Humanitarian programsPOLICY UPDATE
Clarifying Refugee and Asylee Marriage Validity
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is issuing policy guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual to update agency guidance on when a valid marriage between a principal asylee or principal refugee and a derivative spouse has taken place.
Key changes
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is issuing policy guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual to update agency guidance on when a valid marriage between a principal asylee or principal refugee and a derivative spouse has taken place.
- Rescinds previous guidance and provides that USCIS no longer recognizes the narrow exception to the place-of-celebration rule for informal marriages.
- Explains that a principal asylee or principal refugee’s marriage to a derivative spouse must be valid under the law of jurisdiction where it was celebrated in order to be recognized for immigration purposes.
