marriage in the U.S.
Printed From: Gringoes.com
Category: Brazil
Forum Name: Getting Married
Forum Discription: Ins and Outs of Marrying a Brazilian
URL: http://www.gringoes.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=15706
Printed Date: 21 May 2013 at 22:51
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 8.05a - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: marriage in the U.S.
Posted By: jessycruz
Subject: marriage in the U.S.
Date Posted: 19 June 2012 at 23:57
|
Hi!
I am Brazilian and my fiancee is american! we have been dating for over 4years and we plan on getting married in december! I have lived in the US with a student visa for 2 years. I would like to know what would be the easiest way to marry him? we plan on getting married on december 20 and then flying to brazil for our honeymoon on the 26th! would that be ok? I mean, can we just go and get a marriage license and certificate? would i be able to leave the country? would the US know i got married? what whould we do about this? thank you! |
Replies:
Posted By: KirkMcD
Date Posted: 20 June 2012 at 10:56
Go down to city/town hall with your passport and get a marriage license. Depending on local rules, you may need to wait a day or more to actually get married. While waiting find someone to marry you. A judge is usually easiest , ask around where you live.
Yes. Why wouldn't you be allowed to leave?
The federal government? No. Only the local government where you got married would know and then the state would find out.
Do about what? ------------- http://portugueselanguageinstitute.com - Portuguese Language Classes in NYC |
Posted By: Mineiro_Alemão
Date Posted: 21 June 2012 at 11:01
|
How fast and how easy (in terms of paper work) you can get married in the US, depends on the place where you get married. Depending on the state/city you can get married within a few hours. To give you more specific information, you should provide more details about the place where you plan to get married. BOA SORTE! ------------- 
|
Posted By: Steven
Date Posted: 21 June 2012 at 12:08
|
Your situation is too complex to answer here but a short answer is that if you get married and then leave the country the U.S. government will frown on your eventual Green Card application. In fact you are supposed to apply for a change in status on your visa long before you actually get married. Doing this, however, could conceivably get you kicked out of the country (student visa voided) until the government decides to act on your application for a fiance K-1 visa. There are many strategies to deal with your situation but you really should spend $100 for a consultation with an immigration lawyer before you do anything. A simple answer though is that once you get married in the U.S. - don't leave the country. You need to stay in the U.S. and apply for a change in status based on your marriage. You've been dating long enough that the government would likely not look at yours as a "marriage of convenience". But again - spend a few dollars and talk to an immigration lawyer on this. There are always ways to deal with situations in order to accomplish your goals. |
Posted By: Mineiro_Alemão
Date Posted: 22 June 2012 at 11:35
Wow, slow down, you are already two steps ahead!  So far she asked about getting married in the US, no word about staying in the US after marriage. Maybe they have other plans!?!?! Moving to Brazil or how knows where to !?!?!? -------------
|
Posted By: Steven
Date Posted: 22 June 2012 at 16:32
Maybe they are planning to move somewhere else but I would bet two years of your salary that they're planning on staying in the U.S.
At any rate, in the very unlikely case that the U.S. finds out that she got married while she was there on a student visa she could lose the visa and get booted out. I still say - money well spent to check with an immigration lawyer. I know (from experience) that they only charge around $100 for a consultation to help explore creative options.
|
Posted By: jessycruz
Date Posted: 24 June 2012 at 20:43
|
hey guys! thanks for the replies!!
we do plan on living in the US after we get married. The only reason I would want to leave right after the marriage is because of my honeymoon and my parents are having a big party for us in brazil. we heard that getting married in the states would have less complications than if we got married in brazil. We're still 6 months away from the wedding, but since we have party plans here in brazil, i wanna make sure we will be able to attend our own party! we live in Salt Lake city, Utah. Any recommendations? FYI we are mormon, so here's what we thought we should do. This is just us thinking on our own.. so we get our marriage license and then have our wedding performed by one of our church leaders. I heard all I would need (I am brazilian) was my passport and my fiance (american) his ID and such. Since I do have a student visa, we thought we would just go to brazil and a vacation (which i am allowed to have in between my semesters) and have our party in Brazil, and when we came back (me on my student visa for school), we would file the documents to change my status and such. Are we somewhat in the right path? I will be getting some professional help once I get back in the states this month, but for now, I would like to have a little idea of what could be done. thank you all once again! |
Posted By: Steven
Date Posted: 24 June 2012 at 21:32
|
No - you are not on the right path. If the US government finds out that you got married on a student visa and then left the country to return to Brazil for a honeymoon and then came back and applied for a Green Card they will not be happy. You might even be kicked out of the country.
Fortunately you have lots of time before the wedding. There are ways to deal with this. (2 weddings? One before you leave on your honeymoon for the benefit of the family and one after you come back? The second one being the "official one" for Green Card application? By the way - this would also be frowned on if discovered and is a tricky maneuver. You need to understand - you are applying for a "change of status" and you are not allowed to leave the country if your status changes, i.e. if you get married.
Spend the money for the lawyer and look at options. But this is not a "happily forever after" scenario. The U.S. government does not accept exchange students getting married and trying to stay without properly requesting permission ahead of time.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news but you really are not allowed to do what you want to do. But...there are creative ways to deal with this. Again, talk to an experienced immigration lawyer.
|
Posted By: jessycruz
Date Posted: 24 June 2012 at 21:44
|
yah I totally understand why that would be a problem. I just thought since I am allowed to be in the country until I finish school (which will be in a couple more years), it would be "ok" to just go ahead and get married, since living in the US to study, still gives me the right to have a life, right?
ugh, I'm just so worried our plans won't turn out the way we want them to! I'm just scared we won't be able to live together...or something horrible happens... |
Posted By: Steven
Date Posted: 24 June 2012 at 22:10
|
Still gives you the right to have a life? Yes - just not in the U.S. unless you play it smart. |
Posted By: jessycruz
Date Posted: 24 June 2012 at 22:14
| well, that's why I'm here trying to figure out the "smart" way...cause really I am marrying him because we love each other and have been dating for such a long time...visa or not... we want to be together...just not sure the smartest way to go... |
Posted By: Steven
Date Posted: 25 June 2012 at 08:04
|
I don't think you should worry any more about this until you get back to the U.S. for your next semester but, at that point, search out a good immigration lawyer in Utah and tell him/her your situation. Ask them for a quote ahead of time for the cost of a consultation. They usually charge around $100. I dealt with four different immigration lawyers over the years and this was standard practice. If you continue to use them to handle your paperwork they deduct the $100 from their fee. Don't look for an answer on this website. All that you will get is opinions, including from me.However, I do know enough about marriage and Green Cards to know that doing what you want to do could be problematic. Once you marry a U.S. citizen you are supposed to stay in the U.S. until your permanent residency is decided. There is some subjectivity from case to case which is why you want to take a conservative approach to the issue.
I'm pretty sure that what you want to do can be done but it takes a little creativity which a lawyer can help with.
|
Posted By: Elza Maria
Date Posted: 06 July 2012 at 13:58
|
I'm sorry about my english! If you get married in the USA, vocer can bring your marriage certificate American consular original (stamped by the Consulate of Brazil where the wedding took place) and register your marriage here in Brazil. This way, your girlfriend may make the request for a permanent visa in Brazil and you can enter with a visa for a spouse visa to live and work in USA. I advise you not to casra on a tourist visa in use because it then becomes harder for you to ask your esposo.para visa to marry in the USA, you must apply for a fiance visa. If you need more information on how to register your marriage here in Brazil, please visit our www.casamentocivil.com.br thank you Elza ------------- Elza Maria B. da Cunha Costa www.casamentocivil.com.br |