The Legitimacy Of Foreign Marriages
Are foreign marriages legitimate and allowed by the US law
? unless your marriage breaches US laws, then as long as it was legally conducted and certified as valid in a foreign country then the marriage is equally valid in America. If you want to know more about the validity of your marriage done abroad, then you should send your inquiries to the attorney general of the state where you live as a married couple.
Who can preside over foreign marriages
Please note that American Consular and diplomatic officers are not by law permitted to preside over marriages according to Code Title 22 of the Federal Regulations 52.1. Foreign marriages can be performed by local, foreign, religious or civil officials in the country where it's planned.
Also, foreign marriages involving American citizens are not, by law, permitted to be conducted on a US embassy or Consulate. Note that the legitimacy of a foreign marriage does not depend upon or determined by the presence of a US consular or diplomatic officer, the validity depends solely on the observance of the host country laws. All that Diplomatic or consular officers can do is validate the alien marriage documents. This is usually done for a fee, approximately USD$35.00. The authentication maybe irrelevant if the host country agrees to an Apostile.
Alien Laws and Procedures
The best source of information regarding foreign marriages are embassies of the host country or foreigners information bureaus. The State Department, Overseas Citizens Services also plays host to marriage information of select countries. Additionally, US consulates and embassies in destination countries usually have marriage information of the particular countries they're located.
Citizenship Requirements
Note that foreign marriages are always subject to residency requirements of the host country. This in most known cases involves a lenghty period of waiting.
Paperwork and Validation
In most countries, an American citizen wedding a native will be required to present a certified US passport. Additionally, birth certificates, death certificates and divorce decrees will be required too. It's also a common occurence that most foreign countries will require that the documents submitted to the registrar of marriage in host country be validated in the US by a consular officer of the country. This is usually a long and time consuming process. Here too the validation may be irrelevant if the country accepts an Apostille.
Age Of Consent
The age of consent varies from one country to the next. Individuals below the ages 18 are required in most countries to submit a statement of consent written and executed by their parents before a public notary. A number of countries require that the statement of consent be validated by a consular officer of the said country in the US.
Affidavit of Eligibility
Majority of countries that subscribe to civil law require proof of legal capacity to enter into a marriage contract, usually in the form of a certificate by an authorised authority stating that there is no barrier to the success of the marriage. Such documents do not exist in America and are not required.
by: Mathieu Courchesne
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