Marrying a Russian in Russia

[username33]

Hi,

Way to Russia (http://www.waytorussia.net/Practicalities/Marriage.html)

And the Consulate in Vladivostok http://www.vladivostok-usconsulate.ru/wwwhacsmarryrus.html

provide information you'll want to read if you're marrying a Russian in Russia. That's what I'm planning to do. And already, a couple days after making the decision, I'm feeling overwhelmed.

The Consulate website says: "The Russian government requires you to have in your possession originals of all pertinent U.S. civil documents (i.e., birth, marriage and divorce certificates, passports, visa, etc.)."

You really need the original of your birth certificate? I'm living in Ukraine. My birth certificate is in the states. Begs the question: how to get it there to here? And in a timely, secure fashion?

The site also says you must show "proof of your legal capacity to marry." I've never been married.
For such people the site says, "If you were not married before ZAGS might ask you to provide a certificate that no impediment exists to the marriage. The United States does not require such a document. If such a document is requested, you need to prepare an affidavit with basic biographical information about you and your fiancé. The information should be in both English and Russian. It is important that the Russian transliteration of your name be identical to that on your Russian visa and that all information pertaining to your Russian fiancé be correct and accurate. Your affidavit should be apostilled in the U.S."

Apostilled in the U.S.? This is where I want to start swearing. How about the Moscow or Kyiv Embassy (I live in Ukraine, near the border to Russia).

As for the transliteration, I have three visas pasted into my passport: an old Russian (two years ago), a new multi-entry Russian, valid until September something, and a current multi-entry for Ukraine. All use different variants of my commonly misspelled name: Stiven, Stephen, and then, law of averages, the correct one, Stephan (old Russian). Just a few weeks ago, I had problems at the border because my immigration card, passport and new visa didn't match up. I hope that scenario won't be repeated.

Does anyone have experience with this process? You know I'd love it if you'd share any tips with me and whomever else might be in need.

Thanks!

PS I'm marrying in Russia because it only seems right. To take someone away from their home and family, and not allow their mother to attend the wedding, which the current visa laws all but mandate -- it's just inhumane. So, the alternative -- the inhumane K3 process.

Perhaps I'll be posting more later, this time on the new IMB Act. My fiancee and I met in the states, without the aid of a broker -- through a friend -- but it seems I may get caught up in this law as well. Still coming to grips with it all.

[curmudgeon]

We got married in Russia.

I didn't need to get apostilled. Like you, I had never married before. I think you do need an "original" birth certificate, though.

You go to the U.S. Embassy in Moscow to get the Certificate of no Impediment. Fill it out and they will notarize it. Then you have to get it approved by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow (five working days and no way to shorten this).

We managed to get ZAGS to marry us the next business day after we received the paper.

Getting married in Russia seemed right to me, too, but I managed to ram through a multi-year multy-entry visa with dual intent for her well in advance. That let us fly to Russia, get married, and fly back to the United States without any additional visa hassles.

[username33]

"but I managed to ram through a multi-year multy-entry visa with dual intent for her well in advance. That let us fly to Russia, get married, and fly back to the United States without any additional visa hassles."

Was this a tourist visa you applied for, or a K3? I thought of applying for a K3, which gives multi-entry rights for 2 years, during which time the immigrant status is applied for. That the way to go?

[jb]

User33,

Usually a call to the Bureau of Vital Statistic in whatever State you were born in will get you a new "original" birth certificate.  I'm sure there will be some small fee for this service, and it can be delivered very quickly to wherever you happen to live as long as you are willing to pay for the FedEx shipping.  It's not perfect, but it is a solution to your needs at the moment.

[curmudgeon]

Was this a tourist visa you applied for, or a K3? I thought of applying for a K3, which gives multi-entry rights for 2 years, during which time the immigrant status is applied for. That the way to go?

Someone who enters the U.S. on a tourist visa can't intend to immigrate (visa fraud).

You can't get a K3 until after you get married (and the it takes months).

H and L visas have the advantages I described (plus some others such as no medical exam, no police report, no trip to Moscow).

You said you live in Ukraine. If at all possible (I don't know your residency status), you want to do a DCF (which bypasses the IMBRA requirements). Otherwise, you will probably have to do a K3.

[jb]

There is another aspect to doing the K-3 that I have not seen mentioned so far. 

After you get married there, come home, file the I-130, and then the I-129F, and jump through all the other hoops the BCIS requires, and she finally gets the K-3, 2 year multi-entry visa, then she arrives here and you think you are home free.  What they don't tell you is that the two years is what they estimate they will take to process your I-130. Multi-entry, back-and-forth and back-and-forth travel is not actually allowed by the K-3 visa.  It was not instituted for that purpose.  Many brides on the K-3 have returned to the FSU for a visit, thinking they were safe and didn't need the AP, then were denied re-entry to the USA and forced to wait at home in Russia until the CR-1 was issued. 

