Getting married in Mexico: Russian and American

[Strawberrymermaid 346]

Hello! I wanted to share my experience getting married to my Russian husband in Mexico. It was actually a fairly easy process. ❤️ I went the resort route but there’s another nice girl that went the wedding planner route, maybe she can share her experience if she feels comfortable! 
 

Note: each state in Mexico has different requirements. These are the requirements from Quintana Roo (Cancun area)
 

Where: We went the resort route and got married in Cancun. I felt like going this route was helpful because they take care of all the legalities, paperwork, and blood tests for you. The resort was pretty terrible at communication until we got there and then it was amazing. It was expensive but it was worth it. 
 

Flights: At this time Turkey and Russia still had flights operating between them so he flew Turkish airlines. I imagine now the hardest thing would be finding a flight but you could probably transit through Europe as long as it doesn’t go through the US at any point. I flew Delta, super easy flight. 

Time requirements:

Bride and Groom must be in Mexico 3 business days before wedding. Arrival day and wedding day don’t count. 
Bride and Groom must both be divorced for at least a year. We have both never been previously married so this didn’t apply to us. 

 

Documents needed: 

- Tourist cards (they give you these on the plane to Mexico. Don’t lose them!)

- Copies of both passports 

- Blood test. They did this at the resort. I felt very safe and it wasn’t sketchy or anything in case someone is worried about that. They test your blood for STDs and HIV Etc. 
- Witnesses. There must be 4 witnesses who have also been in Mexico for 3 business days. However, the resort can provide these for you. Some do it free of cost and others do it for like 25-50 dollars per person. 
what you DONT need: apostille birth certificates. It says online you need this and I was freaking out because I wasn’t sure my husband could get this from his hometown. We didn’t end up needing it. 
 

Other info:

- Get your marriage certificate translated to English, again the resort did this for us. 

- For US purposes you do not need an apostille. You can apply for I-130 without it. For Russia, you do need it. It took us like 3-4 weeks after the wedding to get, she mailed it to my house. It was also like 500 dollars 😅. 
- Russia also is very particular about translations and such. The husband or wife in Russia will need to get it translated there, notarized there too. You cannot get it translated in Mexico or the US and then try to send it there. They need it translated in Russia and notarized by a Russian notary. 
- While it’s tempting to switch from K1, it’s a different beast. With the I-129f, all applications (well most) pretty much go to one service center, California. You know within 5-8 months it will most likely be processed. The vast majority at least. The I-130 can go to 5 service centers and you don’t get to pick. From what I can see, they also don’t tell you when they transfer them and processing times are all over the place. Like you could be waiting for uscis to process it anywhere from 2 months to 3 years. There’s a very lucky few who seem to get processed in 2-3 months while most others wait around a year a more. They also tell everyone that you are at Nebraska online (which seems so exciting), but surprise it’s elsewhere and you have to call or ask Emma to check. So you will be waiting a while and must be patient. Just keep that in mind. ❤️
- It’s also slightly complicated to get a private visa right now to visit in Russia, if you don’t already have a tourist visa or some other document allowing you to travel there. You must have all the right copies and translations of everything which can take awhile. We got married in February and still haven’t gotten everything we need as the research is extensive and hard to figure out. But we are about to get to the end and I’m applying for one soon. They are also only issuing 1 or 2 time entry 90 day visas right now. 
 

hope that helps!!! Good luck everyone. 

[millefleur 5,046]

16 minutes ago, Strawberrymermaid said:

also to add: Russian citizen needs to get online e-visa for Mexico, super easy. 

Thanks for the informative write up. Lovely picture!

 

One plus about getting translations done in Russia is that it is usually quite cheap and fast. I would recommend getting all translations done there rather than here in the US. The only thing I recommend: double check all translations yourself. I've caught multiple errors (typos, etc) in mine before, even though it was professionally translated. It's always good to have another set of eyes check it to make sure.

Edited May 2, 2021 by millefleur

[Caboose29 173]

If my lawyer and I can’t find a reasonable 3rd country embassy to adjudicate my fiancé’s K1, this will be my plan “b”.  Thank you for sharing your knowledge!!

[Jessystar16 20]

Yes so i did the same thing. However I was at an Airbnb and didn't go the resort route. I had contacted a marriage agency in Cancun. The guy is actually Russian so it was very helpful for my husband to understand. He took care of the blood tests, witnesses and translation to English as well as the apostille. About the same timeline as @Strawberrymermaid but the guy I worked with was able to get the apostille in a few days and I had everything with me by the time I left Mexico. I was married January 15. Went back to the US on February 1st and started the process to get a Russian private visa. I was able to enter Russia April 1st for 90 days. 

 

Like mentioned it was hard to find all the info and although this may not help speed up the process of coming to america it helps to not be separated for so long. 

 

Entry to mexico is quite easy but I have found that you have to be careful what you say at the border. My husband was detained for a few hours at the border but they let him go. From russia there are flights transiting through Turkey. 

[Giodude 40]

10 hours ago, Jessystar16 said:

The guy is actually Russian so it was very helpful for my husband to understand.

