Information on whether it is possible for illegal aliens to get married in the United States. [USA15032]

According to a handbook on marriages and foreign matrimonial systems, each state in the Union has full jurisdiction in civil law, including marriage (Groffier 1987, 46). The same source indicates that authorization to marry is granted by registry offices in each individual state (except the Virgin Islands), and that applicants can obtain a marriage permit or licence after swearing an oath that they are not individually tied by the obligations of a previous marriage (Ibid.). Furthermore, an official of the US Embassy in Ottawa indicated it may be possible for illegal aliens to get authorization to marry in the US, since civil law is a matter of state jurisdiction and no state will verify the nationality of the applicants (31 Aug. 1993).

No additional and/or corroborating information on this topic is currently available to the DIRB in Ottawa.

References


Groffier, Ethel. 1987. Mariages et régimes matrimoniaux étrangers. Montréal: éditions Ananou.

Embassy of the United States of America. 31 August 1993. Telephone interview with representative.

Attachment

Groffier, Ethel. 1987. Mariages et régimes matrimoniaux étrangers. Montréal: éditions Ananou.