H4 And Special Marriage Act

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rvikul

Registered Users (C)
Has anyone married under this Act recently and brought a spouse to the US on H4 ? The process is confusing. Any experience shared would be of great help.

* I am going to get married to an European citizen who lives in Europe (not in the US).
* I am Hindu, she is Christian.
* The Special Marr. Act seems to indicate that one of us will have to be present in India for atleast 60 days preceding the marriage date. http://www.ap.gov.in/card/spe_mar_act.htm
* Neither of us can take a 2-3 months vacation.
* The Marriage Registrar says he will do it in 30 days (or even a week - you-know-how).
* We HAVE to get married in India. Other options have been considered and ruled out and i chose not to mention them for brevity.

We are afraid that the visa officer might look at the date of entry on our passports and figure out that we have not stayed there for 60 days (assuming the officer is aware of the Special Marriage Act).

Please share any information you have on this.

Thanks !!
rvikul
 
There is a genuine risk.
Either make your spouse apply at the US consulate in Europe or perform a court/civil ceremony in US, after your spouse comes into US using tourist visa and after 90 days apply for B to H4 visa transfer.
 
Thanks for the response, Jaxen.

US tourist visa has its risk since there is a high rate of rejection for similar cases in her country. And one rejection apparently affects the chances of future (in this case H4) visa applications.

The marriage registrar wont give straight answers and all he says is he will do it in 30 days. All I need to know is if he can do it in 30 days and still go by the book. If everything is done "officially", then I dont have to worry about the visa.

I've read through the entire forum and am not to able to find a similar case :(

Please igonore the one week period i mentioned within braces. That was from the touts who hang around outside the registar office.

Thanks Again !!
rvikul
 
If she is from a country where US tourist visa app is rejectable, then, All U can do now is to try for H4.

If rejected then you can retry after 60 days from entry date. You could try other options like getting married in Europe (you should be able to get european visa) before doing the actual ceremony in AP.
I would risk going ahead with the registrar's confab... With visa officer, Claim that exceptions are possible based on the local civil authority(CB Naidu?) 's discretionary powers...
 
Thanks again, jaxen. The link was an AP link. I am actually from Madras. Sorry about the mislead.

That aside, European visa is ruled out because the procedure in her country is virtually impossible. If i list the procedures, it will take 2 pages and it includes a 3 month waiting period and 2 trips for me. Getting the visa to her country itself takes 2 trips to NY city from Boston apart from other things. Its a long long story ....

I think in the end, as you say, jaxen, i might just risk it. Hopefully, all the visa officer will look at is a genuine marriage certificate and not "how" i got it.

Any ideas on who might be able to give me a definitive answer on this ?

Thanks !
rvikul
 
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