What are the regulations of Marrying a non-citizen on US Soil?

2019-11-01T13:30:42-04:00

I was asked this question and thought I knew the answer. I spent some time searching, but may have missed it somewhere.

I know if a member of the armed services plans to marry a foreign national out of country they need to put in an application with the area commander.

What if the service member plans to marry a foreign national that is already in the United States for School? Do they need to apply with their commander/installation commander or can they just do it?

Response by Lt Col Charlie Brown made Nov 1 at 2019 1:32 PM

2019-11-01T13:32:09-04:00

Don't just do it. I would speak to my commander and also legal.

Response by MSgt Michael Smith made Nov 1 at 2019 2:05 PM

2019-11-01T14:05:25-04:00

You can marry whomever you want wherever you want any time. You will never get in trouble for it. However...getting your new spouse sponsorship, green card, even a visa is an entirely different story.

Response by SSG Brian G. made Nov 1 at 2019 2:11 PM

2019-11-01T14:11:41-04:00

There are no regulations on it. The military does not issue wives or regulate them. You can marry whomever, whenever, where ever but the paperwork to get them a green card, sponsorship etc is a whole other beast entirely.

The spouses nationality may highly affect any kind of ongoing/pending security clearance you have though.

Response by CSM Darieus ZaGara made Nov 1 at 2019 3:05 PM

2019-11-01T15:05:37-04:00

You should be verifying if your future spouse will qualify for a Green Card. There are many differences between a student Visa and a Green card. Simply marrying a US citizen does not guarantee acceptance. You should contact the State Department and ask what you need to know before you take the leap. I can tell you that I had two Sokdiers, very different circumstances get married to people, one on student visa, the other a work visa, both were rejected Green Cards and had to leave the country. Now that was two out of many, but it happened none-the-less. Thank you for your service.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 1 at 2019 3:13 PM

2019-11-01T15:13:40-04:00

As far as Immigration goes, you just file an I-130 (Spousal) and add it to their I-485 visa. Then if they naturalize, they qualify for an N-400 Military Naturalization, but that comes later.
As for unit or branch of service requirements maybe ask the S1 if there is anything special that needs to be done but I'd imagine you won't have any problem unless the person is from someplace like North Korea or something odd.

Response by TSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 1 at 2019 3:17 PM

2019-11-01T15:17:17-04:00

Thanks all for the quick responses on this. Everybody has echoed what I assumed was correct, but realized I didn't know for sure when I was asked by a fellow Airman. Thank you all for being excellent resources when initial research doesn't quite uncover the answer.

Response by Kenn Evans II made Nov 1 at 2019 6:43 PM

2019-11-01T18:43:10-04:00

Check with legal and immigration. They may not qualify for a resident visa or citizenship and your courtship could be very long, and unfruitful. Love may not have boundaries but can be marred with red tape. Hope you get the side that isn't sticky.