# if I marry overseas am i always married in the US? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 18, 2009, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-marry-overseas-am-i-always-married-in-the-us/506855 "2009-08-18T16:13:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-marry-overseas-am-i-always-married-in-the-us/506855/21 "2009-08-19T01:43:05Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > So what happens if a man from a place where polygamy is legal comes to the US with his four legal wives? Are three of them not married here? Are _any_ of them married? Just the first one? What does it matter? Generally, when they are visiting here, they aren’t doing anything involving the legal system where marital status comes into relevance. It happens a whole lot here in Minnesota, down at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. Arabs come for treatment, and bring a whole bunch of wives with, sometimes renting a whole floor of a hotel. The hospital only recognizes one (usually the ‘senior wife’) as legal next of kin, authorized to make medical decisions\*. They just ignore the others, legally – they are family members for visitation, etc., but have no legal recognition. Frankly, their legal status doesn’t come up much. \*In practice, due to Muslim disrespect for women, it’s quite common for Arabs to bring a male relative with, and give them the medical power of attorney. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-marry-overseas-am-i-always-married-in-the-us/506855/22 "2009-08-19T01:44:10Z")
> [@drhess](#): > > But what if you marry in another country, and don’t do anything to have it recognized here, then you marry here…is it still bigamy? Does it matter on the country? E.g., the Mexico example? As a rule, if you marry A in Country X in a ceremony which is valid by the laws of Country X, then the marriage is recognised by the laws of the US states. This would not be so if the relationship was not capable of being a marriage – e.g. it’s polygamous, it’s a same-sex marriage. It makes no difference whether you were in country X temporarily or indefinitely, or indeed legally or illegally. If you then come back to the US, do nothing about registering or recording your marriage to B for tax, immigration or other purposes, but also do nothing about getting a divorce from A, and them marry B while A is still alive, yes, it’s bigamy. You’re married to A, and you go through a purported ceremony of marriage with B; that’s pretty much the classic definition of bigamy. ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-marry-overseas-am-i-always-married-in-the-us/506855/23 "2009-08-19T02:44:11Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > IANAL, but no. Statutory rape requires that the parties not be married to eachother (many US states have lower marriagable ages than ages of consent). I know for a fact that this is the law on Pennsylvannia (I served on a jury in a statutory rape case). I think any foreign marriage would be recognized as long as it was; valid where celebrated; not bigamous, and the spouses were not of the same sex. Here’s the fly in the ointment… could the young bride complain of spousal rape? If she was forced into marriage, and then forced into intercourse with the man… just saying… ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-marry-overseas-am-i-always-married-in-the-us/506855/24 "2009-08-19T05:32:51Z")
Depends on the local law, but in a jurisdiction which recognises spousal rape as a crime, the issue is not whether the spouse consented to the marriage, but consented to the sexual intercourse. Thus an “underage bride” can complain of spousal rape. But the fact that she is underage is not relevant; whatever her age, if she did not consent to sexual intercourse, she has been raped. ---
**Author:** ![EdwardLost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@EdwardLost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EdwardLost)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-marry-overseas-am-i-always-married-in-the-us/506855/25 "2009-08-19T11:43:18Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > No. > In fact, a US man can marry a young bride (under the statutory age limit) in many of the US states, provided he gets parental consent. The scenario I was thinking of was that the couple’s marriage be legit in their own country but not recognized in the US (the same scenario, I think, as in the OP). For instance if a man in Backwardistan legally married a ten-year-old girl there, and had sex with her in the US, could he be convicted of statutory rape? No? What if they both later became US citizens? What if they were both US citizens who traveled there to get married? What if the bride was 17 (legal to be married in that state) but she was the man’s 2nd wife? ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-marry-overseas-am-i-always-married-in-the-us/506855/26 "2009-08-19T13:06:58Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > Depends on the local law, but in a jurisdiction which recognises spousal rape as a crime, the issue is not whether the spouse consented to the marriage, but consented to the sexual intercourse. > > Thus an “underage bride” can complain of spousal rape. But the fact that she is underage is not relevant; whatever her age, if she did not consent to sexual intercourse, she has been raped. I guess what I was thinking, (and it wasn’t phrased this way), but the guy could really be shooting himself in the foot by bringing his underage bride here (or to any country with spousal rape laws). My guess would be that a country that allows men to marry 12 year olds, doesn’t have particularly stringent rape laws, especially concerning spousal rape. So he marries her in that country, brings her here, forces sex on her (like he usually does), but now she can run off and have the law on her side. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-marry-overseas-am-i-always-married-in-the-us/506855/27 "2009-08-19T13:35:51Z")
> [@EdwardLost](#): > > The scenario I was thinking of was that the couple’s marriage be legit in their own country but not recognized in the US (the same scenario, I think, as in the OP). For instance if a man in Backwardistan legally married a ten-year-old girl there, and had sex with her in the US, could he be convicted of statutory rape? No? What if they both later became US citizens? What if they were both US citizens who traveled there to get married? What if the bride was 17 (legal to be married in that state) but she was the man’s 2nd wife? Standard question in conflict of laws. The answer is more political than legal. Usually courts give comity to the laws and decisions of other juridictions unless they go against public policy of the own juridiction. Not merely against the law. So on the issue marriage if a court is convinced that the marriage is has been validly contracted in another juridiction they will allow it. Here however public policy seems to dictate against allowing such a marriage to continue. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-marry-overseas-am-i-always-married-in-the-us/506855/28 "2009-08-19T14:33:39Z")
One example of a marriage that would not be recognised in the US would be a same-sex marriage performed in Canada. There are no residency requirements in Canada, so two Americans could come here and get married, but whether or not it is recognised down south will depend on the law of the state they live in. It won’t be recognised by the federal government, as far as I can tell. ---
