keepmeistergeneral

I'm a Florida-born good ol' boy marrying my British fiance in the middle of next year, and wanted some advice as different forums and 'advice' sites offer contradictory info, but this one seems to pop up time and again as most recommended for sheer volume of helpful members and range of problems dealt with.

We need to marry within the obligatory 90 days of her coming out to Florida otherwise she and I could be in a whole heap of trouble, and due to family commitments we've arranged to marry around the 67th day of her visit, so have just about 3-weeks to get the marriage certificate included in our paperwork package to get the ball rolling on her being processed as my wife.

I know that getting a marriage license itself prior to our wedding won't take but a moment to get, however no-one can advise us on the timescales for a marriage certificate post wedding-day.

• Once we marry, do we automatically receive a copy of the marriage certificate that day?
• If no to the above, once I post/hand-deliver a copy of our marriage license (along with all relevant paperwork) to the suitable clerk office/court house, how long will they take to process the marriage license into a marriage certificate?

• Once the marriage certificate has been generated, on average how long until it is dispatched to us? Could I collect it in person to save time?

• Regarding the completion of the relevant documents to register my beloved alien as my wife, do I have to include a copy of the Certificate, or will the License be acceptable?
• Can we submit the spousal processing documents without the Certificate and forward that document at a later date?
• If no to the above, is there a period of grace outside of the 90-days while we wait for the Certificate?

• If we have to wait for the Certificate to materialize, can any legal action be taken against us to separate us, or will the authorities acknowledge and allow for the spousal visa/paperwork processing time?

Basically, for those of you who married a British lady and had to do so within a 90-day time limit, did you get your paperwork in time and if so what wheels did you have to grease to get things processed quickly, and if there were any delays that took the processing period outside of the 90-days then was there any action taking against one/both of you and what advice can you offer?

Many thanks

Aaron

Noorah101

You didn't mention a K-1 visa, but I assume you are discussing what happens after her arrival in the USA on her K-1 visa, correct?

You have 90 days in which to get married. You can do that on the 67th day, if you wish, no problem.

There is no requirement to file the AOS package within that 90-day period. The only requirement is to marry within that 90-day period. You can file the AOS paperwork after that 90-day window if it happens that you can't get the certified copy of marriage certificate within the 23 days following the marriage. That said, I don't think it should take that long to get the marriage certificate in hand.

If, by chance, you are talking about adjust status from a 90-day VWP visit, you need to do a lot more research. It is illegal to come to the USA as a visitor with the intent to remain and adjust status, so don't do that.

Rene

keepmeistergeneral

It is illegal, I know that because of the abuse of the spousal visas being traded like candy for people who view this as a means of generating income for family back home our country has had to clamp down and tighten up on marrying non-American citizens.

I respect that it shouldn't be viewed as an option, however it is a means to marrying a foreign wife, which an obviously huge amount of forum posts on a range of expat sites will testify to, especially among some of my friends in the armed forces who meet and fall in love with a 'Limey Lady from London' and have superiors only too happy to help 'grease the wheel' and use the VMP as a option for processing their marriage.

To put our cards on the table let's say we are doing things on a VWP visit.

Can anyone who has gone down this route offer any advice or suggestions or how to manage the License to Certificate processing.

Noorah101

Each state has its own regulations. Sometimes you can get a certified copy of the marriage certificate the same day as the marriage, sometimes not. I don't know about FL, sorry.

You'll have to check with the office that handles marriage certificates for the location you are getting married. I don't even think YOU need to post/hand deliver anything...I think it's all handled internally.

Perhaps.

The license is not acceptable. It must be a certified copy of the marriage certificate, after it's been recorded at the city/county/state office.

You can, but you'll receive an RFE for the missing marriage certificate, which will slow down all aspects of the AOS. It's best to wait until you have the complete AOS package together, then file it.

As I said in my prior post, after your fiance arrives on the K-1 visa, there is no requirement to file the AOS package within the first 90 days of arrival. So yes, you can wait a little while to file AOS, but do it as soon as you can after getting the marriage certificate in hand.

If she's not arriving on a K-1 visa, then you have deeper problems.

After she arrives on the K-1 visa and marries, if she does not file AOS until after her I-94 expires, she will be out of status, and theoretically deportable, yes. But no one is going to come after her for that. But she should definetly not get arrested or get in trouble with the law during any time that she's out of status. The AOS will still be accepted and her out of status will be forgiven.

My husband isn't British, but we did the K-1 visa process. We got married within 2 weeks of his arrival and got the AOS paperwork submitted about a week later. We didn't leave it so long to be married.

Rene

Noorah101

When you say "let's say..." are you just talking in theory, or is this what you are planning to do? Why would you want to do something you know is illegal?

I recommend NOT doing that, and going about it the legal way by doing a K-1 visa, especially since you have plenty of time to do it (you're not getting married until summer of 2012).

Rene

keepmeistergeneral

Yup, cards on the table, the VWP visit is the means we are planning to use.

Ray

if you are doing it low key and just using a notary to marry
once they sign it take the licence straight back to the county building
some will do it straight away ... If your in Pasco county
I can marry you any day

Using the VW is a real bad idea ...
Tampa and Orland USCIS are not adverse to phoning the UK to do checks

jeffreyhy

You are unlikely to be able to get a marriage certificate the same day as your wedding, especially if you marry on a Saturday or Sunday as is common.

What usually happens is that someone will file the completed and signed marriage license for you with the registrar's office, while you go off on a honeymoon, and within a week or three your marriage certificate will arrive in the mail. If you want to expedite it, you could take the marriage license to the registrar's office and file it yourself on the next day that the office is open, and maybe get a marriage certificate before you leave. But, as Rene wrote, unless there's something in your situation that you haven't mentioned your wife will not need to apply for adjustment of status within 90 days of her entry to the USA. (My wife didn't.)

[EDIT - I see that there was something. Oh well.]

keepmeistergeneral

Yeah, that was my initial thought as all forums give the bad of things, and I was all for putting my foot down and going for the fiance visa (don't get me started on the reasoning from the future Mrs), however there have actually been a number of positive experiences on a few forums, and the processing fees are pretty much the same, it's just the paperwork processing time we're tripping over.
I may ask for you guys to bring me trading ciggies and soap-on-rope if this goes badly!

keepmeistergeneral

We're going for a weekday wedding to a) accommodate her family travel availability and b) to give us a chance to afford a halfway decent wedding as prices leap up over the weekend.
This info was helpful man, thanks.
Aaron

Noorah101

I should warn you, you won't be getting much help in your case from the regulars on here, since you've decided to go down an illegal route.

I take it you guys are prepared to live in the UK if things go badly.

Rene

keepmeistergeneral

Well actually we've done a serious amount of homework on this subject - to opt for this process and not the advised method isn't a decision we made lightly - and the VWP, although not advisable, is still a perfectly viable means of marrying your alien.
Once you get the paperwork ironed out there are no extra fees, the processing methods are very similar and the information my fiance needs to provide are pretty much the same as with the K1 visa.
No, the UK is not an option for 4/5years which is her country's requirement for length of proven relationship before I'm eligible to apply for their spouse visa.

Ray

The disadvantage is that the visa waiver is only available for 90 days and does not allow extension of stay, change of status to another nonimmigrant category or adjustment of status to lawful permanent residence. One exception is that spouses of U.S. citizens may adjust status to lawful permanent residence after entering under a visa waiver provided they did not enter the U.S. with preconceived intent to remain and that they did not use the visa waiver process as a means of getting around the law

Noorah101

My point is that if her AOS does not go well, she can be removed from the USA and sent back to the UK. It must be acceptable for you to move there with her if that happens...or it's acceptable for you to be separated for the amount of time it takes for you to go live there with her legally.

Rene

keepmeistergeneral

Yeah, you're telling me, she has a snappy reasoning around that as well. We're very aware of the potential fallout from this, but her best friend opted for this means and is not snugly cuddled up in Cali with her beau, so my girlie has labored long and hard to talk me around to this. Aaron