Marriage outside the U.S. on a K-1 visa

[zqt3344 21]

My darling Sasha and I hope to be together by spring 2008. We want to get married soon after her arrival in an attempt to adjust her status sooner than later. We have also decided to celebrate the occasion with a very small, private wedding away from our home in Virginia. Rather than spending loads of money for a large formal wedding that will only satisfy relatives and friends, we've opted to spend very little on the actual wedding and enjoy a nice long romantic honeymoon. If we spend thousands and thousands on a wedding, we will not be able to take a nice honeymoon together. We would like to take off for somewhere tropical, marry there, vacation for a week, then come home. I'm not sure if she will be able to travel to the Virgin Islands, Jamaica, Barbados, or other Carribean Islands. Is it possible?? Or perhaps we will be limited to somewhere within the U.S. We would settle for Florida or Hawaii, but would prefer to go to the Carribean. I'm sure if I researched enough online I would find the answers, but I'm medicated right now for a severe migraine and I'm feeling quite lazy. So, thanks for anyone who can answer this for me definitively.

Also, does it matter if we get married in any place other than our home state? Thanks again...

Jason:

She can go to US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Guam, Hawaiian Islands, anything that is a US state/territory only. Know from experience. You will not be going to any place in Carrib unless it is US owned.

Good idea on the wedding it is pain in the ####### and loads of money to have one in $1000s and more like 10s of thousands.

Do yourself a favor and get your marriage license in your own home town or county before you actually fly off somewhere to say the I Dos, reason is you will have to have that marriage license and certificate copy to mail in with AOS application once you get back off the honeymoon. You will have 2-4 week delay waiting on that license of marriage. Best thing for what you want is to go apply for license, in your town or county, go to county recorder at county seat town/city and or call them and ask what they require, each state is different in how they handle applying for marriage license, once found out, then get it done, you can then take your finance to the county judge or whomever the recorder recommends that is available, and they will lead you through nuptials, then it is over, sign everything and make sure you get the marriage license recorded that day on spot at courthouse recorder office. Now here is the delay some court recorders claim they cannot do all that in one day and they are overwhelmed with other work and it will be 1, 2, 3 o 4 weeks before they will record it and mail back to you, or sometimes in normal wedding the preacher forgets to go record it right away or mail to county recorder which then delays it another 1 to 2 weeks. BUT since you are going to do what you are, no wedding that should not be a problem for you to worry about, you just need to get in touch with your local county recorder at your town/city county seat and find ask what you need to do or have in order to get married in your state? they will know, then get on it and do it. I would say that some states allow you both to be in person, to apply on spot, pay fees, then go before judge to do nuptials, then have license recorded and then get original and copies that same day, I would recommend a tuesday, wednesday or thursday. Or just ask the county recorder which days are best for them to do this. Good luck.

ZQT3344

[zqt3344 21]

My darling Sasha and I hope to be together by spring 2008. We want to get married soon after her arrival in an attempt to adjust her status sooner than later. We have also decided to celebrate the occasion with a very small, private wedding away from our home in Virginia. Rather than spending loads of money for a large formal wedding that will only satisfy relatives and friends, we've opted to spend very little on the actual wedding and enjoy a nice long romantic honeymoon. If we spend thousands and thousands on a wedding, we will not be able to take a nice honeymoon together. We would like to take off for somewhere tropical, marry there, vacation for a week, then come home. I'm not sure if she will be able to travel to the Virgin Islands, Jamaica, Barbados, or other Carribean Islands. Is it possible?? Or perhaps we will be limited to somewhere within the U.S. We would settle for Florida or Hawaii, but would prefer to go to the Carribean. I'm sure if I researched enough online I would find the answers, but I'm medicated right now for a severe migraine and I'm feeling quite lazy. So, thanks for anyone who can answer this for me definitively.

Also, does it matter if we get married in any place other than our home state? Thanks again...

Jason:

She can go to US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Guam, Hawaiian Islands, anything that is a US state/territory only. Know from experience. You will not be going to any place in Carrib unless it is US owned.

Good idea on the wedding it is pain in the ####### and loads of money to have one in $1000s and more like 10s of thousands.

