Getting married during Citizenship process...

[manayster23]

I'm planning to go to the Philippines during Thanksgiving holiday for about 2 weeks. I know that this will not be a problem, and I just have to inform the IO during my interview to update my travel info. I've been an LPR for 18 years.

my question is if I get married during this trip, would it affect my citizenship process?

************************************************
D/O : San Jose, CA

9/30/08 : N-400 Express Mailed to CSC.
10/1/08 : N-400 Received @ Laguna Niguel.
10/2/08 : Cashier's Check Cashed.
10/1/08 : Priority Date.
10/9/08 : Notice Date.
10/14/08 : NOA Received ( I-797C). USCIS National Benefits Center in Missouri is processing my application. Transferred from Laguna Niguel (CSC).
10/24/08 : FP Notice Received ( I-797C).
11/7/08 : FP Appointment.
10/28/08: 2nd FP Notice Received (I-797C).
11/7/08: Same time/date/location.
?? : Interview Letter.
?? : Interview Date.
?? : Oath Letter.
?? : Oath Date.

 

[Bobsmyth]

No, it won't.

 

[manayster23]

No, it won't.

thank you for the quick reply. I'm glad to hear that it won't affect my application. what do i need to do during my interview, besides updating my travel info?

 

[Jackolantern]

The marriage won't affect your citizenship process, as long as you update the interviewer and bring your marriage certificate to show them if asked. But if your (future) spouse is not a citizen or LPR, getting married could jeopardize your spouse's visa in some situations. What is your future spouse's legal status in the US?

 

[manayster23]

The marriage won't affect your citizenship process, as long as you update the interviewer and bring your marriage certificate to show them if asked. But if your (future) spouse is not a citizen or LPR, getting married could jeopardize your spouse's visa in some situations. What is your future spouse's legal status in the US?

He is a filipino citizen living in the Philippines. I was going to wait until I get my citizenship before filing for his petition. So basically, he's over there and i'm here.

 

[Jackolantern]

He is a filipino citizen living in the Philippines. I was going to wait until I get my citizenship before filing for his petition. So basically, he's over there and i'm here.

Does he have a tourist visa? If yes, he may be denied entry to US with that visa, if USCIS knows he is married to you.

Otherwise, you should be OK. The trouble is with cases where the spouse is already in the US with a nonimmigrant visa like F1 or J1, as they may be unable to get back into the country with that visa after getting married to a US citizen or LPR, especially if they travel after the filing of the I-130.

 

[manayster23]

Does he have a tourist visa? If yes, he may be denied entry to US with that visa, if USCIS knows he is married to you.

Otherwise, you should be OK. The trouble is with cases where the spouse is already in the US with a nonimmigrant visa like F1 or J1, as they may be unable to get back into the country with that visa after getting married to a US citizen or LPR, especially if they travel after the filing of the I-130.

No he doesn't have any visa AT ALL. And we've just been settling on we see each other whenever I can visit Philippines.
Otherwise, I'm going during Thanksgiving holiday 2008, and I should be ok, should we get married then, right?

 

[Jackolantern]

Otherwise, I'm going during Thanksgiving holiday 2008, and I should be ok, should we get married then, right?

OK, so his visa can't be jeopardized because he doesn't have a visa to begin with.

However, there is one more possible twist in the story ... are you going to change your name because of the marriage? If you change it as part of the marriage process, or at any other time before completing naturalization, it could delay your naturalization because they would do another name check for your new name.

If you change your name as part of the naturalization process itself, they would not run a name check for the new name. However, doing the name change with naturalization means you cannot attend the regular oath, you have to attend a separate judicial oath. That could cause a delay of a few weeks or months, depending on how often the judicial oaths are scheduled in your jurisdiction. However, doing it this way would spare the hassle of having a green card that doesn't match your name any more, and delays caused by name check are more likely to be long and unpredictable than delays related to waiting for a judicial oath.

You could instead pick the third alternative, which is to wait until after naturalization to change your name through a separate court process ... maybe even delaying it until after your husband is in the US with a green card. That way your name change doesn't get in the way of any of your immigration processes.

 

[manayster23]

Hi Jack,

That's exactly what I was thinking (the 3rd alternative). I would just let my naturalization process go as is, except for the trip that I'm taking. I need to tell the IO about that trip and revise the trip page.

Then just change my name after the Citizenship process is done, when I'm trying to get my husband here in the US. Would I have a problem if I don't reveal that I got married during the process?

 

[Jackolantern]

That's exactly what I was thinking (the 3rd alternative). I would just let my naturalization process go as is, except for the trip that I'm taking. I need to tell the IO about that trip and revise the trip page.

And bring the marriage certificate, along with a certified English translation of it if the certificate itself is not in English.

Then just change my name after the Citizenship process is done, when I'm trying to get my husband here in the US. Would I have a problem if I don't reveal that I got married during the process?

You have to reveal the marriage during the natz process, or you can be penalized for lying under oath. Telling them about the marriage won't delay your naturalization, they just need to know who and when you married for their records. Obviously they will find out about the marriage when you later file for your husband, and a simple cross-check would show that you failed to notify them of the marriage during naturalization, so it makes no sense to hide it now.