Marriage in Moldova?

[MrConstruction]

Aloha everyone...

Just got back from my trip to Moldova and had the best time.  Came back engaged!  Now I have a whole host of new problems.....   I hired a firm Holmes and Lolly to help me out with the visa applications.  However my lovely Moldovan bride to be wants to have her wedding in Moldova so her friends and family can attend.  I personally think this is a good idea, but I have absolutely no idea what a Moldovan wedding consist of     Inessa told me it would cost about $5,000 (which I cant complain about).  Can I just go to the courthouse steps and have it made official?  Do I have to bribe Zags for the paper?  Which is easier to marry her there? and do a K3?  or do a K1 marry her here in a quick ceremony (I have already done the long ceremony here once) and then plan a full wedding in her country?  Can I have most of the paperwork for the marriage done before I get there?  What is a traditional Moldovan wedding?

Any help from you seasoned vets would be greatly appreciated.......


Robert     

[Mir]

Hello Robert

Marisha is a lovely lady from Moldova who married a man from Manchester (marriage took place in Moldova).
She runs a website and I am sure you can find all the info you need from this resource:
http://www.marisha.net/
Her email is: trandafir_dela_moldova@yahoo.co.uk

Good luck with your marriage, I would like to visit Moldova during the wine festival some day

[catzenmouse]

Congratulations Robert! Hope everything works out well for you both.

If you marry here then you will do a K-1 Fiancee Visa, Marry, File for AOS, EAD, and Advance Parole then you can go and marry again in Moldova.

If you marry in Moldova first you will have to file a K-3 and wait for it to be processed and approved before she can come to the US.

I don't know any of the specifics of the K-3 but you can also check with WilliamIII and spend some time at USCIS.gov reading the requirements of the different options.

Ken

[Turboguy]

Ken is right about needing a K-3 if you marry there first.  A K-3 used to take a bit longer but that seems to be evening up now a bit.  The big disadvantage is with a K-1 and getting married here you have a chance to spend nearly 90 days together in the place where she will be living with the people she will be around in the country where she will be living in to have a better feel for how she will like it and how you two do together over a little more extended period of time.

[docetae]

Ken is right about needing a K-3 if you marry there first.  A K-3 used to take a bit longer but that seems to be evening up now a bit.  The big disadvantage is with a K-1 and getting married here you have a chance to spend nearly 90 days together in the place where she will be living with the people she will be around in the country where she will be living in to have a better feel for how she will like it and how you two do together over a little more extended period of time.

Off topic but does someone has visited Mileştii Mici or tasted wine from Moldova ?

[MrConstruction]

The Moldovan wines are excellent.....careful of the homemade ones.....they make them a little strong.


Rob

[Wolf297208]

Off topic but does someone has visited Mileştii Mici or tasted wine from Moldova ?

yes i have, its great!!!! You drive underground to see all the wines, huge place! i love Moldovan wine it is not a strong as US...actually i like the red, the white is too watery for me.

[steviej]

Ken is right about needing a K-3 if you marry there first.  A K-3 used to take a bit longer but that seems to be evening up now a bit.  The big disadvantage is with a K-1 and getting married here you have a chance to spend nearly 90 days together in the place where she will be living with the people she will be around in the country where she will be living in to have a better feel for how she will like it and how you two do together over a little more extended period of time.

You might be able to get the current average processing times from the INS itself for processing K1 vs K3. When I brought my fiancee here, it was definitely longer for the K3.

Turboguy, when you said, " The big disadvantage is with a K-1 and getting married here you have a chance to spend nearly 90 days ..." I'm assuming you meant advantage, yes? It's an important point, potentially. The RW/UW married couples I know married in US first, then if the family wanted, returned to her native country for second wedding.

[topofthekey]

a little off topic but i have to ask. i don't think i'd feel comfortable getting married if my girl hadn't actually been to the United States as it can be more of an isolated feeling to some I'm told. Now I have a great family but again compared to the FSU maybe my life is a little more isolated.

just asking the guys that have done this. what would you prefer- the k1 or k3 if you had a choice. is spending 3 months here in the USA with her a big advantage?

[Ooooops]

I'm reading TR from Muckraker - http://www.russianwomendiscussion.com/index.php?topic=1976.15

and he says:

 

Inspection at JFK went like this - after we got off the plane, a USCIS agent directed us to the correct line where an inspection officer took Oxana’s manila envelope and her passport with the I-94 we filled out on the plane. She asked Oxana a few questions, which I had to translate into Muckraker because Oxana could not understand the gutter English this lady was speaking. What is the purpose of your visit? When are you getting married (we were careful not to say anything about the ceremony in Vladivostok).

So, I guess that if you want to kill two birds with one stone you could have a wedding in Moldova first and then still apply for K-1 visa.   

