How to File Marriage?

[rboston 1]

She only needs to say she will be getting married when she arrives at the border if she is specifically asked that question. Only answer the question that is asked and never volunteer additional information.

Keep the answers brief and to the point.

I've made over 40 successful entries both before and after marriage. Only been sent to secondary once (and that was right at the beginning of our relationship).

I'm glad you've made it through multiple times, but, again, you are coming from the UK. It's a bit of a different issue coming from Costa Rica. The attitude of immigration policy towards countries in the Anglosphere is a lot more relaxed.

At every single trip she has made, the officer has asked "Why are you coming to the United States?" How is she supposed to answer that?

[Pennycat 880]

Proxy marriage never even crossed our mind. In NC, both parties have to go to the records office to request the license itself. If one party can't (e.g. if one party is in a foreign country at the time), you need an affidavit of absence to request the license. That isn't about proxy marriage, though, that's about picking up the license.

Ah I gotcha. I thought we were still on submitting the licence for the certificate.

Try and check with other CR1 filers from CR (the portal has a list of members from Costa Rica and you can see who applied for which visa) and see how long their certificate took to get from Registro Civil. It wouldn't be relying on the mail there-- you can go pick it up. If it's not as long as you're worried about or have heard from sources you don't remember, you really may want to weigh the risk at the border vs the few extra steps of being legally married in CR.

[rboston 1]

Try and check with other CR1 filers from CR (the portal has a list of members from Costa Rica and you can see who applied for which visa) and see how long their certificate took to get from Registro Civil. It wouldn't be relying on the mail there-- you can go pick it up. If it's not as long as you're worried about or have heard from sources you don't remember, you really may want to weigh the risk at the border vs the few extra steps of being legally married in CR.

My wonderful and beautiful fiancee has helped me locate some of the information we were going off of. These are websites for lawyers who specialize in marrying gringos, but it's the same principle:

http://costaricamarriageofficiants.com/costa_rica_marriage_faq.html

http://www.therealcostarica.com/travel_costa_rica/getting_married_costa_rica.html

http://gocentralamerica.about.com/od/costaricaguide/p/CRMarriageLaws.htm

http://www.frommers.com/destinations/costa-rica/735861

Across all of them, getting the signed license to be in the Registro Civil takes anywhere from a month and a half to 6 months. Then we'd have to ask for the certificate, and who knows how long that will take to receive. Then we'll have to translate it. The standard process, in Costa Rica anyway, is for official translators in the federal offices to translate and stamp them, which adds more time. The lawyer fees are several hundred, and additional fees could probably bring it up to $1500.

Given it's for destination weddings, but it's the same process of filing a civil marriage in CR and getting the certificate to the offices in the US.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

You can have a pretend wedding with ceremony in CR and then get legally married in NC. You cannot get legally married in NC for a ceremony performed in another country. Period.

This thread is ridiculous.

You are not being forthright about so many things, like the fact that you already have a wedding date set for a wedding in CR. Then you get sassy with the people who are telling you you are setting yourself up for an expensive and complicated failure.

immigration is a privilege, not a right. You play by the rules or you don't play at all.

Legal wedlock is the same. You can get legally married the way the authorities say or you don't get married. Period.

[rboston 1]

This thread is ridiculous.

.... then why are you continuing to comment in it... ?

P.S. Read my very first post here. I think third sentence in.

Edited September 17, 2016 by rboston

[Ontarkie 14,228]

~~This thread is now closed as the OP has been given enough advice. You may start another thread for visiting or applying for the CR1 visa~~