Difficult Wedding Situation

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Benjinho

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Hey everyone,

My fiancee is coming from Brazil on a visa that requires her to wed within 90 days of entry into the US or else face deportation. She will be coming on November 20th because those plane tickets were the cheapest we could find.

The issue is, the Catholic wedding is scheduled for January 18th and I already ordered the cake, photographer, videographer etc. This only gives us 30 days (90 days from Nov 20th is February 18th) to receive the marriage certificate and submit her green card application. I’ve read this can take up to 6 weeks in some cases however!

I don’t want my future wife to be deported. I am asking the priest who is helping us prepare for marriage if it would be acceptable to become civilly wed first (with no ceremony) so we can get the green card process rolling and then have a convalidation ceremony on our originally planned date.

I know it’s generally not permissible for Catholics to wed outside the church, but would this situation bring an exception? Thanks for your help.
 
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No response as of yet. I guess I’m just asking here to make myself feel better…
 
He’s the one in the best position to give you an answer relevant to your particular situation.
 
Your sacramental marriage is more important than a cake or a photographer.

Have you begun marriage prep?

Buy a cake from the local bakery, have a friend take photos or I am sure the parish knows a photographer who will fit you in.

Do not worry about the finery, get the marriage done right the first time.
 
Benjinho said:
I am asking the priest who is helping us prepare for marriage if it would be acceptable to become civilly wed first (with no ceremony) so we can get the green card process rolling and then have a convalidation ceremony on our originally planned date.
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I would suggest this instead.

Ask the priest if you can have a Catholic wedding ceremony (the same one used in the convalidation) with just you, your wife to be, and two witnesses several weeks before the scheduled wedding mass, instead of a civil ceremony.

Then, have a wedding mass (or a revised wedding mass) on January 18th. The priest would basically “renew” your vows on Jan 18th.

But that way, you are legally married within the Catholic Church instead of doing the civil marriage thing.

NOTE: it’s possible the priest might say no to everything. However, it’s another option worth suggesting.
 
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TheLittleLady said:
Or just have party and photos on Jan 18 🙂
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This too. I’ve been to several Catholic weddings where the Wedding Mass was at 1, 2 or 3PM on a Saturday and the Wedding Reception was at 7PM.

When I attended those weddings, a ton of people skipped the Wedding Mass and only showed up for the reception at 7PM.

So it’s not unheard of for a Catholic to not have the wedding reception immediately after the wedding mass.

Good luck and God bless
 
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phil19034 said:
Then, have a wedding mass (or a revised wedding mass) on January 18th. The priest would basically “renew” your vows on Jan 18th.
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Dang… I didn’t realize that Catholic wedding vows were so fragile and tenuous that they should be renewed just a few weeks after having been validly celebrated… 🤔

@Benjinho, here’s my take: you’re comparing “wed within 90 days of entry into the U.S.” with “receive the marriage certificate”. Is the ‘reception’ you’re talking about something that comes from the county office in which the marriage is recorded? If so, then remind your priest to send in his return of marriage immediately. Your county office should be able to get documentation to you shortly after they receive the return from your priest.

Moreover, what’s the standard here? That the receipt of the green card application happen within 90 days of her arrival, or merely that the wedding happen in that time frame? I’m guessing it’s the latter… which means you’re in the clear. If you should receive a letter asking whether the marriage happened, you merely reply “yes” and show the documentation of the wedding ceremony.

You’re all good. Relax. Talk to your immigration attorney. And your priest. 👍
 
Benjinho said:
I don’t want my future wife to be deported. I am asking the priest who is helping us prepare for marriage if it would be acceptable to become civilly wed first (with no ceremony) so we can get the green card process rolling and then have a convalidation ceremony on our originally planned date.
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Don’t you still need the licence for a civil wedding?
 
Yes, and the priest will not do a wedding without a civil marriage license (doing so could put him at danger of the State revoking his privilege of conducting “legal” weddings).
 
Not the license, the certificate. I’m afraid the time required to receive the certificate would take too long and put my fiancee in danger of deportation.
 
Benjinho said:
Not the license, the certificate. I’m afraid the time required to receive the certificate would take too long and put my fiancee in danger of deportation.
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So… won’t you have the signed certificate from the priest on the day of the wedding? Or do you mean a document from the county?
 
Benjinho said:
marriage certificate and submit her green card application
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I was just reading this website regarding Legal Requirements for a Marriage-Based Visa or Green Card.

It says the following:
Ultimately, in order to obtain lawful U.S. residence, you will need to provide a document to show you were legally married. This will, most commonly, be a marriage certificate issued by a legitimate governmental agency. (A piece of paper from a church or a ship’s captain will not, on its own, be enough to establish that you really are married.)

*Also, a marriage license is not the same as a marriage certificate, although the license can serve as the certificate in some places if you’ve signed it in front of witnesses.
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https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/free-books/fiance-marriage-visa-book/chapter2-8.html

So based on this, I guess the key is for @benjinho to find out if a signed copy of his marriage license, signed in front of witnesses will suffice until the wedding certificate arrives in the mail.

@benjinho - please contact your future wife’s immigration attorney regarding this. And if you don’t have an immigration attorney, please get one.

God bless
 
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phil19034 said:
I was just reading this website regarding Legal Requirements for a Marriage-Based Visa or Green Card.
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The thing is, if the standard is “get married within 90 days of arrival”, that doesn’t imply “have in your possession the certificate by the 90th day from arrival.”

As always, of course, IANAL. Talk to your immigration attorney.
 
I’ve never heard of a marriage certificate taking more than a few days to a week to process unless the clergyman was negligent in returning it to the clerk after the ceremony. In this area, they’re usually processed the same day unless the appropriate person isn’t in the office to sign and seal the certificate (and that’s often done by a delegate with a stamp). You could theoretically walk the certificate through the process yourself unless you’re in a huge metropolitan area.
 
Hey everyone -

To update you guys, we decided to move my fiancee’s flight to January 3rd to avoid all of this. Wedding is still on for January 18th.

Thanks for your help!!
 
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