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Court marriage vs actual marriage

By Jot18 in India

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Jot18 Enthusiast

Jot18   47

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Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: India
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I'll be getting married towards end of 2019 or beginning of 2020. My plan is to go to India by end of this year and do court marriage there so I can start the paperwork for my wife. Is it legal to do paper marriage beforeisa actual marriage? I live in the states and don't want to wait another year after marriage for my wife to get here.

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06/12/2014: Biometrics Appointment

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04/03/2015 = Interview Completed

--- = Oath Letter Received

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I-130 Timeline

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06/02/2020 - Filed I-130 Online

06/02/2020 - NOA1 Received

07/01/2020 - Back to U.S from India 

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Alabamak1 Proficient

Alabamak1   688

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42 minutes ago, Jot18 said:

I'll be getting married towards end of 2019 or beginning of 2020. My plan is to go to India by end of this year and do court marriage there so I can start the paperwork for my wife. Is it legal to do paper marriage beforeisa actual marriage? I live in the states and don't want to wait another year after marriage for my wife to get here.

If you are going to get married that far, why not just get her over with a k-1 and get married in the US?

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SMcNally Contributor

SMcNally   37

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Filed: K-1 Visa Country: India
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6 hours ago, Jot18 said:

I'll be getting married towards end of 2019 or beginning of 2020. My plan is to go to India by end of this year and do court marriage there so I can start the paperwork for my wife. Is it legal to do paper marriage beforeisa actual marriage? I live in the states and don't want to wait another year after marriage for my wife to get here.

Yes. The court wedding is the legal wedding...In the USA just because you have a wedding ceremony doesn't mean you are legally married. In India, if you have a ceremony, then you're married. You'll need a certificate though. And like in your case, if you get the certificate without a ceremony, you'll still be legally married. I'm assuming by "actual marriage", you mean the ceremony.

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Jot18 Enthusiast

Jot18   47

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Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: India
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1 minute ago, SMcNally said:

Yes. The court wedding is the legal wedding...In the USA just because you have a wedding ceremony doesn't mean you are legally married. In India, if you have a ceremony, then you're married. You'll need a certificate though. And like in your case, if you get the certificate without a ceremony, you'll still be legally married. I'm assuming by "actual marriage", you mean the ceremony.

Yes I mean the ceremony. So if I do court marriage and get certificate then have the ceremony next yr and just won't get the certificate after the ceremony...I'm fine?

6 hours ago, Alabamak1 said:

If you are going to get married that far, why not just get her over with a k-1 and get married in the US?

The girl side is in India ....I don't want to do k-1 cuz of that...

I-90 Green Card Timeline

05/29/2014: Applied for I-90, Due to an Name Error.

06/12/2014: Biometrics Appointment

02/13/2015: Green Card Was Ordered To Be Produced

02/20/2015: Green Card Has Been Mailed.(Received Tracking Number)

02/23/2015: Green Card Received With Correct Name

N-400 Citizenship Timeline

07/05/2012 = Eligible to apply for Naturalization based on the 5-year rule (90-days rule applied)

01/11/2015 = Sent N-400 Packet (to Phoenix Lockbox Facility via USPS Certified Mail)

01/15/2015 = N-400 Packet Delivered

01/27/2015 = I-912 Approved

02/02/2015 = NOA1 Received (Priority Date 01/15/2015)

02/07/2015 = Biometrics Letter Received (Bio Set for 02/20/2015)

02/25/2015 = In Line for Interview

04/03/2015 = Interview Completed

--- = Oath Letter Received

04/15/2015 = Oath Ceremony!

 

I-130 Timeline

02/08/2020 - Married

06/02/2020 - Filed I-130 Online

06/02/2020 - NOA1 Received

07/01/2020 - Back to U.S from India 

01/11/2021 - NOA2 Received & Petition Approved

 

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WeGuyGal Proficient

WeGuyGal   1,052

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Filed: Lift. Cond. (pnd) Timeline
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4 hours ago, SMcNally said:

Yes. The court wedding is the legal wedding...In the USA just because you have a wedding ceremony doesn't mean you are legally married. In India, if you have a ceremony, then you're married. You'll need a certificate though. And like in your case, if you get the certificate without a ceremony, you'll still be legally married. I'm assuming by "actual marriage", you mean the ceremony.

