Aaron

A few weeks back I had asked about the process for marrying my fiancé
in Holland (she's a Dutch citizen, I am an American citizen). Many of
you recommended completing a Direct Consulate Filing (DCF) in Holland
as an alternative to applying to the BCIS for her green card and
working papers (she's going to live in America with me) in the USA.

This wonderful news started us down the path of marrying in Holland
and completing a DCF. I've already sent her a photocopy of my
passport, an original of my birth certificate, a notarized/apostilled
document of "no record" of marriage for me in the US, and I signed a
Dutch form applying for pre-marriage. As I understand Dutch policy,
our pre-marriage should be approved/disapproved right away when she
goes to the stathous 2 days from now with all of this documentation.

Recently, someone else mentioned the possibility of us marrying in the
US while she's here on vacation in September 2003. I just called my
Town Hall to investigate how we might accomplish this. It seems the
process is 1,000,000 times easier since all we need is two passports
and $45 US for the marriage license.

Given the two possibilities, here are the time lines I'm looking at
(the goal here is to get her in the US as soon as possible as well as
getting me Dutch citizenship in a few years if we decide to move to
Holland).

Marry in Holland:
o Pre-marriage approved by 30 August 2003
o Marry in Holland on 03 November 2003
o Apply for DCF (green card/working papers) on 04 November 2003
o My wife moves to the US as soon as green card is approved in
February/March 2004
o I apply for Dutch citizenship when we move back to Holland in
2010

Marry in the US:
o My Dutch fiancé comes to visit and we marry in the US in
September 2003
o My wife returns to Holland and I file with the BCIS (for her
green card/working papers)
o My wife moves back to US with green card by November/December
2003
o I apply for Dutch citizenship when we move back to Holland in
2010


Given my (possibly incorrect) notions about how this works, I had a
few questions:

1) If we marry in the US, can we still file DCF in Holland for her
green card/working papers?

2) If we marry in the US and cannot file DCF in Holland, how long will
it take the BCIS to approve her green card and does she need to be in
the US during the process?

3) If we marry in the US, does this adversely impact my ability (as an
American citizen) to hold dual citizenship in both the US and Holland?

4) If we marry in the US, does this have any adverse/negative impact
on my (Dutch citizen) wife?

5) If we marry in the US, will we have more complications when dealing
with the Dutch government (when I move to Holland) since we were not
married in Holland (almost the same questions as # 3)?

For anyone that has been through the process of marrying a Dutch
citizen in America with the intention of living in the US now and
moving to the Netherlands in a few years, what advice can you offer
me?

Thanks so much for any and all insight. It's amazing the amount of
*inaccurate* information I'm getting from both governments. It seems
like USENET is the *only* place to get *accurate* information. I'm
very grateful for everyone's generosity in sharing their
experience/knowledge.

--aaron

Maarten Andriessen

    > 1) If we marry in the US, can we still file DCF in Holland for her
    > green card/working papers?

Yes. Your American marriage certificate can be used to start the DCF process
in The Netherlands. Marry whereever you feel like, The Netherlands ot the
United States. (I would not recommend marrying in any OTHER country
though, that will make things only needlessly complicated)

    > 2) If we marry in the US and cannot file DCF in Holland, how long will
    > it take the BCIS to approve her green card and does she need to be in
    > the US during the process?

I guess question 1 answers that. DCF is definitly the way to go.

    > 3) If we marry in the US, does this adversely impact my ability (as an
    > American citizen) to hold dual citizenship in both the US and Holland?

No. As soon as you move to The Netherlands in 2010, you will register
yourselves with the "Gemeente" as being married. After three years of living
in The Netherlands (three years after date on residency permit) you qualify
for Dutch citizenship and you are allowed to keep your American citizenship.
Vice versa the same laws apply, after your wife lives in the United States
for three years from the date on her green card she can apply for U.S.
citizenship. She can apply 90 days before the three years are up and she is
allowed to keep her Dutch citizenship by Dutch law.

    > 4) If we marry in the US, does this have any adverse/negative impact
    > on my (Dutch citizen) wife?

No, it should not have any negative impace. A marriage is a marriage and a
U.S. marriage certificate is valid in The Netherlands, provided you have
Apostilled it at the Department of State of your state. The "Apostille
Stamp" is a legalization of (already) legal documents according to some
Geneva convention in the 80ties I forgot about

    > 5) If we marry in the US, will we have more complications when dealing
    > with the Dutch government (when I move to Holland) since we were not
    > married in Holland (almost the same questions as # 3)?

I guess I already answered that. Marrying in the U.S. or The Netherlands
should have no negative (nor positive) impact on dealing with the Dutch
government - provided you legalize (Apostille) any U.S. documents before you
deal with them

    > For anyone that has been through the process of marrying a Dutch
    > citizen in America with the intention of living in the US now and
    > moving to the Netherlands in a few years, what advice can you offer
    > me?

Check my website and forum on http://www.dutchusa.com - it should help you a
bit more perhaps

Maarten