Marriage Between Close Relatives

zzerous

Registered Users (C)
Hi,

I saw the following on this forum, which refers to Petition for Spouse and guidelines/roles on what CIS recognize as marriage for immigration purposes:



" Marriage Between Close Relatives. In some foreign countries, and some states in the United States, marriages between close relatives (e.g., cousins) are permitted under certain circumstances. In cases where such marriages do not offend the laws of the state where the parties reside, the marriage will be recognized for immigration purposes. "



The full thread is http://boards.immigrationportal.com/showthread.php?p=1401448#post1401448

Do you know A) the certain circumstances under which marriages between close relatives are permitted? B) The States those marriages offend their laws?
 
sometime2006 said:
This is a perfect setup for a southern joke. :)

Here is the info:
http://www.ncsl.org/programs/cyf/cousins.htm

Why would it be a joke?
Someone posted this not too long ago...
http://www.immigrationportal.com/showthread.php?t=183863

I believe the policy of dont ask dont tell still works in this case ;)

Also, i dont think there is anyplace in the AOS forms where it asks if the sponsor and applicant are related in any other way besides being a husband and a wife. Bottomline is.. if you are applying for AOS and the state you currently live in recognizes cousin marriages as legal, you should not have a problem with immigration in any way.

Good luck.
 
The "circumstances" are in based in the State laws or country's law where the marriage took place if it was outside the US. There are some States that does not allow marriage between relatives.
 
I THINK that even if you get passed the applications and all then can still take away your GC if they ever found out about it because your marriage wouldn't be legal in the US/particular State.
 
Why would it be a joke?

People who have lived in the US all their lives, like me, have herd all the jokes about marrying relatives in southern states. Do a search on the Internet and you will understand.
 
In Colorado, marriage to a first cousin is permitted. I think it is in a lot of states.
As long as you aren't married to your brother/sister/mother/father... :eek:
I saw a terrible movie about that. Don't ever get lost in the West Virginia woods. ;)
 
sometime2006 said:
People who have lived in the US all their lives, like me, have herd all the jokes about marrying relatives in southern states. Do a search on the Internet and you will understand.

As far as it being a joke, i think it is being narrow minded enough to think of it as a joke. The idea is to respect aspects from other cultures eventhough they appear strange. This comment is not directed towards you, but im saying in general :)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
ari4u said:
As far as it being a joke, i think it is being narrow minded enough to think of it as a joke. The idea is to respect aspects from other cultures eventhough they appear strange. This comment is not directed towards you, but im saying in general :)

How long have you lived in the US? Obviously not very long or you would understand it. It IS in the culture of the US... Move on!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
sometime2006 said:
How long have you lived in the US? Obviously not very long or you would understand it. It IS in the culture of the US... Move on!

It doesnt matter how long i have been living here to understand this narrow minded thinking. I very well know that US is the only country that downplays these type of marriages whereas it is common and accepted rest of the world. In my previous posts, i was asking why 'you' think it is a joke, not why it IS a culture here in the US. http://www.cousincouples.com/?page=facts. Also if you are interested, give this book a try FORBIDDEN RELATIVES: The American Myth of Cousin Marriage by Martin Ottenheimer.

oh well... what am i arguing with you here for. Its friday evening. Have a nice weekend. :)
 
In most parts of the world, marriage between cousins are OK since cousins are not considered close relatives...in fact our friends from USCIS, for family immigration purposes they even don't consider cousins as relatives :confused:...but on the other hand if you tell them at the AOS interview that your spouse is your cousin...I'm pretty sure they will deny the application :rolleyes:
 
Suzy977 said:
In most parts of the world, marriage between cousins are OK since cousins are not considered close relatives...in fact our friends from USCIS, for family immigration purposes they even don't consider cousins as relatives :confused:...but on the other hand if you tell them at the AOS interview that your spouse is your cousin...I'm pretty sure they will deny the application :rolleyes:

lol yeah, cousins are not immediate relatives ;) If the state in which the applicant lives considers these type of marriages legal and the country the applicant belongs to considers these kind of marriages legal, then the officer cannot deny the GC application as it is not illegal or unlawful. He/she might sure ask a couple of questions if you happen to reveal this fact to him, but 99% chance is that he might not ask at all, unless the last names are same. So dont ask, dont tell :p
 
ari4u said:
lol yeah, cousins are not immediate relatives ;) If the state in which the applicant lives considers these type of marriages legal and the country the applicant belongs to considers these kind of marriages legal, then the officer cannot deny the GC application as it is not illegal or unlawful. He/she might sure ask a couple of questions if you happen to reveal this fact to him, but 99% chance is that he might not ask at all, unless the last names are same. So dont ask, dont tell :p

Now you can understand why Publicus moved to the south :D
 
Top