Is my Marriage Valid in the U.S? Religious vs. Civil Law Marriage?

Transcript

Hi, I'm Regina Campbell from The Campbell Law Group. We're here today so that I can answer some frequent questions that we get, particularly from immigrants from places such as South America, Central America and Europe. Often we are asked whether or not religious marriages are recognized, or treated differently than civil law marriages, in the United States. The question really depends on the law of the country where you got married.

So, for instance, religious marriages in certain countries are sometimes automatically considered to be civil, to have civil rights, in countries such as Colombia and Venezuela. Depending on when you got married, there's a period of time in which the law changed in some of those countries, and a religious marriage had to take sort of a second step. It had to have a separate registration within the civil codes to be considered a civil law marriage, with all the rights and entitlements of a husband and wife under that country's laws. Some countries, such as Italy, actually automatically recognize a lot of religious marriages as civil law marriages.

So the question as to whether or not the United States recognizes religious marriages here really depends on the validity of your marriage in the country where you got married. If it is considered valid there, it's most likely going to be considered valid here, and you'll have all of your rights as a husband and wife here in the United States as well. I hope we've been able to answer your questions. Thank you so much.