I am an american and want to marry my Mexican fiance. He lives in Mexico, but has a tourist visa now. Does it matter where me marry?

Question

I am an american living in Ca. My fiance lives in Mexico and is a Mexican citizen. He does have a tourist visa now, but we want to marry in the next 6 months. My question is this: Is there a benefit to getting married in the states or can we marry in Mexico ? Which is the wisest choice for immigration and possibly practicing dentistry in the states (of course with necessary documentation). Thank you.

Answer 1

Here are some different ways you could do it:

1. Marry in Mexico, your spouse does Consular Processing for an immigrant visa in Mexico
2. Your fiance enters the US on the tourist visa, marry in the US, return to Mexico, your spouse does Consular Processing for an immigrant visa in Mexico
3. Your fiance gets a US fiance visa, enters the US on that, marries, and does Adjustment of Status in the US

1 and 2 are basically the same thing -- both of them do Consular Processing in Mexico. The location of the marriage doesn't matter (it could equally have been done in a third country other than US or Mexico for that matter); a marriage from anywhere is automatically recognized the same way. It is fine to marry in the US on a tourist visa as long as you are not intending to immigrate during that visit (i.e. you are leaving after the visit); though there is some risk of denial of entry as the officer might not believe you.

3 is different that the others as it gets a fiance visa and does Adjustment of Status, and in this case the marriage must be in the US.