John Thissen

I am a US citizen residing in Kyiv, Ukraine. My spouse is a Russian citizen, but
resides with me in Ukraine. We were married in St. Lucia, West Indies. The marriage
cetificate includes the stamps of the registrar and was authenticated by the Ministry
of Foriegn Affairs of St. Lucia.

The US Consulates in Ukraine and Warsaw have both told me that our marriage
certificate cannot be legalized for application purposes in Ukraine or Poland. It
would need to be legalized in the Consulate responsible for St. Lucia, but no one can
tell where that it. Further, this seems unnecessary, as the it is an English language
document that would otherwise be recognized in the US as a valid marriage
certificate.

I've been told by an officer in Poland that I could apply for the I-130 in the US, as
the INS does not require legalization for domestic applicants (true?). Unfortunately,
I do not have a residence in the US. How do I chose a US INS office? Further, I've
noticed that the INSW has an office in Moscow. Can I use this as my local branch
office and file for the I-130 there?

I'd like to get started on the I-130, but am obviously having trouble. Any suggestion
would be most welcome.

Rete

If you are residing in the Ukraine and are returning there after your honeymoon then you will have to file your I-130 at the US Consulate for that area. You are correct as a non-resident of the US you can't file here for the your wife's green card. In fact until you are both ready to re-enter the US and re-establish the US are your main residency, there is no point in bothering to apply as it will only be granted when you have determined that you wish to come back to the US and have made an attempt to re-establish the US as your home.

This is from the INS website

http://www.ins.usdoj.gov/graphics/fi...ingo/index.htm

From the US Consulate/Embassy website

http://www.ins.usdoj.gov/graphics/fi...ingo/index.htm

Think you are stuck with the Consulate in Mexico City ... or try calling the US Consulate in Jamaica and see where they think you should go to have the marriage certificate validated.

Rita

John Thissen

Thanks for the pointer to Santo Domingo on the INS website. Am I wrong to presume
that our marriage certificate can be legalized via the mail (meaning I send them the
cert and payment and they send it back legalized)? I'll call them to ask, of course,
but opinions are welcome.

Further, and I wrong to assume that the US Consulate in Ukraine will accept the
document as a legal US document once it has ben legalized in Santo Domingo?

Thanks again.

On Fri, 26 Oct 2001 13:41:33 GMT, Rete <[email protected]> wrote:

    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >