robnsanja

My fiancee well will be in a few days quite her Au Pair job today, we will be in Hawaii where will elope. We will get married on 08/12. The Au Pair agency will notify the Dept. of Education tomorrow that she has quite, it is my understanding that she has 30 days that she is allowed to remain in country. I spoke with immigration and was told to get the paperwork in as soon as possible, she is here on a J1 with the "2 yr rule does not apply". So wanted to know if we are indeed good to go and simply need to start the paperwork when we need to get back, leaving us only 2 weeks to get it in or if we need to start on it sooner? I understand there is a medical clearance that will need to be taken care of with the paperwork and am unsure as to how long that will take to get the appt. Thanks for any info.

Rob

sphyrapicus

The sooner the better. As with any marriage to a USC, what matters most is that the alien spouse entered the country legally (and that appears to be the case). Any issue of overstay will be forgiven since she is marrying a USC. So, even if the 30 day grace period expires, she can still successfully apply for LPR status. If you wait for more than 180 days after her grace period expires, you should not apply for advance parole.

Congratulations on the upcoming nuptials.

Noorah101

Hi Rob,

You can start filling out the paperwork now, but can't file it until you are married and have your certified copy of marriage certificate. And, as you said, will need to schedule a medical and get those results before submitting the whole package. So I'd say within a couple of weeks after marriage sounds possible, as long as you have your certified copy of marriage certificate. Remember, this is the one that you get after it's been recorded, not the souvenir one you might get on the same day.

Best Wishes,
Rene

meauxna

Rob should be quite proactive with the marriage certificate, too. hawaii is notoriously slow in producing the certified copy.
Beg, borrow or steal, as my mum would say. Especially the begging part, that might help.
Seriously, it can take over 6 weeks to get that paper from Hawaii.

AussieSteve

That was our experience. We got married in Maui and mailed the request for the marriage certificate the very next day. It took almost two months for it to arrive.

hcj1440

It can really help to get organized ahead of time if you want to file as soon as possible after marriage. If you already know when you are going to be back from Hawaii, why not call around now and make an appointment with a civil surgeon for when you will be back? Also, it would not hurt to call the town or city hall where you will be getting your license in Hawaii, and ask if there's any way they could do your marriage certificate "while you wait". In smaller towns they might be willing to do that for you.

Start filling out the forms now and make sure you have everything you need. There are things you might have to get from her home country, such as her birth certificate and vaccination records, that might take some time to get so you should request it now rather than after the marriage.

robnsanja

I really appreciate all the responses, this gets frustrating as everyone knows. I thought we had things pretty well lined up but was not sure. I remember reading online that you can... "Our fee to hand carry Marriage License next business day to Health Dept. for filing: $20"...so looks like that is the way to go. I will also try to get the medical set up as well. Thanks again.

RobnSanja

NOLA_Dave

I'm sure it varies state-to-state, but at least here in Louisiana, everything has to get recorded in Baton Rouge. There's no way to try and speed up the process, since everything goes through one office. At least they are pretty quick (got mine in 8 business days).

hcj1440

Wow, that's different. We walked out with ours the same day in Vermont. It took us less than 1.5 hours for everything -- walked in at 8:45am, waited in line, applied for license, got married, went back in and handed signed license back to the clerk, and walked out with the certificate at 10:00.

andrea874

We got married in Hawaii, and it took over 4 months for the marriage certificate to come to "normal" way. HOWEVER, you can pay a little extra and get a copy of the marriage certificate the next day there (at least in Honolulu), which is what we did. Its definately worth the 10 bucks or whatever it was! When the copy showed up that they automatically send out, months later, I was already a PR! Anyway, heres the link: http://www.hawaii.gov/health/vital-r...l_records.html I think it says there it takes 10 days or something, but when you go in, they give you a few different options for how soon you need it, one of them being within 24 hours. Bam.

robnsanja

Thanks again, I called the Dr's listed and will be able to get an appt. imediatly upon return, am getting married on the Big Island Fri. So will talk with the local office Tues about how to get the paperwork the fastest as will be in Honolulu/Waikiki the following week.

Got the wedding rings today (last minute), already got her a .511 carat, hearts and arrows diamond.

Doing the Hawaiin ceremony, pretty cool.

http://www.beachweddingshawaii.com/L...Dard&Penei.htm

again thanks for all the info, will be alot easier now.

robnsanja

Wrong ceremony, this is the right link

http://www.beachweddingshawaii.com/L...d/hawaiian.htm