3 Pieces of Advice For If You Are Marrying Someone From Abroad

If you are engaged to be married to someone who isn’t a citizen of the US, this can make things a little more complicated. While this shouldn’t impact your loving relationship with one another, getting married means being legally bound – which, if you aren’t both from the same place originally, can cause issues of legality and residency down the line. 

In addition, being married means accepting each other on equal ground. Emotionally, you will need to support your partner, soon-to-be-spouse, in their journey of acceptance while living in the US. Being an “outsider” in a country can feel alienating, and as their partner in life, it’s important to help them settle and feel accepted.

In this blog we will take a look at 3 pieces of advice for marrying someone from abroad.

Let’s get started!

1. Get help obtaining a green card.

For your spouse to become a US citizen once you are married, you will need to get a green card. A green card is a document that proves a person has permanent residence in the US. 

Obtaining a green card once you are married is easily done, if you yourself are a permanent resident of the US and can prove it. A green card marriage sounds unromantic, but at the end of the day, a green card can remove all further hassle when it comes to immigration law, status of residence and other issues that could arise.

2. Celebrate your spouse’s culture.

Even though your spouse is living full time in the US as a citizen, that doesn’t mean their own culture and heritage should be erased. To help them feel at home and welcomed in America, it is a good idea to celebrate your spouse’s culture at home and with friends and family. This could be achieved by marking holidays, such as Dia De Los Muertos if your partner were Mexican. 

Not only will this be a lovely way to celebrate different cultures and diversity in the US, but it will help your spouse to honor their own heritage even if they aren’t in their country of birth.

3. Have a zero-tolerance policy on discrimination from family and friends

If you are from the US and you are married to someone who isn’t, it is an unfortunate fact that certain people may not fully accept this. While it is clear that progress is being made against racism in America, we still have ways to go in this area.

To properly support and respect your spouse, you should make it clear to those in your life that you will not accept any discrimination, be it micro-aggressions, comments, or full-blown racism. This might mean losing people who you previously admired and loved, but at the end of the day, you can’t remain close with anyone who doesn’t accept your spouse for who they are.

Final Thoughts

Marrying someone, anyone, is a beautiful experience. If you are marrying someone who is emigrating to the US, make sure you follow this advice to help them feel accepted and get full citizenship.