COs in India have become very picky.. because over the years they've learned that folks look for shortcuts to get their spouses into the US asap. 

 

No such thing as paper marriage before actual marriage. Once married on paper, that is the wedding the US embassy goes by. There cannot be two weddings. 

I-751 journey

 

10/16/2017.......... ROC package mailed

10/18/2017.......... I-751 package received VSC

10/19/2017.......... I-797 NOA date

10/30/2017.......... Notice received in mail

10/30/2017.......... Check cashed

11/02/2017.......... Conditional GC expired

11/22/2017.......... Biometrics completed

  xx/xx/xxxx.......... waiting waiting waiting

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SMcNally Contributor

SMcNally   37

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Filed: K-1 Visa Country: India
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23 hours ago, Jot18 said:

Yes I mean the ceremony. So if I do court marriage and get certificate then have the ceremony next yr and just won't get the certificate after the ceremony...I'm fine?

The girl side is in India ....I don't want to do k-1 cuz of that...

Yes, if you do a court marriage i.e. get legally married, then you can apply for the spousal visa, as you will be married. Any ceremony after is just for your own personal reasons.

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aindian310 Explorer

aindian310   53

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Filed: Other Country: India
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Question: Are you both Hindus?

If so then you must perform Hindu wedding ceremony and then only you can apply for Marriage certificate from your local municipality. In that application it asks for Priest's signature who performed your ceremony along with one or two pictures from the ceremony. I suggest you look up Hindu marriage act, there are no court marriage in India for person of same religion, if you both are same religion you must perform ceremony first. 

 

One thing you can do is that perform a small ceremony right now, take bunch of pictures and than apply for your marriage certificate and file your petition based on this. And later when you are ready you can do typical grand wedding......but if your interview is scheduled after this grand wedding takes place be ready to explain if CO asks about it or if they do any deeper checks!

 

I have been through the whole process just last year. 

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Rajat Aggarwal Contributor

Rajat Aggarwal   11

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Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Country: India
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As far as I know from my research, it is just not about the wedding but you should also show proof for consummation of marriage (to prove bonafide relationship), I believe this will only happen if you have an actual wedding with your rituals (that is how it was for me). I would recommend to do whatever has the lowest risk. If you just have a court wedding, treat it like an actual wedding, that is my recommendation.

 

As far as what I ended up doing, I proposed to my spouse in January, had an engagement party and filed notice of intent to marry in local court in India before I left for US. The notice of intent has to stay filed in court for 30 days before you are allowed to marry under the Special Marriage Act within 90 days of filing notice of intent. We had a court wedding in March, completed the ceremonies with an Indian style wedding 2 days later and went on honeymoon after, all in a 10 day trip to India and filed I130 by end of March after returning to US. Proof of all the events were attached in our  file.

 

 

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WeGuyGal Proficient

WeGuyGal   1,052

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Filed: Lift. Cond. (pnd) Timeline
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10 hours ago, aindian310 said:

 

One thing you can do is that perform a small ceremony right now, take bunch of pictures and than apply for your marriage certificate and file your petition based on this. And later when you are ready you can do typical grand wedding......but if your interview is scheduled after this grand wedding takes place be ready to explain if CO asks about it or if they do any deeper checks!

 

The issue with that is any small ceremony that leads to a marriage certificate is a wedding by law.  There cannot be another grand wedding; only a celebration. 

I-751 journey

 

10/16/2017.......... ROC package mailed

10/18/2017.......... I-751 package received VSC

10/19/2017.......... I-797 NOA date

10/30/2017.......... Notice received in mail

10/30/2017.......... Check cashed

11/02/2017.......... Conditional GC expired

11/22/2017.......... Biometrics completed

  xx/xx/xxxx.......... waiting waiting waiting

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