Applying N400 and recently married in India.

S

Suresh_1980

Registered Users (C)
Current Status : LPR since past 5 years and now eligible to apply N400.

Fact : Got married in India last month as per Hindu ceremony, marraige registration not yet done. Wife is in India and never been to US before. ( I know I should have waited for couple of months to get married but due to astrological reasons, I was asked to get married or stay single for long time to come).

Situation : Now since I am filing N400, I am wondering whether to put myself as married or single. If I put myself as married, will it have any negative consequences on my N400 application? What would I put as status of my wife?

If I put myself as single in N400, what would be my actual wedding date later on when my wife goes for interview. Will it be hindu ceremonial date or registration date?

Finally, what would be expected timeframe to bring wife over to US after I have N400 processed.

Thoughts please.

Thanks everyone in advance for your time and guidance.
 
if you did not register then as per united states you are not married. I dont think you can put yourself as married then right? From what I've heard....time frame for getting your wife to the US after you've become a citizen would be about 6 to 7 months
 
Suresh_1980 said:
If I put myself as single in N400, what would be my actual wedding date later on when my wife goes for interview. Will it be hindu ceremonial date or registration date?
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If the Indian government recognizes the Hindu ceremony as being legally valid, which apparently is the case based on reading other posts here, your wedding date is the ceremonial date for US immigration purposes. I figure when you register the marriage with the Indian govt. they will ask if and when you had a Hindu ceremony for it and will backdate the marriage certificate to match the ceremony (others correct me if that is wrong).
 
i had a hindu wedding and registered after 2 months, even though the certificate is dated the very day i got the registration , it does show the date and venue of the wedding. the registration department even kept a copy of the wedding cards from both the parties for the files. in that case, there shouldnt be anything to worrry abt
 
sreeleshk said:
i had a hindu wedding and registered after 2 months, even though the certificate is dated the very day i got the registration , it does show the date and venue of the wedding.
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So the marriage is legally recognized to have began on the wedding date, not the registration date, correct?
 
You would indicate you are married. This will have no negative consequences on your N-400. For the status of your wife, you can put not applicable since she is not in US, she has no status in US. When asked during the interview what you put N/A, explained what you wrote here. You will be fine since you are applying on 5 years rule. Did you get your GC via marriage or via work? If via work then there are no issues.
 
Only thing that USCIS needs is marriage certificate (it means it should show date either wedding date or registration date). Without a marriage certificate, the person is not technically married. Marriage certificate should be obtained from either court, priest/rabbi/cleric officer, marriage officer or justice officer.

Off the topic, if the person is divorced and apply for citizenship, USCIS will need two things: divorce decree and divorce petition.
 
Thank you everyone for looking into this topic. Every other person I ask has alternate opinion. :-) That is my confusion.

I talked to my company lawyer and he says I should show my marital status as married. I talked to local lawyer and he says since my wife is still in India and wedding not yet registered, I am still technically single. Guess I have to check with third lawyer now. Just to get the majority opinion.

@Guju - I have my LPR through work.

This is getting more confusing that I imagined.
 
You should register your marriage before you apply for n400. Look in the end, your marriage date won't change...if you register now or later. Better to do it now to avoid confusions. U.S embassy in India is well versed with Indian marriage laws and registration requirements....when they interview your wife 6 months from now..they will know when you married and when you registered and when you naturalized..instead of explaining a complicated thing...better is you tell the truth Now and get your proof of marriage.

Instead of lying that you are single...get evidence that you are married. Tell it the way it is...on n400 and on any other forms.
 
Wantmygc : I just got back from India couple of weeks back and it will be another 4-5 months before I visit India. That is why I couldnt register until then.
 
Ok. Well still put married on your n400 but your officer may ask you for your marriage certificate. You need to register it somehow..even if it means going back to India. Trust me on this one..you dont want to be writing single on your N400.
 
Suresh_1980 said:
Current Status : LPR since past 5 years and now eligible to apply N400.

Fact : Got married in India last month as per Hindu ceremony, marraige registration not yet done.

------------------------------------Get the marriage registered and get the marriage certificate.
Wife is in India and never been to US before. ( I know I should have waited for couple of months to get married but due to astrological reasons, I was asked to get married or stay single for long time to come).

