IR1 route.

Remember, that your Belorussian spouse will need to translate their documents too, to prepare for I-130 and NVC packets. I can advise you to order at least 3 copies of certified translations. You will need several of them in time. The translator will only charge ONCE for translation, you will only pay separately for the signature of a notary on each copy. Notary signature will cost significantly less. I have no idea how much it will cost in Minsk, but it should be affordable.

The process is lengthy indeed, but don't be afraid - it is doable if you have a good dose of patience and lots of love to each other

What account do you mean?

You can start reading and rereading the guides that are here for all of us. It will help you to understand the process better and hence it will give you more confidence:

http://www.visajourney.com/content/guides

[OLee 64]

How do I find a certified translator? I did a search but the results looked dodgey.

Minsk is a big and really civilized city, translators are everywhere. By the way, are you a USC? If so, then you have to ask your partner (or a future spouse?) to do some research on this. Or try regional portal to ask some local people for some useful hints.

http://www.visajourney.com/search/index.php?cx=007424365766759747816%3Auy9flr-th5y&cof=FORID%3A10&q=Belarus&sa=Search

[sevendelta 17]

We like the CR-1 option.... because of not having to file the AOS.

Why do you think it will be easy? It takes more time to get CR-1 than to get K-1. It's easy to marry here, in USA. I didn't do any apostille in Belarus. I didn't do any notary approval too.

Your fiancee will need to translate her documents anyway. But If you will marry in Belarus you can plus expences: your documents and translation every document, visa 160$ + her invitation you to the country + tickets to Belarus and back, money for ceremony (how many people do you want there? do you want a big party or simple? wedding dress is more expensive in Belarus! and the party will cost some money).

If you have any question, you can write to me in personal message. I'm in USA now and I can explain the process very easy to you or your fiancee

Have a good day!

Maryna

[FloridaMinsk 88]

thank you for the help. we will be doing a K-1.

Now for all the paperwork

[TBoneTX 45,285]

Good luck!

[Dashinka 24,493]

In my opinion and in fact the way we went would be to go with the K1. Overall, the K1/AOS processing time was similar to a CR1, but the deciding factor was that we were together for the period of the AOS, so only about six months apart as opposed to a year or more waiting for the CR1. Regardless it is a matter of personal choice and you are doing the right thing by researching your options.

Good Luck!

[FloridaMinsk 88]

Thanks mate. Getting all papers together now. And trying to sort out the guides. It's exciting and we can't wait.