Hey do you mind sharing his information? I think it would be easier if both my fiancee and him speak Russian.
Thanks. 🙏

[Jessystar16 20]

10 minutes ago, Giodude said:

Hey do you mind sharing his information? I think it would be easier if both my fiancee and him speak Russian.
Thanks. 🙏

Sure! I'll send you a message

[Dilsh 0]

Can you guys explain to me the benefits of getting married in Mexico and filing application to bring your fiancée to America? Is it faster than regular traditional way of cr1/ir1 ? I applied for k1 visa  and received NOA2 in October 2020, we are still waiting for nvc to send our case to the embassy. So I am looking for ways to speed up the process or different ways to bring my fiancée to USA. 

[Strawberrymermaid 346]

On 7/10/2021 at 10:14 PM, Dilsh said:

Can you guys explain to me the benefits of getting married in Mexico and filing application to bring your fiancée to America? Is it faster than regular traditional way of cr1/ir1 ? I applied for k1 visa  and received NOA2 in October 2020, we are still waiting for nvc to send our case to the embassy. So I am looking for ways to speed up the process or different ways to bring my fiancée to USA. 

It is definitely not faster, or fast at all but we opted to go for cr1 rather than k1 (after 9ish months of waiting for NOA2 that never came). Mexico was just a place it was possible for us to get to and get married. I’m visiting my husband in Russia now and considering moving here until we can be together in the US. 

[DaveAndAnastasia 2,086]

On 7/10/2021 at 12:14 PM, Dilsh said:

Is it faster than regular traditional way of cr1/ir1 ?

You're still doing a CR-1/IR-1 (the US does not care where you got married, providing all previous marriages have been ended and the parties could marry legally in the US).

 

The typical reason to get married in a third country (rather than the US or your fiancé(e)'s country of residence) is because your fiancé(e) can't easily get a US tourist visa and the process of legally marrying in their country is somewhat complicated (it was pre-pandemic, but the major reason we did a K-1 was because marrying in Russia was impractical -- I couldn't reasonably spend a long time in Russia -- and it seemed unlikely Anastasia would be able to get a tourist visa). Mexico is simply somewhere Russians and Americans can legally enter and two foreigners can marry quickly.

 

In normal times, Denmark, Iceland, and various Caribbean countries are often suggested as good places for third-country weddings.

[cndrbk 15]

On 5/2/2021 at 12:28 PM, Strawberrymermaid said:

Hello! I wanted to share my experience getting married to my Russian husband in Mexico. It was actually a fairly easy process. ❤️ I went the resort route but there’s another nice girl that went the wedding planner route, maybe she can share her experience if she feels comfortable! 
 

Note: each state in Mexico has different requirements. These are the requirements from Quintana Roo (Cancun area)
 

Where: We went the resort route and got married in Cancun. I felt like going this route was helpful because they take care of all the legalities, paperwork, and blood tests for you. The resort was pretty terrible at communication until we got there and then it was amazing. It was expensive but it was worth it. 
 

Flights: At this time Turkey and Russia still had flights operating between them so he flew Turkish airlines. I imagine now the hardest thing would be finding a flight but you could probably transit through Europe as long as it doesn’t go through the US at any point. I flew Delta, super easy flight. 

Time requirements:

Bride and Groom must be in Mexico 3 business days before wedding. Arrival day and wedding day don’t count. 
Bride and Groom must both be divorced for at least a year. We have both never been previously married so this didn’t apply to us. 

 

Documents needed: 

- Tourist cards (they give you these on the plane to Mexico. Don’t lose them!)

- Copies of both passports 

- Blood test. They did this at the resort. I felt very safe and it wasn’t sketchy or anything in case someone is worried about that. They test your blood for STDs and HIV Etc. 
- Witnesses. There must be 4 witnesses who have also been in Mexico for 3 business days. However, the resort can provide these for you. Some do it free of cost and others do it for like 25-50 dollars per person. 
what you DONT need: apostille birth certificates. It says online you need this and I was freaking out because I wasn’t sure my husband could get this from his hometown. We didn’t end up needing it. 
 

Other info:

- Get your marriage certificate translated to English, again the resort did this for us. 

- For US purposes you do not need an apostille. You can apply for I-130 without it. For Russia, you do need it. It took us like 3-4 weeks after the wedding to get, she mailed it to my house. It was also like 500 dollars 😅. 
- Russia also is very particular about translations and such. The husband or wife in Russia will need to get it translated there, notarized there too. You cannot get it translated in Mexico or the US and then try to send it there. They need it translated in Russia and notarized by a Russian notary. 
- While it’s tempting to switch from K1, it’s a different beast. With the I-129f, all applications (well most) pretty much go to one service center, California. You know within 5-8 months it will most likely be processed. The vast majority at least. The I-130 can go to 5 service centers and you don’t get to pick. From what I can see, they also don’t tell you when they transfer them and processing times are all over the place. Like you could be waiting for uscis to process it anywhere from 2 months to 3 years. There’s a very lucky few who seem to get processed in 2-3 months while most others wait around a year a more. They also tell everyone that you are at Nebraska online (which seems so exciting), but surprise it’s elsewhere and you have to call or ask Emma to check. So you will be waiting a while and must be patient. Just keep that in mind. ❤️
- It’s also slightly complicated to get a private visa right now to visit in Russia, if you don’t already have a tourist visa or some other document allowing you to travel there. You must have all the right copies and translations of everything which can take awhile. We got married in February and still haven’t gotten everything we need as the research is extensive and hard to figure out. But we are about to get to the end and I’m applying for one soon. They are also only issuing 1 or 2 time entry 90 day visas right now. 
 

hope that helps!!! Good luck everyone. 