Situation : Now since I am filing N400, I am wondering whether to put myself as married or single.
----------Married
If I put myself as married, will it have any negative consequences on my N400 application?
-------No.
What would I put as status of my wife?
---------------------- In PART 8: write her surname, First name, Middle name. Her Date of Birth, Date of marriage, INDIA home address.
8 C write NO (as she is not US citizen)
8D: N/A
8E: 1: India, 2: leave bank or write N/A.3: Tick OTHER and write:”she is living in India”
If I put myself as single in N400, what would be my actual wedding date later on when my wife goes for interview. Will it be hindu ceremonial date or registration date?
--------------------- You ARE Married and write the date of marriage the date you got married.
Finally, what would be expected timeframe to bring wife over to US after I have N400 processed.
-------------Once you get your US citizenship then you should apply I-130 for her with USCIS and it may take 4-8 months for I-130 approval. Once I-130 is approved by USCIS it goes to NVC and NVC will ask Immigrant visa fees from you and affidavit of support from you. Once you send the Fee and affidavit of support to NVC then NVC will send the I-130 to US consulate in India and US consulate will send Interview date and advice her to get medicals /police clearance or other relevant papers.

** for I-130 filing you will need her DOB certificate, marriage certificate and G325 (4 Pages) signed by her and her 1 US passport style photograph.

Thoughts please.

Thanks everyone in advance for your time and guidance.
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I think you should get advice from the same astrologist who advised you to get married on particular date? He may also provide the date you will get Your US citizenship approved and he may also give date when your wife will land in US as immigrant:).
 
Suresh_1980 said:
Thank you everyone for looking into this topic. Every other person I ask has alternate opinion. :-) That is my confusion.

I talked to my company lawyer and he says I should show my marital status as married. I talked to local lawyer and he says since my wife is still in India and wedding not yet registered, I am still technically single. Guess I have to check with third lawyer now. Just to get the majority opinion.

@Guju - I have my LPR through work.

This is getting more confusing that I imagined.
Click to expand...

Do not go back to the local lawyer. They have no clue. Just because a marriage hasn't been registered doesn't mean that it didn't happen. By that analysis, pretty much all adult Indians are illegitimate.
So, figure out a way to get your marriage registered - it may cost you a quickie (pun intended) trip back to India (there... you have an excuse to go back in a few weeks again). You DO NOT want to put Single on your application and then when your wife shows up for her interview, the registration certificate says that you were married before you filed for the N-400. There's no telling what happens in that situation so its best to avoid it.

You don't have to have your Marriage certificate before you apply for citizenship. I'd file, let the application go through the process and when your Interview date is set, make the trip to India to get this squared away. (Give yourself enough lead time to account for the usual slew of holidays that can delay issuance of the marriage certificate in India). You're going to have to do this anyway before you apply for your wife, so might as well get it done so as not to cause any delays in your N400.

Get 2 certified copies of the extract from the marriage register - one for yourself and another one for your wife's file.

If you delay your trip to 4-5 months from now (i.e. until after you get citizenship), it'll just delay your wife's process. If you get your marriage cert before your citizenship, you can file your wife's paperwork the moment you become a citizen (Just remember not to sign any documents/forms/letters indicating that you are a US Citizen until you're actually one or it'll get you in a different type of trouble)

Good Luck.
 
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Originally Posted by Suresh_1980
Current Status : LPR since past 5 years and now eligible to apply N400.

Fact : Got married in India last month as per Hindu ceremony, marraige registration not yet done.

------------------------------------Get the marriage registered and get the marriage certificate.
Wife is in India and never been to US before. ( I know I should have waited for couple of months to get married but due to astrological reasons, I was asked to get married or stay single for long time to come).

Situation : Now since I am filing N400, I am wondering whether to put myself as married or single.
----------Married
If I put myself as married, will it have any negative consequences on my N400 application?
-------No.
What would I put as status of my wife?
---------------------- In PART 8: write her surname, First name, Middle name. Her Date of Birth, Date of marriage, INDIA home address.
8 C write NO (as she is not US citizen)
8D: N/A
8E: 1: India, 2: leave bank or write N/A.3: Tick OTHER and write:”she is living in India”If I put myself as single in N400, what would be my actual wedding date later on when my wife goes for interview. Will it be hindu ceremonial date or registration date?
--------------------- You ARE Married and write the date of marriage the date you got married.
Finally, what would be expected timeframe to bring wife over to US after I have N400 processed.
-------------Once you get your US citizenship then you should apply I-130 for her with USCIS and it may take 4-8 months for I-130 approval. Once I-130 is approved by USCIS it goes to NVC and NVC will ask Immigrant visa fees from you and affidavit of support from you. Once you send the Fee and affidavit of support to NVC then NVC will send the I-130 to US consulate in India and US consulate will send Interview date and advice her to get medicals /police clearance or other relevant papers.

** for I-130 filing you will need her DOB certificate, marriage certificate and G325 (4 Pages) signed by her and her 1 US passport style photograph.

Thoughts please.

Thanks everyone in advance for your time and guidance.
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8E: 1: India, 2: leave bank or write N/A.3: Tick OTHER and write:”she is living in India”

why sould part 8E 3 be other and write "she is living in India" is that an immigration status ?

that doesnt make any sense , its just beating around the bush, rather write N/A

any thoughts on this ?
 
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