Which visa should we apply for

[Ibrahim3725 2]

I need advice on which visa should we apply for. My wife is transgender woman we met on Facebook about 3 years ago at the time she was married but separated from her now ex husband!! In December of 2018 she came to my home country of Freetown, Seirra Leone to meet for the first time. We spent time and she met my family and friends and was great!! She traveled back to me in May of 2019 and we decided to do marriage ceremony but we did not register the marriage with the government. We could have though because her passport is gendered marked female and we could have used it as identification for her to have our marriage registered, but because her birth certificate and and driver license are gendered marked male, we were worried that the USA government would not recognize it as a valid marriage and our visa would be denied!! So my question is how should we apply for Visa? Should we do the k1 or cr1? 

[Quarknase 1,072]

46 minutes ago, Ibrahim3725 said:

I need advice on which visa should we apply for. My wife is transgender woman we met on Facebook about 3 years ago at the time she was married but separated from her now ex husband!! In December of 2018 she came to my home country of Freetown, Seirra Leone to meet for the first time. We spent time and she met my family and friends and was great!! She traveled back to me in May of 2019 and we decided to do marriage ceremony but we did not register the marriage with the government. We could have though because her passport is gendered marked female and we could have used it as identification for her to have our marriage registered, but because her birth certificate and and driver license are gendered marked male, we were worried that the USA government would not recognize it as a valid marriage and our visa would be denied!! So my question is how should we apply for Visa? Should we do the k1 or cr1? 

From what I read here previously you might be considered "too married" for a K1 visa so it's probably recommended to register the marriage and go the C route. With the correct gender in her passport she should be able to get her drivers license updated, or did she try that already?

[Ibrahim3725 2]

18 minutes ago, Quarknase said:

From what I read here previously you might be considered "too married" for a K1 visa so it's probably recommended to register the marriage and go the C route. With the correct gender in her passport she should be able to get her drivers license updated, or did she try that already?

They will not allow her to change her gender on her driver's license. 

[Boiler 45,903]

I agree that you are too married for a K1, so CR1 is the way to go.

[JeanneAdil 6,606]

says USC is in Tennessee 

Tennessee Drivers License Policy & Procedures

In order to update a Tennessee ID, the applicant must submit:

1. If updating the name, a court order certifying the name change
2. If updating the gender marker, "A statement from the attending physician that necessary medical procedures to accomplish the change in gender are complete" or a court order recognizing gender change.

Also Tennessee is one of the 2 states that will not change the gender on birth certificate without a court order

 

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

8 minutes ago, Ibrahim3725 said:

They will not allow her to change her gender on her driver's license. 

Why does the driver license even matter? If she is female in her passport she presumably had her gender legally changed?

[JeanneAdil 6,606]

Although Siera Leone is considered one of the most religionsly tolerant countries of the world,  the OP name looks like he could be muslim

it would be important for all the documents needed for Islamic marriage papers to be the same sex 

so.  we need feedback from OP to establish what the issues are getting a marriage certificate 

 

I know we had to have 2 forms of photo ID (passport and driving license i used) and birth certificate

the federal government allows gender change on passport as do 18 states for driving license but TN is not one of them

 

 

[Ibrahim3725 2]

On ‎12‎/‎13‎/‎2019 at 9:45 AM, JeanneAdil said:

Although Siera Leone is considered one of the most religionsly tolerant countries of the world,  the OP name looks like he could be muslim

it would be important for all the documents needed for Islamic marriage papers to be the same sex 

so.  we need feedback from OP to establish what the issues are getting a marriage certificate 

 

I know we had to have 2 forms of photo ID (passport and driving license i used) and birth certificate

the federal government allows gender change on passport as do 18 states for driving license but TN is not one of them

 

 

We can get the marriage certificate in my country, but my question is will the USA government accept it as a valid marriage since it may be considered a same sex marriage in the USA, but my country dont allow same sex marriage. We did marriage ceremony at my mother's church.

Edited December 15, 2019 by Ryan H
Reason for edit: to separate reply from quote

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

But if you are male as I assume, and the passport has her identity as female, then it’s not same sex and you should be able to register it in Sierra Leone? Then it’s legal.

You definitely can’t do K1 as you had a church wedding.

worst case you do a court marriage again in the US if the gender thing becomes an issue.?

Edited December 13, 2019 by SusieQQQ

[Quarknase 1,072]

2 minutes ago, Ibrahim3725 said:

 

As far as I know the US accept marriage certificate from different countries as long as the marriage is recognized in the country where it was held.

If the passport is enough to obtain a marriage certificate in your country then I would hope the marriage certificate is accepted by the US. I am not sure which type of attorney would be best to consult for this matter. One that's familiar with gender changes and immigration?

[Ibrahim3725 2]

1 minute ago, SusieQQQ said:

But if you are male as I assume, and the passport has her identity as female, then it’s not same sex and you should be able to register it in Sierra Leone?

Ok

1 minute ago, Quarknase said:

As far as I know the US accept marriage certificate from different countries as long as the marriage is recognized in the country where it was held.

If the passport is enough to obtain a marriage certificate in your country then I would hope the marriage certificate is accepted by the US. I am not sure which type of attorney would be best to consult for this matter. One that's familiar with gender changes and immigration?

Thanx

[Quarknase 1,072]

Just now, SusieQQQ said:

But if you are male as I assume, and the passport has her identity as female, then it’s not same sex and you should be able to register it in Sierra Leone?

I believe OP's concern is that, since the US know's about the gender change, that they will challenge the validity of the marriage certificate which he can obtain with her passport only.

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

1 minute ago, Quarknase said:

I believe OP's concern is that, since the US know's about the gender change, that they will challenge the validity of the marriage certificate which he can obtain with her passport only.

I updated my post already to reflect that

and anyway

if her passport, an official US government issued identity document, says she is female then why would they not accept that she is female?

Edited December 13, 2019 by SusieQQQ

[Quarknase 1,072]

7 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

I updated my post already to reflect that

and anyway

if her passport, an official US government issued identity document, says she is female then why would they not accept that she is female?

I'm with you on that.

I'll try to elaborate further on what I believe the concern is: If I understand correctly than the marriage would not be legal in Sierra Leone if they know that she changed the gender - both gender change and same sex marriage are not legal there.

So the US could (I say could) potentially state that the marriage certificate would not have been issued if the country where the marriage was held had known about her previous gender.

 

OP is that what you asked?

 

If gender change is legal in Sierra Leone, then I stand corrected.

 

Now in my personal opinion, since all of the above are legal in the US, they should be OK accepting the marriage certificate. But my opinion is by no means qualified advise

 

Edited December 13, 2019 by Quarknase

[Boiler 45,903]

Certainly if the marriage certificate was obtained through misrepresentation that would be an issue.