Do yourself a favor and get your marriage license in your own home town or county before you actually fly off somewhere to say the I Dos, reason is you will have to have that marriage license and certificate copy to mail in with AOS application once you get back off the honeymoon. You will have 2-4 week delay waiting on that license of marriage. Best thing for what you want is to go apply for license, in your town or county, go to county recorder at county seat town/city and or call them and ask what they require, each state is different in how they handle applying for marriage license, once found out, then get it done, you can then take your finance to the county judge or whomever the recorder recommends that is available, and they will lead you through nuptials, then it is over, sign everything and make sure you get the marriage license recorded that day on spot at courthouse recorder office. Now here is the delay some court recorders claim they cannot do all that in one day and they are overwhelmed with other work and it will be 1, 2, 3 o 4 weeks before they will record it and mail back to you, or sometimes in normal wedding the preacher forgets to go record it right away or mail to county recorder which then delays it another 1 to 2 weeks. BUT since you are going to do what you are, no wedding that should not be a problem for you to worry about, you just need to get in touch with your local county recorder at your town/city county seat and find ask what you need to do or have in order to get married in your state? they will know, then get on it and do it. I would say that some states allow you both to be in person, to apply on spot, pay fees, then go before judge to do nuptials, then have license recorded and then get original and copies that same day, I would recommend a tuesday, wednesday or thursday. Or just ask the county recorder which days are best for them to do this. Good luck.

ZQT3344

IMPORTANT: Also forgot to give you a tip, if you do take honeymoon outside continentalUSA or fly anywhere in USA make sure you book the airline ticket in your finance's maiden name since that will be the same name on her Russian passport and you will not have had time to change her name legally to your married name, reason I say this in case you were unable to get a copy of the marriage license to take with you to prove she is the person on that ticket when she presents ID of her passport at airport you are going to have some headaches or delays to get on that flight. Simple easy thing to do is book the airline ticket in her maiden name and not her married name, thus when they check her ID they will see the I-94 stamp in passport and realize what is going on anyway that she is a K1 and no big deal, but believe me it will save you a headache, cause it will cause major confusion otherwise and if you do not have that marriage license in hand to prove the name change which will not match that Russian passport, they may not allow her on the plane, I have seen that happen to a couple.

ZQT3344

[LaL 418]

I think the big fear of honemooning outside the continental USA (or for AK, HI, etc outside their state) is due to re-routing of trips. It is possible to wind up in a situation that could be troublesome. Yes, you can go to some non-continental places, however there can at times be some unforseen issues. It is up to you if it is worth it. There is always the option of marrrying, applying for AP, then going on the honeymoon.

[Caladan 19]

I think the big fear of honemooning outside the continental USA (or for AK, HI, etc outside their state) is due to re-routing of trips. It is possible to wind up in a situation that could be troublesome. Yes, you can go to some non-continental places, however there can at times be some unforseen issues. It is up to you if it is worth it. There is always the option of marrrying, applying for AP, then going on the honeymoon.

Yup. Hawai'i is a state, and kind of isolated, so you're probably okay there, but if you're thinking of a cruise or a trip to some of the Caribbean islands, what are you going to do if a storm blows in and your boat or flight is rerouted somewhere outside of U.S. territory?

[pushbrk 13,166]

My darling Sasha and I hope to be together by spring 2008. We want to get married soon after her arrival in an attempt to adjust her status sooner than later. We have also decided to celebrate the occasion with a very small, private wedding away from our home in Virginia. Rather than spending loads of money for a large formal wedding that will only satisfy relatives and friends, we've opted to spend very little on the actual wedding and enjoy a nice long romantic honeymoon. If we spend thousands and thousands on a wedding, we will not be able to take a nice honeymoon together. We would like to take off for somewhere tropical, marry there, vacation for a week, then come home. I'm not sure if she will be able to travel to the Virgin Islands, Jamaica, Barbados, or other Carribean Islands. Is it possible?? Or perhaps we will be limited to somewhere within the U.S. We would settle for Florida or Hawaii, but would prefer to go to the Carribean. I'm sure if I researched enough online I would find the answers, but I'm medicated right now for a severe migraine and I'm feeling quite lazy. So, thanks for anyone who can answer this for me definitively.

Also, does it matter if we get married in any place other than our home state? Thanks again...

the wedding it is pain in the ####### and loads of money to have one in $1000s and more like 10s of thousands.

Do yourself a favor and get your marriage license in your own home town or county before you actually fly off somewhere to say the I Dos, reason is you will have to have that marriage license and certificate copy to mail in with AOS application once you get back off the honeymoon.

This won't work. You need a marriage license issued in the jurisdiction (In the US, it's the County.) where the actual marriage took place. You can't get married in Florida on a Virginia marriage license.

[Krikit 1,165]

Do yourself a favor and get your marriage license in your own home town or county before you actually fly off somewhere to say the I Dos, reason is you will have to have that marriage license and certificate copy to mail in with AOS application once you get back off the honeymoon. [/b]

This won't work. You need a marriage license issued in the jurisdiction (In the US, it's the County.) where the actual marriage took place. You can't get married in Florida on a Virginia marriage license.

I read it that way at first, too, so I re-read it. I think there's a language barrier and the poster actually means "Have a civil marriage before you fly off to do the ceremony because some jurisdictions won't give you a copy of the marriage certificate right away."

[Fandango 1,440]

Edit: the whole 'welcome to VJ thing' for an 05 member has been covered.

Jason-Sasha....is this a windup? Cos you should already know the answer to 'can my K-1 fiancee leave the country without AP?' Let alone for a wedding where you haven't even filed for AP yet

If not, you really need to read up on the next stage, my friend!

Edited October 30, 2007 by LisaD

[~Laura and Nick~ 5]

Edit: the whole 'welcome to VJ thing' for an 05 member has been covered.

Did you make fun of me Lisa? It was late ok!?!! LOL

[pushbrk 13,166]

Do yourself a favor and get your marriage license in your own home town or county before you actually fly off somewhere to say the I Dos, reason is you will have to have that marriage license and certificate copy to mail in with AOS application once you get back off the honeymoon. [/b]

This won't work. You need a marriage license issued in the jurisdiction (In the US, it's the County.) where the actual marriage took place. You can't get married in Florida on a Virginia marriage license.

I read it that way at first, too, so I re-read it. I think there's a language barrier and the poster actually means "Have a civil marriage before you fly off to do the ceremony because some jurisdictions won't give you a copy of the marriage certificate right away."

Perhaps but it's not how you read it. It's how it is written. I'm not interested in criticizing the author. I'm interested in correcting misinformation, regardless of how it happened to be provided.

[zqt3344 21]

Do yourself a favor and get your marriage license in your own home town or county before you actually fly off somewhere to say the I Dos, reason is you will have to have that marriage license and certificate copy to mail in with AOS application once you get back off the honeymoon. [/b]

This won't work. You need a marriage license issued in the jurisdiction (In the US, it's the County.) where the actual marriage took place. You can't get married in Florida on a Virginia marriage license.

I read it that way at first, too, so I re-read it. I think there's a language barrier and the poster actually means "Have a civil marriage before you fly off to do the ceremony because some jurisdictions won't give you a copy of the marriage certificate right away."

Perhaps but it's not how you read it. It's how it is written. I'm not interested in criticizing the author. I'm interested in correcting misinformation, regardless of how it happened to be provided.

Jason

Like I said, for what you want and asked and this is not misinformation: To get married the quickest least expensive way is for you and finance to say your official I-Do's at your nearest county seat town/city at court house once your finance arrives at your residence in USA. Call or go to the County Recorders office. AND do it before you leave on honeymoon or plan to go off somewhere and perform a reenactment/exchanging vows again of a wedding ceremony in other place you go on honeymoon. The fact of the matter is that the exchanging of vows in a church or wherever place they may be done do not mean anything UNTIL you and finance officially apply and sign marriage license application at county seat courthouse, then take that application marriage license to your preacher, then exchange vows and only after wedding vows of normal ceremony does a preacher and your best man and best lady sign and witness the wedding vows at the ceremony and make it official, which the preacher then takes this marriage license to have recorded at county courthouse, which then mails back to you or you can pick up later(the delay in time). THE FASTEST AND LEGAL WAY for your situation is Once you go and apply for wedding license at your nearest county seat and sign the papers and pay fees for marriage license, ask county recorder for a judge there available to perform the nuptials for you two and witness the marriage thus you go before a judge(to witness it) and say the nuptials then have it recorded with County Recorder office, you hopefully will have the official marriage license and copy in your hands that day, then you are free to go honeymoon and whilest on the honeymoon(within USA and territories of USA) if you choose to you can have an exchanging of wedding vows or renactment per se on your honeymoon but you will not have to file anything or reapply for a marriage license since you already have one officially before you left in your own state, AND this is factual and speaking from experience numerous couples do this all the time, go before judge get married then have the official wedding service later or do the exchanging vows on honeymoon wedding destination for romance part of it when in reality they are officially already married and do not have to sign anything or pay for another marriage license. It is a recommendation to you that will save you a lot of time and expense. Also you can fly into Hawaiian Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico or US Virgin Islands, just do not go or take any other excursions or boats or planes out of US territory, so I would stay off boats that may be entering non US waters or planes making stops at them. And if you take a cruise, might check and see with USCIS their official policy on that, I doubt you will have problems as long as you stay on the boat and do not leave it at a port that is non US, but double check for yourself on the cruise for I am not 100% sure, BUT on the plane flights to those US islands of Hawaii, Guam, Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands, YES you can go and fly to them no problems and leave to come back to mainland USA no problems and I AM SPEAKING FROM EXPERIENCE.