 

Thanks for sharing and beautiful picture indeed
I've messaged you before.. thanks always for your kind responses. My husband and I also got married in Mexico. We filed I-130 in May this year and now we're considering I-129f.

 

I have a quick question about I-129f. 

 Page 8, Part 2, Items 62a-b Consular Processing Information. (Your beneficiary will apply for a visa abroad at the US Embassy or US Consulate at:)

 

Did you put Mexico City, Mexico since you got married in Mexico?

 

I was reading the instructions and I saw:

 

NOTE: Under US immigration law, a foreign national who marries a US citizen outside the US and seeks a K-3 visa must apply for the K-3 visa in the country where the marriage took place. (Page 6, Paragraph 5)

 

Thank you in advance

[DaveAndAnastasia 2,086]

Note that all K-3 applications are administratively changed into CR-1 applications; no K-3s have been issued in over a year, and for years before that the total number for the entire year was in the single digits.

 

There are intermittent internet rumors that applying for a K-3 makes your CR-1/IR-1 application go faster, but I've never seen any hard data on this, and it means file an extra form and paying more fees.

Edited August 25, 2021 by DaveAndAnastasia

[cndrbk 15]

20 hours ago, DaveAndAnastasia said:

Note that all K-3 applications are administratively changed into CR-1 applications; no K-3s have been issued in over a year, and for years before that the total number for the entire year was in the single digits.

 

There are intermittent internet rumors that applying for a K-3 makes your CR-1/IR-1 application go faster, but I've never seen any hard data on this, and it means file an extra form and paying more fees.

Thanks.

It doesn't cost anything if you have filed i-130 already, just fyi.

 

You're right but some filers from spring this year are getting approved after they sent i-129f. It may just be a coincidence but if there is a chance, I'd def do it too.

[Strawberrymermaid 346]

On 8/25/2021 at 12:52 AM, cndrbk said:

 

Thanks for sharing and beautiful picture indeed
I've messaged you before.. thanks always for your kind responses. My husband and I also got married in Mexico. We filed I-130 in May this year and now we're considering I-129f.

 

I have a quick question about I-129f. 

 Page 8, Part 2, Items 62a-b Consular Processing Information. (Your beneficiary will apply for a visa abroad at the US Embassy or US Consulate at:)

 

Did you put Mexico City, Mexico since you got married in Mexico?

 

I was reading the instructions and I saw:

 

NOTE: Under US immigration law, a foreign national who marries a US citizen outside the US and seeks a K-3 visa must apply for the K-3 visa in the country where the marriage took place. (Page 6, Paragraph 5)

 

Thank you in advance

Hi @cndrbk! Okay so I retract my statement, I thought maybe the I-129F did not help, but I got approved today. PD March 5, NOA2 August 27, so just under 6 months. Others at Potomac that don't send it in wait 10-12 months so almost twice as long. I do think it helped. I did not put in the Mexico embassy in that section because I was just using the I-129F to try to push the I-130 to get looked at faster. I actually didn't even see that was a requirement until now. I do think it helped in my case. But I also think Potomac is going a little faster than they were last year. Who knows if it helped or not. But I thought it was worth a shot. Fingers crossed for you!!

Edited August 27, 2021 by Strawberrymermaid

[cndrbk 15]

2 hours ago, Strawberrymermaid said:

Hi @cndrbk! Okay so I retract my statement, I thought maybe the I-129F did not help, but I got approved today. PD March 5, NOA2 August 27, so just under 6 months. Others at Potomac that don't send it in wait 10-12 months so almost twice as long. I do think it helped. I did not put in the Mexico embassy in that section because I was just using the I-129F to try to push the I-130 to get looked at faster. I actually didn't even see that was a requirement until now. I do think it helped in my case. But I also think Potomac is going a little faster than they were last year. Who knows if it helped or not. But I thought it was worth a shot. Fingers crossed for you!!

Congratulations @Strawberrymermaid!! That's great news. I'm super happy for you. You've been very sweet and kind since day one, and I appreciate it a lot.

 

When did you file I-129F (for K-3) again?

 

I'm putting together I-129F right now as well. I hope it's gonna help us too.

Congrats and thanks again!

[Strawberrymermaid 346]

1 hour ago, cndrbk said:

Congratulations @Strawberrymermaid!! That's great news. I'm super happy for you. You've been very sweet and kind since day one, and I appreciate it a lot.

 

When did you file I-129F (for K-3) again?

 

I'm putting together I-129F right now as well. I hope it's gonna help us too.

Congrats and thanks again!

Thank you so much for your kind words ❤️
 

sent the I-129f exactly 2 months after the 1-130!