Marrying a Foreign National in New York

[toothpicktable]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New York

My girlfriend and I are currently living together in New York City. I'm an American national and she's Japanese. We have been going back and forth from NYC to Tokyo, always relying on three month tourist visas for three years now and we've finally decided to get married. The New York Marriage website states that we must both provide two forms of id to get the marriage certificate. I quote "A person is required to establish proof of age and identity by submitting to the issuing clerk one of the following age related documents:

1. Birth Certificate
2. Baptismal record
3. Naturalization record
4. Census record

And one of the following identity related documents:

1. Driver's license
2. Passport
3. Employment picture ID
4. Immigration record"

I have no problem satisfying this requirement but we're not sure about her ability to fulfill the age related documents. She has a birth certificate but it is entirely in japanese, never baptized, not a naturalized citizen (yet), and not part of the census (for the same reason). Will we be able to get married under these circumstances? Also, after marriage, where do we go to fill out the necessary paperwork to start the process of naturalization? what forms do we need to fill out. We can't afford a lawyer right now so any advise that anyone can provide would be most appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Proserpina]

After you are married you will be able to petition for your wife to become a LPR - legal permanent resident. Only then after several years will she be able to petition for naturalization.

If the NY state requirements for marriage are hindering you, there are other options - another state (MD for example) might have much less restrictive requirements to obtain a marriage license.

After you've married you can download all of the appropriate forms - start here and work through them :

Petition for Alien Relative.

There are several chat/message boards online - britishexpats.com is one - who have a whole heap of information (not just for Brits obviously) about going through the process too and these can help a great deal.

There is a teeny little issue you might want to consider. As a Japanese national she came in using the VWPP, yes? (visa waiver program).

As no doubt you're aware this is not meant to be used as a short-cut to emigrating here, though probably thousands of people have done so. If you are married within the 90 days there's a chance Immigration might view this as your fiance entering as a tourist while actually intending to remain, and give you some trouble. In all honesty, it might be worth saving up for a lawyer to make sure you dot your "i"s and cross your "t"s.

(I couldn't actually find anything in writing regarding the 90 days - but one of my siblings went through the same thing, married a few weeks after the VW had expired and though questioned about the timing during the interview was actually ok)

Good luck in your marriage!

 

[You Are Guilty]

You should be able to get by using a certified translation of her birth certificate. But there may be other options. Here's who you need to speak with to find out for certain:

If you do not possess any of the above forms of identification, you may contact the Legal Bureau of the Office of the City Clerk in person or by writing to:

Office of the City Clerk
Legal Bureau
141 Worth Street
New York, NY 10013

 

[evcalyptos]

Also, after marriage, where do we go to fill out the necessary paperwork to start the process of naturalization?

Great answer from Dogmatique--there is a lot more to it than meets the eye.
Like the quoted text. As explained, an immigrant must live in the US as a Permanent Resident for a number of years (with a green card) before being eligible to naturalize (take US citizenship).
However, Japan is one country that doesn't (now) tolerate multiple citizenships. Your wife may not want to give up her Japanese citizenship to be an American, especially if she has property in Japan.

Things change of course, but Japan has stayed firm on this so far.


Considering the long history with US immigration that your GF has and because you want to do an adjustment of status from the VWP, you should really invest a couple hundred dollars in a personal consultation with a lawyer. It's very easy to shoot yourself in the foot because you think it's 'just forms'.