First, apologies if this has been asked/answered before; I’ve tried searching several times and I don’t know if I’m screwing up (most likely) or the search function is acting up, but I keep getting “Database Error” messages when I search.
Somehow, the question has come up on a mailing list I’m on: can a Muslim (or other) polygamist, living in a country where polygamy is legal, visit the United States, where it is not legal? If so, would it be under the condition that he leave all (or all but one) of his wives at home? (My guess is that such a visitor would be denied a visa if he intended to visit with more than one of his wives, but that’s just a guess.)
Related question: what if a country where polygamy is legal wished to send a polygamist to be its Ambassador to the United States? Would the United States refuse to accredit him? Or would it do so on the condition that he left all (or all but one) of his wives at home for the duration of his posting to the US?
Why couldn’t a polygamist enter the united States? If it’s not a crime in their country then it is of no particular concern here. He could bring all his wives as well.
Just for a visit, the US doesn’t care how many wives (or husbands or lovers) that you come with. It would get interesting if a polygamist sought a visa or immigration status that depends on marriage. For example, in the Green Card Lottery both a husband and wife can submit an entry, and if either wins, the other can get a green card based on being married to the winner. What would happen if a man (M) and his wives (W1 and W2) all entered?
(1) If M won, would both W1 and W2 get a green card? Or would only W1 get a green card, and W2 have to stay at home?
(2) If W1 won, would M be able to get a green card? And if so, would W2 also be entitled to one?
(3) If W2 won, given that her marriage is illegal in US law, would there be any way that M could get a green card? So perhaps W2 couldx move on her own to the US, and M could just visit her from time to time.
Polygamist man comes with two wives. In an automobile accident, the first married wive dies and he is severely injured. Barring written instructions, medical power of attorney, etc. Is wive number 2 now recognized as his next-of-kin for medical decisions?
Now suppose he dies and one of the wives is severely injured. Is the other wive considered next-of-kin to her “co-wife” (I’m not sure what term is appropriate here.)
Actually I’m interested what the answer to those questions is in a country where polygamy is legal, though I suspect it may be the case that a wife is never considered next of kin for such decisions.
This situation arose in The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress. The polygamist protagonist from the moon was visiting the US, and one state tried to arrest him for bigamy. The charges were dropped.
Because, in my experience, the US is a highly moralistic nation, which has no hesitation in enforcing its laws against foreigners even though their actions are “not a crime in their country”? As a not very good analogy, do you really believe that the immigration authorities here will permit an individual to bring marijuana or other illegal drugs into the US, even though it’s “not a crime in their country”?
If you have a citation (statute or case law) to back up your speculation, I’d prefer that, but if you have personal experience or knowledge (i.e., the experience of someone you know and trust that is relevant to the matter), that’s better than nothing.
The US does not forbid anyone from practicing polyamory (maybe just in certain areas?). For all intents and purposes, they can be in a de facto polygamous marriage, but legally they are only married to one. He can sleep with both wives in the US, but gets in trouble if he attempts to benefit legally or financially from the arrangement.
As for drugs, it is not legal to be a pothead or tweaker, but be prepared for the consequences if caught actively using.
I don’t understand why the OP finds this so difficult to understand. Possession of contraband is one thing, which actually occurs when someone is holding it.
If a poly visitor tries to get the US to enforce their marriage contract, all the US has to do is decline. No need to keep someone out because they hold contracts that are invalid in our jurisdiction.
But the crime of bigamy is not “having two wives”; it’s “celebrating two marriages (without the first having been terminated by death or divorce)”. So if I enter into a bigamous marriage in a country where that is legal, and then my wives and I all travel to the US, and sleep with one another in a big 'ol bigamous orgy, we are not doing anything in the US that is illegal in the US. The US won’t recognise my second marriage ceremony as creating a valid marriage, but is is not a crime in the US to have celebrated an unrecognised marriage ceremony abroad.
Terrible analogy. The US will permit in someone who smoked dope in their own country legally, but they obviously will enforce the laws when they are here.
If the polygamist tried to marry again in this country there would obviously be a problem.
And what’s with the attitude? Do you really want me to provide a cite for a law that does not exist? Maybe there is a giant list someplace of all the things that will not prohibit you from entering the US. It’ll go alphabetically from aardvark hunting to zither playing.
The absence of case law can be persuasive sometimes. Certainly, the US will enforce its drug laws on foreign visitors. But I have never heard of a the US or a state of the US enforcing laws against bigamy on visitors with plural wives – and I suspect that it would be newsworthy if it did.
So I and others are arguing a negative: that foreign polygamy is not illegal, and would not make entry into the US a problem. If you think we are wrong, then please give some positive evidence (either a law or a specific case) that we are wrong. In general, in a country like the US with the Rule of Law, what is not forbidden is legallly allowed.
What about other marriages not recognized by the federal government? Same-sex or marriage to a minor?
If PolyGuy wins the green card lottery, would all but one of his wives be considered the same as CanadianHomoGuy’s same sex spouse or PedoGuy’s thirteen year old bride with regards to immigration, since the federal government recognizes neither?
This was discussed recently, though my search powers are failing me.
Someone worked at a hospital. Arab patients would come to the U.S. for treatment, and bring all their wives. They didn’t have any trouble entering the country, or staying here.
The bigamously-married second wife won’t be able to get a visa to enter the US on the strength of being a wife because, as far as US law is concerned, she isn’t.
But if she can get a visa on other grounds (e.g. she qualifies in her own right for a tourist visa) or she doesn’t need a visa (e.g. she is a US citizen) then, no problemo. And she is not exposed to prosecution in the US for having participated abroad in a marriage ceremony which the US does not recognise.
It’s the possible sex with a minor aspect that interests me too. Say a foreigner visits the US with a few of his wives in tow, one of whom is 12 years old (perfectly legal in his own country)
Could he be arrested for having sex with a minor? Would he be permitted to even enter the country with such a young wife?
Federal government most certainly recognized marriages to minors. I don’t have a cite, but quite a few states permit minors to marry (usually with consent of a parent and/or judge) so I would imagine that would cause all sorts of problems if they couldn’t file taxes jointly
Somewhat related, don’t Mormon Fundamentalists (who still practice polygamy) travel just fine in the US? I’m reading an autobiography about this very topic and the author talks about her family’s trips to the San Diego zoo with like 6 wives and 30+ children, and also about hospital situations where all the wives are allowed to watch the birth of a child, etc. No trouble whatsoever, but certainly a lot of gossip.