This is complete nonsense of course, but here's the thinking on this.  Your K-3 bride can reside here in the States with you while her I-130 is being processed, but it's temporary.  Remember, the K-3 is still considered to be a non-immigrant visa, just like the K-1.  She will have to travel back to Moscow to go through another medical exam, another round of fingerprinting, and another interview and then finally, the Embassy will issue the CR-1 paperwork, which leads to the GC. The CR-1 is not a Green Card, the Green Card is Form I-551, which arrives in the mail later, but she can travel with the CR-1 and the K-3 visa. The multi-entry is supposed to be for the additional trip back to Moscow to finalize the CR-1 step towards the immigration process, not for indiscriminate travel for your convenience during the two years.  This seems to be just one more of those Catch-22's the BCIS throws out there and doesn't completely explain.

The better route is to go ahead and re-file another I-130 when she arrives, pay the additional fee, and pretend she's simply awaiting AOS just the same as a K-1 bride.  She will probably get her GC faster that way.

[philb]

Are either of you Orthodox?  If so you could get married in the Orthodox Church and have a civil ceremony done at a later date to make things legal.  That way you could still go the K1 route. 

I recently got married in Ukraine.  Had two ceremonies (church and civil).  The Orthodox ceremony preceded the other by 3 days.

I don't know if the requirements are different at the Russian Embassy, but in Kiev the only document I had to have certified by apostille was my divorce decree.  The "original" of this was a notarized photocopy that was sent to the Wyoming Secretary of States Office to be apostilled.

I did not have to have my birth certificate.  Here is the link to the marriage procedure on the US Embassy website in Moscow.  It makes no mention of the need for a birth certificate.

http://www.usembassy.ru/consular/acs.php?record_id=acsmarriage

[Rvrwind]

user33...the first thing you gotta do is ignore that website!!!
Any America or Canadian website that tells you what the Russian government needs for you to marry is full of bull.
I have helped several guys get married in Russia, only one had a problem & that was because he chose not to listen. Getting married here is very easy, if you start to complicate it with a bunch of extra paperwork that the US says you need that the Russians don't need all you do is complicate the whole situation. I was best man at a wedding of a Canadian friend of mine this past weekend & because he followed my advice he had no problems. Filed the papers & was legally married & is spending only 3 weekson the ground this trip.
Having lived here for 3 plus years the one thing I have learned is KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid. Adhere to this & your life will be much easier & simpler.
If you want the help I am willing to provide, but don't ask if you are not going to follow it. Its a very simple process as long as you follow the Russian rules, not somebody elses who doesn't have a clue.

[username33]

The better route is to go ahead and re-file another I-130 when she arrives, pay the additional fee, and pretend she's simply awaiting AOS just the same as a K-1 bride.  She will probably get her GC faster that way.

Thanks for all the great information. Incredibly valuable. So if I file a second I-130, I'd be able to leave the country with her twice and return without a hassle? Because, yes, we had already discussed a summer in Russia.

I've sent off an email trying to go the DCF route, either through Kyiv or Moscow. I'll hope for the best there. Otherwise, we're set to get all the documents for the marriage taken care of. We needed no birth certificate, it turns out. Just the passport (Translated), the visa registered, and the statement of no impediment, apostilled at the Embassy in Moscow and then registered with the Department of Legalization or some such -- a Russian agency. The latter says it takes 5 days. That would be great. I should be traveling up there early next week, after the Monday holiday.

[jb]

User33,

I don't have time to go into it now, but suffice to say, if it's Moscow, you can forget the DCF.  They only do that for American ex-pats living and working in Russia.  All others must do the K-3, with the I-130 filed at your regional area BCIS Service Center, and an I-129F filed at the Chicago, IL address. 

If you were here in Texas I could walk you through it with the filing of the extra I-130 at the local office in San Antonio, I got to know that office very well.

[username33]

This must be a rarity: I'm getting the DCF for the I130 in Kyiv, then they're transferring it on up to Moscow so my fiancee can do the visa interview there. I am, to say the least, relieved. This should cut some months from the process. Now if I can just get married by August 1, the date of our interview in Kyiv.

[jb]

Ahhhhh sooooo, your g/f is a Ukrainian national, living in Moscow???  I guess you plan to marry in Ukraine.  I've never heard of a DCF done this way before so it is indeed a rarity.

[username33]

My fiancee (we got our date scheduled at ZAGs today) is a Russian national living in Russia. I live in Ukraine. We both live in border towns, only 80 kms apart: Kharkov, Belgorod. So we'll start the process in Kiev, because I'm considered a resident, though they'll then forward the matter to Moscow, because the final visa interview has to be completed in the country from which my fiancee will depart (and now lives).

[Marcopolo]

     Hi guys,

  Seems like an older post(one month) but if any of the guys who have done this are still hanging around I would be curious as to the time frames involved.

  IE: got married, applied multi-entry visa, approved 2 weeks, 3 months, 6 years later.

   Don't know if I  just missed these points or not.
Marco Polo(almost graduated newbie)

[username33]

HI, I'm going to post elsewhere too, so this doesn't get buried, but I got the DCF in Moscow, as it turns out, and am now waiting for them to schedule my wife's appointment. I'm curious how long it takes. Anyone know? We got married July 21 and got the I-130 accepted July 25th.