How to get married in US?

[Akisa]

How do my girlfriend and I get married in the US? We have been together for 6 years. She is a Japanese citizen and right now she has a practical Visa. She graduated from grad school in May and we are ready to get married. We will be moving to Japan in about a year. Any advice, experiences or links would be a great help.

[kamome]

How do my girlfriend and I get married in the US? We have been together for 6 years. She is a Japanese citizen and right now she has a practical Visa. She graduated from grad school in May and we are ready to get married. We will be moving to Japan in about a year. Any advice, experiences or links would be a great help.

Everything you need to know can be found on the US Embassy website. Just google for "US Embassy Tokyo" and you'll find it easily.

[devicenull]

paypal me $100 and you are officially married...PM me for details

thanks to some random spam, i am an officially ordained minister of some church or whatever

[omae mona]

Everything you need to know can be found on the US Embassy website. Just google for "US Embassy Tokyo" and you'll find it easily.

I hate to disagree with the estimable Mr. Kamome, who is usually my source for all this sort of information. But I think the US Embassy site is full of information for getting a visa to be in the U.S.

From the sound of it, Akisa's trying to get into Japan. Is that right? If so, a few pointers. I am NOT a lawyer, and am working off of probably faulty memory.. so don't blame me if this is totally wrong...

1) Do not mess around with her U.S. visa status]http://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/visa/[/url]

Successfully going through this process instantly earns you the "F" in "FG", possibly jumping you straight to tier 1.

[kamome]

I hate to disagree with the estimable Mr. Kamome, who is usually my source for all this sort of information. But I think the US Embassy site is full of information for getting a visa to be in the U.S.

From the sound of it, Akisa's trying to get into Japan. Is that right? If so, a few pointers.

Thanks, omae mona. I didn't catch that important next-to-last sentence of his original post.

[Akisa]

I have no idea where to start. We live in CT. Do I go to the state INS office first? Where do I begin this venture?

[omae mona]

I have no idea where to start. We live in CT. Do I go to the state INS office first? Where do I begin this venture?

Akisa - other than gettiing married, the steps from this point have nothing to do with the U.S. government, and everything to do with the Japanese government. You're going to have to get married, then prepare the paperwork, and then apply at the nearest Japanese consulate. Depending on where you are in CT, this might be the one in Manhattan, or maybe in Boston. I'm not sure. Read the link I sent before, gather all the materials it says you need, and then bring them to the consulate.

Feel free to PM me if you gots more questions.

[Akisa]

I just go ahead and marry as if I were getting married to an American?

[omae mona]

I just go ahead and marry as if I were getting married to an American?

Basically yes, but you should plan to be pretty heavily sedated.

[bejiita]

I just go ahead and marry as if I were getting married to an American?

Basically yes, but you should plan to be pretty heavily sedated.

That's what I thought the reception was for.

[cowboy charlie]

paypal me $100 and you are officially married...PM me for details

thanks to some random spam, i am an officially ordained minister of some church or whatever

these are the kind of comments that make this site worthless. that wasnt funny and it wasnt helpful to the original poster. how about we stop acting like fools around here.

[cstaylor]

Okay, I never got married in the U.S., but here's what I had to do for my Japanese marriage:

- Go to the American embassy and get an affidavit stating that I was legally entitled to marry. It's been a couple of years, but I remember the price being over $100

- Have your wife translate the paperwork into Japanese

- Turn it in at the local ward office with the rest of the paperwork. That costs less than $10 if I remember correctly.

- Have your foreigner card updated to reflect your marriage

- Apply for a change of visa status at the local immigration office. Some paperwork, make sure to bring photos of you and your wife from like 6 years ago or whatever. IIRC, your wife will need to fill out paperwork explaining how you first met, things like that

- Visa change takes a couple of weeks, and they'll update your passport to reflect the status change

- After you get your one-year visa, apply for a multiple-reentry permit.

[celt57]

If you aren't planning to stay in the US after you get married, it would probably be better to get married in Japan and have you apply for residency.

If you just want to get married here, then you can just go ahead and do it.
If she plans to stay here in the US past her graduation, then right after you get married she needs to apply for her residency.

But, if all you want to do is just get married and leave the country, there is no problem.

One of you is going to have to apply for residency in the country you
decide to stay in, and when you get to that country (Japan?) apply as soon as you get there.

[devicenull]

paypal me $100 and you are officially married...PM me for details

thanks to some random spam, i am an officially ordained minister of some church or whatever

these are the kind of comments that make this site worthless. that wasnt funny and it wasnt helpful to the original poster. how about we stop acting like fools around here.

yawn... so, did you ever become a Japanese national like you wanted to? what, with your associates degree and all.

[cstaylor]

Japanese national

Man, forget that.