ZQT3344

[zqt3344 21]

Do yourself a favor and get your marriage license in your own home town or county before you actually fly off somewhere to say the I Dos, reason is you will have to have that marriage license and certificate copy to mail in with AOS application once you get back off the honeymoon. [/b]

This won't work. You need a marriage license issued in the jurisdiction (In the US, it's the County.) where the actual marriage took place. You can't get married in Florida on a Virginia marriage license.

I read it that way at first, too, so I re-read it. I think there's a language barrier and the poster actually means "Have a civil marriage before you fly off to do the ceremony because some jurisdictions won't give you a copy of the marriage certificate right away."

You got it, THAT IS CORRECT! sorry do not have time to type long answer. But what I said does work and it works well.

[zqt3344 21]

Flights are DIRECT from mainland USA to Hawaii and are not rerouted to anywhere else.

I think the big fear of honemooning outside the continental USA (or for AK, HI, etc outside their state) is due to re-routing of trips. It is possible to wind up in a situation that could be troublesome. Yes, you can go to some non-continental places, however there can at times be some unforseen issues. It is up to you if it is worth it. There is always the option of marrrying, applying for AP, then going on the honeymoon.

Yup. Hawai'i is a state, and kind of isolated, so you're probably okay there, but if you're thinking of a cruise or a trip to some of the Caribbean islands, what are you going to do if a storm blows in and your boat or flight is rerouted somewhere outside of U.S. territory?

[Jason-Sasha 1]

Whoa! I didnt expect so many responses. Thank you all. There was some confusion I guess from my wording. Not sure, but from everyone's info i have been able to piece everything together. My main concern was actually marrying somewhere other than our home state. Somewhere that would double as a nice honeymoon spot. Doesn't need to be outside the continental U.S. but would be a nice option. Our objective isn't necessarily to save money, it's to adjust quickly. So the idea of a civil marriage fits this very well. though, we don't want to remember being married at the courthouse. we want to remember being married in a beautiful, natural setting. There's nothing wrong with a courthouse marriage, but we don't want this. I didn't think about each state requiring a different license issued by that state to marry there. This changes things. In Virginia you can have a license in 30 minutes. I dont know how long it takes to get a license for other states. So, this I learned from the responses. Thanks. Also wasn't thinking about the possibilities of being rerouted by plane to a non-US place. Carribean is out. Thanks. I have read through the next steps of the process, but right now we have several months remaining for even an NOA2. So, I think I'm safe. Thanks again.

Edited October 30, 2007 by Jason-Sasha

[~Nini~ 2]

I didn't think about each state requiring a different license issued by that state to marry there. This changes things. In Virginia you can have a license in 30 minutes. I dont know how long it takes to get a license for other states.

Yar, it's really something to consider, especially with the plans that you've been considering. (Which sound lovely, by the way!)

Keep in mind that even if you do apply for a marriage license and receive it on the spot, sometimes they're not valid for a few days. When we applied for our marriage license at the Chester County courthouse in PA, we thought we'd have to wait three days like it said on the website. Turns out that we did receive it on the spot, but it wasn't valid for another three days. Like you, we were concerned about adjusting status as quickly as possible.

As zqt3344 also mentioned, there are going to be some states which will take forever to issue a certified copy of your marriage certificate. Some states take weeks to record the marriage down in the county clerk's office, while other states can process copies on the spot in merely a few days. In your position I would definitely see which states offer faster processing, since I don't think you want to be stuck in Florida waiting for your certified copies to go through! (And you'll definitely want those certified copies for any "official" stuff like SSN, driver's license, name changes, etc...)

Edited October 30, 2007 by Nini & Bee

[DKM 0]

I think the big fear of honemooning outside the continental USA (or for AK, HI, etc outside their state) is due to re-routing of trips. It is possible to wind up in a situation that could be troublesome. Yes, you can go to some non-continental places, however there can at times be some unforseen issues. It is up to you if it is worth it. There is always the option of marrrying, applying for AP, then going on the honeymoon.

Yup. Hawai'i is a state, and kind of isolated, so you're probably okay there, but if you're thinking of a cruise or a trip to some of the Caribbean islands, what are you going to do if a storm blows in and your boat or flight is rerouted somewhere outside of U.S. territory?

Negative, you cannot take a caribbean cruise with someone on a K-1, even if it departs Florida and only goes to the USVI. As soon as that boat hits international waters, everyone will be subject to immigration control. The only cruise you can take is in the hawaiian islands.

Jason, we had the same issues come up in our planning and like someone else suggested, we are taking our honeymoon next week well before we get married. Thailand is a great place for that and Russians love it (and its easy and cheap to get her there).