**Author:** ![GrassHoper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@GrassHoper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrassHoper)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-marry-overseas-am-i-always-married-in-the-us/506855/29 "2014-04-29T14:12:07Z")
I got married overseas and did not yet complete my divorce from the non us wife and came to the US and got married to a US citizen and got the green card and later the US citizen. The divorce paper came after four years from the non us wife and later(after 7 years) divorced my us citizen wife and got married third time to a non us wife overseas … would my child from my first wife be eligible for immigration visa ??? Note that this was over 10 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-marry-overseas-am-i-always-married-in-the-us/506855/30 "2014-04-29T14:18:30Z")
Not sure about the legality of the situation, but it would probably make a pretty epic situation comedy… ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-marry-overseas-am-i-always-married-in-the-us/506855/31 "2014-04-29T14:34:32Z")
Nvmd ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-marry-overseas-am-i-always-married-in-the-us/506855/32 "2014-04-29T15:42:43Z")
Is the child still a minor? Are you the child’s legal guardian? Are you currently a US citizen? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-marry-overseas-am-i-always-married-in-the-us/506855/33 "2014-04-29T16:18:05Z")
> [@Eva\_Luna](#): > > Yes, it’s a tax thing, but it pops up in immigration cases now and again. For example, I had a married couple with the wife a US citizen living in the US, but her Canadian husband hadn’t managed to get through immigrant visa processing to come to the U.S. by the time taxes were due. We had to write a long, messy explanation of why they had filed taxes as “Married Filing Separately” so that there was no confusion about the validity of their marriage. > > Eva Luna, Immigration Paralegal Yikes! I have been filing my US taxes as single. I thought I was required to (since the US did not recognize my foreign same-sex marriage at the outset, and my spouse has no ties to the USA). Now that they recognize SSM, I guess I was supposed to change status, and probably file back taxes for the years for which they changed their minds. Good thing this is all so simple… In answer to the OP, if you’re in a foreign same-sex marriage, you are sometimes married and sometimes not depending where you are, but that’s obviously not the intent of your question. ---
**Author:** ![GrassHoper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@GrassHoper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrassHoper)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-marry-overseas-am-i-always-married-in-the-us/506855/34 "2014-04-29T16:44:40Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Is the child still a minor? Are you the child’s legal guardian? Are you currently a US citizen? Yes he is a minor, I am the child’s legal guardian and yes I’M currently a US citizen. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-marry-overseas-am-i-always-married-in-the-us/506855/35 "2014-04-29T17:03:55Z")
Then in my non-professional opinion the child is eligible for a visa and for a [green card](http://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-processes-and-procedures/green-card-eligibility). ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-marry-overseas-am-i-always-married-in-the-us/506855/36 "2014-04-29T17:19:01Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > Yikes! I have been filing my US taxes as single. I thought I was required to (since the US did not recognize my foreign same-sex marriage at the outset, and my spouse has no ties to the USA). Now that they recognize SSM, I guess I was supposed to change status, and probably file back taxes for the years for which they changed their minds. Good thing this is all so simple… I think the nitty gritty is still being hashed out for past years, but [here’s an IRS FAQ. Enjoy!](http://www.irs.gov/uac/Newsroom/Treasury-and-IRS-Announce-That-All-Legal-Same-Sex-Marriages-Will-Be-Recognized-For-Federal-Tax-Purposes;-Ruling-Provides-Certainty,-Benefits-and-Protections-Under-Federal-Tax-Law-for-Same-Sex-Married-Couples) ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-marry-overseas-am-i-always-married-in-the-us/506855/37 "2014-04-30T04:15:49Z")
Am I reading the question correctly that **GrassHoper** was not legally divorced from his first wife when he married his US citizen wife? ---
**Author:** ![Inna\_Minnit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Inna\_Minnit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inna_Minnit)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-marry-overseas-am-i-always-married-in-the-us/506855/38 "2014-04-30T06:48:44Z")
> [@Serenata67](#): > > I guess what I was thinking, (and it wasn’t phrased this way), but the guy could really be shooting himself in the foot by bringing his underage bride here (or to any country with spousal rape laws). My guess would be that a country that allows men to marry 12 year olds, doesn’t have particularly stringent rape laws, especially concerning spousal rape. So he marries her in that country, brings her here, forces sex on her (like he usually does), but now she can run off and have the law on her side. What an icky scenario. BUT the “like he usually does” is questionable. IANAL, but in the US a 12 year old could enthusiastically participate in coitus, but it still wouldn’t be consensual because 12 year olds can not legally consent = therefore it is statutory rape. However, if a 12 year old is legally permitted to marry with parental consent, she is no longer legally a child, but is emancipated AFAIK. So while she could be the victim of spousal rape (no still means no) not every sexual contact with her husband would be intrinsically rape. And now I need a shower. In bleach. Eww. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-marry-overseas-am-i-always-married-in-the-us/506855/39 "2014-04-30T07:37:04Z")
> [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](#): > > Am I reading the question correctly that **GrassHoper** was not legally divorced from his first wife when he married his US citizen wife? I’m reading the same. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-marry-overseas-am-i-always-married-in-the-us/506855/40 "2014-04-30T08:00:53Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > As far as I understand, you are resident for tax purposes by being in the U.S. for 183 days or more during the tax year. That does not affect your immigration status, and you could be present on any kind of visa, or with a green card (permanent residence card). Or you could even be undocumented. The IRS just uses a TIN instead of a SSN, and doesn’t care if the person is here legally or not. (“That’s not my department!”) Many (maybe most?) undocumented workers pay payroll tax. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-marry-overseas-am-i-always-married-in-the-us/506855.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-marry-overseas-am-i-always-married-in-the-us/506855.md?page=3)