MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE

[KKariuki]

Hi,
Am the princi. Applicant. When i applied for dv 2016,we were together with my wife and my daughter and they were all included in my entry. That time my daughter was 4 month old. By then, we were married in a tradition customary (Kikuyu wedding customs).i.e.in 26th sept 2013 and this is the time we started living together as husband and wife but since it was a traditional thing, we did receive any marriage cert. for proof. But later on after we were selected in the dv 2016, we decided to legalize it through following the legal steps in the office of marriage registrar in kenyan laws and we were legally married and from there, we obtained our legal marriage cert for proof. This happened in 31st July 2015. As we were filling the formss 260,we included all this information. That we started living together in 26th sept 2013 and we got married in 31st july 2015.
Our daughter was born during that period we were still married traditionary i. e. 20th May 2014. She was included in the first entry and also in forms ds 260.
Can our marriage dates cause us problems please advice.

 

[usamommy2015]

Contact the Us Embassy on mailto:ImmigrationVisaNairobi@state.gov. They will help you.

 

[jessy30]

same case as mine I think it does not have any problems as long as you have he proof that you have been living together as husband and wife.

 

[shorrie]

@KKariuki That should not be a problem since you had included them in the initial entry. Just arm yourselves with photos from the traditional ceremony and any other photos that show you were a family before entry. If you also have a joint account such documents would help.

 

[Cornelio]

Well, I would be worried, because when you first registered your case, you listed her as your wife, but that didn't happen legally until 10 months later. I don't know how this can be interpreted by the CO in Kenya.

 

[SusieQQQ]

Well, I would be worried, because when you first registered your case, you listed her as your wife, but that didn't happen legally until 10 months later. I don't know how this can be interpreted by the CO in Kenya.

This generally isn't a problem, as a few cases have shown. The problem is when people leave off dependents.

 

[Cornelio]

This generally isn't a problem, as a few cases have shown. The problem is when people leave off dependents.

I could understand that someone won DV, and in the process got married and added the spouse or newborn as dependant when filling the DS260 forms, that's normal, it's ok, it's within the rules. But the case here is that he listed his spouse when registering for DV as his wife when they weren't legally married. Has any of the cases you mention been like this?

 

[SusieQQQ]

I could understand that someone won DV, and in the process got married and added the spouse or newborn as dependant when filling the DS260 forms, that's normal, it's ok, it's within the rules. But the case here is that he listed his spouse when registering for DV as his wife when they weren't legally married. Has any of the cases you mention been like this?

Yes of course, no-one lists someone they haven't met yet as a spouse! We've seen this both with people with customary marriages not yet legalized, as well as a couple of cases where people were engaged and expected to be married in due course. USCIS has a problem with leaving people off the application but the cases we've seen reported so far have been fine, and one poster linked to an Internet chat with a CO who was asked exactly this and said it would be fine.

 

[Cornelio]

Yes of course, no-one lists someone they haven't met yet as a spouse! We've seen this both with people with customary marriages not yet legalized, as well as a couple of cases where people were engaged and expected to be married in due course. USCIS has a problem with leaving people off the application but the cases we've seen reported so far have been fine, and one poster linked to an Internet chat with a CO who was asked exactly this and said it would be fine.

Perfect! That must be a relief for @KKariuki!