Getting married in Armenia

Hi Armand,my fiance and i are both lebanese of armenian origin.(we don't have armenian passport) and we are planning for our wedding in armenia in august. we asked the armenian embassy that whether it is possible to have the civil marriage in armenia, and they said it is possible, but some friends in armenia are saying that it is not possible for non armenian citizens....moreover they say that the civil marraige takes about 2-3 weeks in armenia.

Hello Rita y and welcome to Expat.com!

Thank you for sharing.

If you have questions, you may ask them so that other members can participate and help.

Thank you,
Aurélie

[Moderated]

Hi,my fiance and i are both lebanese of armenian origin.(we don't have armenian passport) and we are planning for our wedding in armenia .some friends are saying that it is not possible for non armenian citizens...is it right?

Hi Pauline,
we got married in armenia last year. if u want, contact me by email to ** and i can help you.

Hello Rita y -> Do not hesitate to share your experience on the forum directly. It could help other members as well.

Thank you,
Aurélie

Hi, my fiance and i are also of armenian origin. i am from lebanon and he lives in the USA. i am aslo interested in getting married in armenia and i am searching and searching... the only thing i know till now is that we need to get the "zaks";"civil marraige", in armenia to regsiter our wedding in lebanon.when i know or find anything else i'll share it with you.

Hi, well i knew that to have the civil marriage in armenia,one of the couples should have armenian citizenship, it doesn't matter if it's the male or the female.and the procedure takes about 15-20 days.
and Pauline, regarding registration of marriage in lebanon, you must get the civil marriage in armenia, religious marriage is not enough to register your marriage in lebanon.

I highly recommend going the route of obtaining a fiancee visa and marring in the States (this of course for a U.S. citizen).  My experience with incompetent translation services and inconsistent Armenian bureaucracies makes the $3K I was willing to pay to an INS-Specialist attorney seem like a good bargain. Our May 16 wedding certificate is invalid due to translation errors, and Armenian civil-servant transposition errors.  And of course, to remedy the errors of incompetent translators and slovenly civil servants....lotsa drams are required, and there is no such thing as an ombudsman (sorry...ombudsperson) in all of Armenia.

Hi al. As a US citizen and Belgian resident I want to marry my Armenian GF. Any hints tips and advice are welcomed. Especially concerning the required formalities and necessary paperwork. Mant Thanks Shnorkhakelatyoonn PA

Hello Phoenix Angelfire and welcome to Expat.com

Hope you'll get some advices and hints soon.

Thanks and congratulation for your marriage.

Regards

Karen

Karen,

Many tanks. Very kind of you P.A.

First...congratulations and best wishes.  Marriage is a good state of Life.  I recently ceased being a widower and am now a newlywed at age 65.

The American Consulate in Yerevan is where I started the hunt for necessary forms.  Their web site will direct you to the many links that will provide forms for downloading.

It was recommended to me that we take pictures showing us in various activities in and about the World.  Their is a requirement that one provide "affidavits" from several sources, who can attest that you two are indeed a committed couple, and not engaging in some 'marriage for green card scam'.  Having pictures along with those affidavits, indicating the person who makes the attestation, seems to go over favorably....so I've been told.

Also...don't scrimp on the translation services.  My wife tried a bargain shop, and we had many errors, which cost us about two months' time to correct. 

Good luck.  This bureaucratic process can be frustrating.  I often wish we had gotten a fiancee visa, married in the States, and spent our time doing the 'green card visa' application Stateside.

Mike many thanks,

For your most useful hints, tips and advice. We face other hurdles as well, the whole "odar" thing and the fact that my wife (to be) is much younger than myself.

We are both committed to one another and she has sworn that nothing will stand in the way of our happiness. This in itself speaks volumes. I needn't tell you about the special beauty and mystique of Armenian women, they are truly special,a gift.I personally find hem among the most beautiful on earth.

Great idea about the photos I was unaware of this, however You are certainly aware, as well as I, that there are not too many Armenian girls, if any, seeking a fake marriage.

I have photos a I even learned some Armenian.

Thanks for the translation tips as well. Will bear that in mind. all things being equal do you think it best, and more expeditious to marry in the states? I have a Belgian residency.

Thanks again,

And my sincere congratulations to you as well.

James

Being a resident of Belgium will probably preclude the fiancee-visa route.  As I understand it, with a fiancee visa, the person can enter the States, but must marry within 90 days.  The individual is then allowed to remain in the States during the 'green card' application process.  The visa admission is good for 2 years, but the 'resident visa' process doesn't usually take that long.  If you can show domicile in the USA during that process, the petition will be considered.  I don't know about foreign travel, and residence, for the petitioning spouse during that process.

Good luck.  I am still collecting the requisite paperwork.  We finally got our corrected marriage certificate recently.  And my wife is making hints about moving to a new apt.  This one is in central Yerevan, and close to many amenities.  But there are long-term construction projects hat raise near constant dust.  So I want to have an address that will be 'current' during the application process.  I don't feel confident about the local postal mail forwarding.

Let's hope our paperwork submissions come before any 'illegal immigrant' reform takes hold, and the INS is flooded with millions of applications.