i don´t know is anyone of you guys is familiar with the immigration process to the US but i just thought i would post this topic to see if i can find someone to answer some of the questions i have...i want to marry my fiance by proxy(he´s in texas) and i´ve heard that you don´t even need to be US citizen to get married by proxy,which will make things a lot easier for us... my question though is this...if i enter the US with the normal tourist visa,which is usually issued on the plane ,and get married to him by proxy once i´m in the US ,am i allowed to stay there or would that be illegal?? do i have to go back to europe,get with INS and apply for a visa to be able to stay there for good???does INS accept proxy marriages?? hope i can find someone who can guide me through all this...

If you're coming to the US, why are you not going to the prison to marry him there? Wouldn't that be easy enough? Why would you want to be married by proxy? Wouldn't you much rather marry him in person? Are you even going to visit him while you're here? I think on a tourist visa, you wouldn't be allowed to stay, but I'm not an international traveller so I don't know for sure. Rostonhall might be able to answer this question for you.

Lea, I know a gentleman at work who married a lady from africa. He had a hard time getting her over here legally. He said over and over it would have been easier to let her come over on a temp visa and marry her. They would have let her stay.

But, unfortunately, on one of the web sites about proxy marriages in Texas, I read where it is invalid for immigration purposes. I am not sure if it would be invalid if the American citizen was the only on showing up for the marriage or invalid the other way around where the non us citizen was the only one showing up for the marriage or invalid on both cases.

Here is the link to where I read that...........http://usmarriagelaws.com/search/alternative_lifestyles/proxy_marriages/index.shtml

...thank you toi-ama for your reply..the thing is this...my fiance is on DR and we can only get married by proxy and not at the unit itself...i already got with the US embassy over here about this issue and they said as long as the marriage has been registered by the US authority, then it should be valid (getting married by proxy)i was just wondering if there´s any other and easier way for me to come over to the US for good because getting the fiancee visa is a long drawn process and it can take up to one year until it is issued by INS.plus, i think i will have a hard time getting the visa anyway because of his record and the current incarceration in TDC....

flygirl, you may be getting mixed up with the immigration thing.
I did say in a thread that for me to marry my fiance (he's in Illinois) by proxy the marriage wouldn't be accepted by the British Immigration people. A good few hundred people in the past have used this to get one of the partners into the UK and then they've divorced right after the entry visa was issued. So, it's now not acceptable, even when it's a legitimate marriage.

Lea, from what I know your marriage won't entitle you to stay in the US and you'd be best off going to see a lawyer. I think there are a couple of people here who know a lot about it and I'm sure they'll advise you. When I marry I have no intention of living in the US as my fiance wants to live in Europe so, I can just go in and out on the temp. visa issued on the plane.

Rose

I have just been in texas for three months and went in on my visa waiver. I have been married to my husband for six years and when i applied to stay they told me that i had to go back to england and apply for a spouses visa, which my husband has done. oh by the way we were married by proxy. If you want to know anything else about this subject be sure to email me or answer this .