[Gtex]

Mr. Construction (Robert);
Congratulations!  I am adding to this thread only to correct some misinformation that could cause you trouble!  Member "Ooooops" has given you unclear advice up-thread.  I hope this was not intentional.  You can not be married under Moldavian law and then apply for a K1 visa from the United States.  To do so and not "mention" it would be to jeopardize your application and violate some serious federal laws. 
The salient feature of Mucks' trip report is this:

'Making plans for the ceremonial wedding in January has kept us very busy. Things that are very simple back in the U.S. are just so complicated here. The constant explaining everything over and over again really gets you down. It wears me out. I’ve learned a lot about the mindset here though. We are getting “married” in the Catholic church, then a limousine will take us around downtown for the pictures, then to Mom and Dad’s for the bread ceremony...."

Technically, this is simply an "engagement ceremony" according to the Catholic Church in Vladivostok and for Russian government purposes, but it will be just like a wedding with the dress, rings, etc.

Perhaps member "Ooooops" did not comprehend the distinction as the section of Mucks' trip report she quoted is misleading and taken out of context.    The only reason Muck and wife did not mention the "ceremony" was to avoid confusing immigration officials.  They were not legally married at that time. 

So, have a ceremony but be careful not to do it at Zags (or the Moldovian equivalent), do it somewhere else, just be sure not to register it with local authority as that is what makes it legal and precludes the ability to file a K-1.

Hope this clears up any confusion and reading Mucks FULL report should give you a clear idea of what the drill will be...

[Ooooops]

Technically, this is simply an "engagement ceremony" according to the Catholic Church in Vladivostok ...

Perhaps member "Ooooops" did not comprehend the distinction as the section of Mucks' trip report she quoted is misleading and taken out of context.   

I'm afraid it's you who didn't "comprehend"   

The day of the wedding ceremony finally arrived.

http://www.russianwomendiscussion.com/index.php?topic=1976.15

[Misha]

Technically, this is simply an "engagement ceremony" according to the Catholic Church in Vladivostok and for Russian government purposes

For the Russian state, the only official marriage is the state-sanctioned wedding at one of the state's wedding palaces. However, why would the Catholic Church define its wedding ceremony as an "engagement ceremony"?

[Ooooops]

For the Russian state, the only official marriage is the state-sanctioned wedding at one of the state's wedding palaces.

Yep. 

[Gtex]

Ooooops and Misha

Both of you have missed the point!  It is only the registration that makes it legal and binding under law; therefore precluding K1.  Certainly, this basic concept is not beyond you (is it?).

Misha, the quote you attributed to me was from my post, but taken from Mucks' trip report.  I believe if you read his report, you will understand that you both continue to misrepresent his intent.  He was not attempting to hide a legal marriage.  He only participated in a non-binding, non-registered ceremony.

To advise someone to actually marry (legally) in another country and then try to file a K1 here is wrong, bad advice, illegal, etc. 

The "egagement ceremony" becomes a marriage if it is registered with Zags!  Clear enough now?

[Ooooops]

The "egagement ceremony" becomes a marriage if it is registered with Zags!  Clear enough now?

Exactly (not engagement but wedding but is' besides the point) .   And what are you arguing about? 

[Misha]

Misha, the quote you attributed to me was from my post, but taken from Mucks' trip report.  I believe if you read his report, you will understand that you both continue to misrepresent his intent.  He was not attempting to hide a legal marriage.  He only participated in a non-binding, non-registered ceremony.

Again, I agree that according to the Russian state, a marriage conducted in a Catholic Church in Russia won't be legally recognized marriage. For this reason, he can get married in a Catholic Church in Russia and still not be considered "married" for immigration purposed (I agree with you there). However, the point I am trying to make, is that from the perspective of the Catholic Church, it won't be considered an "engagement" ceremony. Marriage is one of the seven sacraments according to the doctrines of Catholicism. It does not matter if the sacrament of matrimony is recognized as the state as legal or not, it won't be downgraded to an engagement ceremony. This is true for Orthodoxy in Russia: though the Orthodox Church recognizes that only the state marriages are legal, Orthodox believers are still called upon to get married in Church (venchanie, sp.?).

[Gtex]

Misha;
Thanks for the elaboration and I would agree to all points made.  This is the difference between canonized church law and law of the state.  In the eyes of the church, you are right and they are married after the ceremony.  Calling it an engagement ceremony is a literary convenience to deal with the requirements of state law.  The question is really, were these the words  (perhaps "term of art") of Muck, or a more de facto (recognized) effort of the church to deal with just this type of situation relevant to immigration.

Oooops;
Up thread you advised a man to get married in Moldova, return to USA and file a K1.

"So, I guess that if you want to kill two birds with one stone you could have a wedding in Moldova first and then still apply for K-1 visa."

Your guess is wrong, bad advice, and illegal;  this is why I am correcting you.  I am not arguing, I am correcting your mistake.  Your welcome...

[Ooooops]

Oooops;
Up thread you advised a man to get married in Moldova, return to USA and file a K1.

"So, I guess that if you want to kill two birds with one stone you could have a wedding in Moldova first and then still apply for K-1 visa."

Your guess is wrong, bad advice, and illegal;  this is why I am correcting you.  I am not arguing, I am correcting your mistake.  Your welcome...

Again - the legal marriage is the one that has official "stamp" to it.   Church does no such thing.   God is separated from law, you know.     Even in the States you still need to do some paperwork to prove your marriage binding.