Two marriage certificates

[K!1 0]

Hello all. My case is IR1/CR1. My wife is a US citizen and we got married in a third country (both for a holiday, and for the marriage certificate being international) and a month later she filed for me using the marriage certificate from that country. We got the USCIS approval a couple months ago. But before that, my wife traveled to my country for a visit (a few months before the approval), and there we thought of registering the marriage in our home country as well. The problem was that the process was so hard (we had to get a lot of certificates, some of which we were not comfortable with, including a religious thing), so we opted to get a new marriage certificate, which we could get much sooner and much easier. The new marriage certificate has a newer date. Today I came upon a forum and realized that a second marriage to the same person (without a divorce in between) is illegal based on US laws. Now you might ask when we had an international marriage, why did we have to get married in my home country. Simply because my country doesn't recognize the marriage certificate from any other country, and we had to get one from our own country and be able to get a birth certificate for our future children, so that we could visit this home country without having to get a visa for our own children. Now I haven't presented this second marriage to any authorities regarding the immigration case, but what I read today really bugged me, and I got stressed out, because for the nvc stage we had to upload our birth certificates again since a page was changed, (the page with the marriage info from my home country, with a newer date). Back then I didn't know I was doing anything illegal, and so far we haven't come upon any problems. Now I wonder what I should do about it if it comes up during the interview.

[Crazy Cat 42,028]

If your first marriage certificate is legal in the place where it took place, that is your date of marriage.  If it comes up in the interview just explain it like you did here.

[SteveInBostonI130 3,477]

What is your home country?

[Family 4,110]

2 hours ago, K!1 said:

and so far we haven't come upon any problems. Now I wonder what I should do about it if it comes up during the interview.

You had no problems because you did not disclose the second marriage to USCIS ( while petition was pending) and waited for them to approve the I-130 …perhaps thinking “ they “ will never find out. 

The issue needs to be disclosed and dealt with on the DS-260 and at the interview…Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is Not a winning strategy for you. 
 

[K!1 0]

2 hours ago, Crazy Cat said:

If your first marriage certificate is legal in the place where it took place, that is your date of marriage.  If it comes up in the interview just explain it like you did here.

Yes the first one was legal and no problems there. That was the marriage we count for ourselves. Thanks I will do that.

[K!1 0]

1 hour ago, SteveInBostonI130 said:

What is your home country?

Let’s say an Islamic country. 🥴🥴

[K!1 0]

8 minutes ago, Family said:

You had no problems because you did not disclose the second marriage to USCIS ( while petition was pending) and waited for them to approve the I-130 …perhaps thinking “ they “ will never find out. 

The issue needs to be disclosed and dealt with on the DS-260 and at the interview…Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is Not a winning strategy for you. 
 

I wasn’t thinking about it, because I never thought it would be an issue. So if you’re suggesting I did some premeditated act, it’s not it, because I only learned about this matter today. I already sent the ds260 as well, waiting for dq. Also, I have disclosed everything needed from me.

Anyways it’s done and nothing I can do about it now.

[Mike E 11,742]

4 hours ago, K!1 said:

Today I came upon a forum and realized that a second marriage to the same person (without a divorce in between) is illegal based on US laws

This (being the entire premise of your thread) is not true.  
 

Marriage laws are determined by each state.  I know there are states where what you say is true: a married couple is not permitted to marry each other.  
 

And I know of at least one state where it is not true: a married couple is allowed to marry each other again:

 

https://www.health.ny.gov/vital_records/marriage_equality_frequently_asked_questions.htm

“What is a second or subsequent marriage ceremony?

 

A second or subsequent ceremony occurs when a couple can prove that they are already married to each other, regardless of where the marriage occurred and wish to remarry the same person (i.e., renew their vows) in New York State. This includes valid marriages between same-sex couples that have already occurred in other jurisdictions. New York State issues a second or subsequent marriage certificate to such couples. The 24-hour waiting period is not a requirement for second or subsequent ceremonies.“

 

Edited September 21, 2022 by Mike E

[nastra30 2,314]

3 hours ago, Mike E said:

This (being the entire premise of your thread) is not true.  
 

Marriage laws are determined by each state.  I know there are states where what you say is true: a married couple is not permitted to marry each other.  
 

And I know of at least one state where it is not true: a married couple is allowed to marry each other again:

 

https://www.health.ny.gov/vital_records/marriage_equality_frequently_asked_questions.htm

“What is a second or subsequent marriage ceremony?

 

A second or subsequent ceremony occurs when a couple can prove that they are already married to each other, regardless of where the marriage occurred and wish to remarry the same person (i.e., renew their vows) in New York State. This includes valid marriages between same-sex couples that have already occurred in other jurisdictions. New York State issues a second or subsequent marriage certificate to such couples. The 24-hour waiting period is not a requirement for second or subsequent ceremonies.“

 

Yup, NJ also allows existing married couples to re-marry again regardless of where the original marriage took place. NJ refers to this process as Remarriage. 

I actually recently educated a colleague who wanted to register their foreign marriage in NJ to do this. I advised him that his new NJ certificate will just be a glorified souvenir (LOL) and that he should always use his original foreign cert as proof of marriage when it comes to immigration stuff.

 

https://www.nj.gov/health/vital/registration-vital/marriage-licenses/

"Remarriage

For individuals who are currently married in New Jersey or are married in another state or country, the option exists to reaffirm your relationship/vows by registering a remarriage.
To apply for a remarriage, the couple must provide proof of their existing marriage, meet the requirements for entering into a marriage in New Jersey and follow the guidelines above to completing the license application. The process for a remarriage license is the same as for the marriage license, except that the remarriage license must be accompanied by the proof of existing marriage. There is no 72-hour waiting period before the license is issued."

 

[SteveInBostonI130 3,477]

7 hours ago, K!1 said:

Let’s say an Islamic country. 🥴🥴

 

You're pretty anonymous here.  Only the site admin would know your account information.  I am not sure about the moderators.

 

If you state your country - Pakistan, Qatar, Morocco, etc - then another poster here may have some information that could help.  I specifically would not be able to provide any informed input, but others may.

[K!1 0]

13 hours ago, Mike E said:

This (being the entire premise of your thread) is not true.  
 

Marriage laws are determined by each state.  I know there are states where what you say is true: a married couple is not permitted to marry each other.  
 

And I know of at least one state where it is not true: a married couple is allowed to marry each other again:

 

https://www.health.ny.gov/vital_records/marriage_equality_frequently_asked_questions.htm

“What is a second or subsequent marriage ceremony?

 

A second or subsequent ceremony occurs when a couple can prove that they are already married to each other, regardless of where the marriage occurred and wish to remarry the same person (i.e., renew their vows) in New York State. This includes valid marriages between same-sex couples that have already occurred in other jurisdictions. New York State issues a second or subsequent marriage certificate to such couples. The 24-hour waiting period is not a requirement for second or subsequent ceremonies.“

 

Yes I get your point. This actually was the premise of my question. I read something about a guy being married in US and marrying someone else in another country, which is obviously illegal, and then I went on searching more about marrying the same person and came upon this. Now I’m not worried about the state, I was more concerned about the immigration process and if it is an issue.

 

7 hours ago, SteveInBostonI130 said:

 

You're pretty anonymous here.  Only the site admin would know your account information.  I am not sure about the moderators.

 

If you state your country - Pakistan, Qatar, Morocco, etc - then another poster here may have some information that could help.  I specifically would not be able to provide any informed input, but others may.

You’re absolutely right. I’m a bit paranoid about my own country though, so I wanted to get some points for this specific situation. Because regardless of the country I’m applying from, this is something related to US immigration.