Foreign marriage certificate - help!!!!

M

Michelle1

Registered Users (C)
My husband and I have been married for 8 years. I came here on an F1 visa while I was waiting for him to get his citizenship. We got married in our home country. He just got his citizenship and we are in the process to apply for my green card. The question is do we have to get a new American marriage certificate since I am already in the country or will our orginal one from a foreign country work. We have been living together. I been on his health insurance since I came to this country. We own a house together, all our bills are on both names. We have travelled together to attend family weddings and funerals together to our home country. We have pictures together.

Are they going to question why we have not filed earlier?
Are they going to question my intend to come here on an F1 visa and later change it to green card? I am truly married to the love of my life.

The other thing is we got married in court in our country. We have yet to have a traditional wedding on our 10th year aniversary.

Thanx,

Michelle
 
You can use the marriage certificate from your country. It doesn't have to be from the US. Any pictures of you together would help even if you didn't have a traditional wedding ceremony. Just make sure that you explain that at the interview. You can honestly say that you waited to apply so your husband becomes a citizen and the process would be quicker. Nothing wrong with that if the officer asks you. I think you are good to go and I see no reasons to worry :)
 
I agree with sgsnathan, just one addition - if your marriage certificate is not in English - you must get it translated and certified. From what I know - the translation may be done by any person who knows both the languages (ie the language in which the document is and English)... the translator just has sign and put a certification (notarization not required).
 
Thanks, guys I was just starting to get nervous. I am so happy that I can now file. In month and a half I should begin the process.

Question - for the health exam, do I go my regular doctor? Or when we go for the interview they will have doctors for us.

Michelle
 
Michelle

Based on what you have written, my undersntanding is you were married while your husband was a GC holder and you stayed in US on F1 visa.

Was there any issue related to immigration intent when you re-entered USA on your return journey from your home country?

I know that we have to declare on a form if we have spouse in USA and his/her stauts, were you ever questioned at the port of entry based on the information your provided?

thx
 
No I was not questioned in fact I initially came in on an B1 visitors visa. I than changed it F1 with my husband sponoring me. I returned home to get the stamp and was never question about it ever. I go in and out of the country yearly. Infact I have been out of school for one year and went for my gran mom's funeral with the fear of not being allowed back in - I came in with my I-20 and my valid F1 status in my passport and was let through with no problems. I am currently enrolled, though.

Honestly, I did have intend if you guys want to know the truth. We thought if I came on a student visa and remained on it until he got his citizenship that way we are close to each other. We did not know any better never did they never every question me about why is my husband sponsoring me. Before that I used b1 visa to visit frequently and was asked once who I was coming to and I said my husband, the stamped my passport and let me in.

Michelle
 
Michelle1 said:
Thanks, guys I was just starting to get nervous. I am so happy that I can now file. In month and a half I should begin the process.

Question - for the health exam, do I go my regular doctor? Or when we go for the interview they will have doctors for us.

Michelle
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Michelle,

To get your medical done, you have to go to one of the civil surgeons approved by USCIS to perform this medical exam. Use the Civil Surgeon Locator from USCIS to get a list of approved doctors in your area. Since the fee for this medical exam varies significantly from one doc to another, I'd suggest that you call up a few and get a quote before deciding on the one where you wanna go.

Also, the medical report (I-693) must be sent along with the I-485, or else you would get an RFE (Request For Evidence), which will delay your case.

Hope this helps.
 
You should not have any problem at all. You just need to translate your marriage license to English and can be done through anybody who just has the knowledge (including yourself) of your language and English and be able to translate it.

Good luck!
 
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Thanks for your reply. Me and my girlfriend are in a similar situation. She is an Italian citizen on F1 visa. I am a GC holer and we plan to get married this year. Just want to make sure about any possible immigration issues we may have to encounter after marriage in case she has to travel back to her home country.

thx
 
Thank you guys! The once a called to not to want to take health insurance is this common?

Again thank you guys for your support.

Michelle
 
Use this link to find out the Civil Surgeons you can go to, to get the medical done. They would know when you tell them that you want to do a medical for your adjustment of status.

http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/exec/cs/index.asp

Your best bet is to do the medical and send the results along with the other forms, basically doing a concurrent filing. If the things that I am saying don't make sense to you, you should try to read more about this whole process at http://www.uscis.gov. Good luck!

P.S. You normally can't use heath insurance to cover the medical exam for AOS.
 
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I was told I had to provide a certified translation of my Chinese marriage certificate by my lawyer, but, that could be because of the country of marriage. Luckily, it was done by the Chinese marriage office while I was there because they knew we would need it. But, I have a "Certificate" in both Chinese and English and also a "Notarial Certificate" in both Chinese and English that I had to provide copies of with my I-130
 
The marriage certificate is in English. I am so excited to be filing soon.

Also, I got a doctor (expensive, though).

Michelle
 
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