Marrying in US - travel docs and drivers license

Hi guys,

Myself (British Citizen) and my fiancee (US Citizen, UK resident w/ ILR) are travelling to South Carolina in a month to get married. We're doing it there because she has the bigger family. And it's warmer.

I know I don't need a special visa and I already have my ESTA from last year, but I'm wondering what to say when I reach immigration. They'll likely ask me what I'm doing there and I plan on telling them I'm getting married. Do I need to take proof that we're settled in the UK and plan to return? We're buying a house at the moment (it's all happening!) so I could always take that. Will they be expecting that from me or is it much more casual? I've travelled a lot but never in this situation.

The second thing is driving. We're renting a car and my fiancee has had her UK license for over two years, so I believe she can drive using it there. She does, however, still have a South Carolina license. She plans to let it expire in a year or two, but does this create any confusion if we were to be pulled over for any reason? Also, if she wanted to surrender her US license, how would she do that?

Cheers!

Hi,

I have not been in this situation myself, but I know people who have been going to the USA to get married. When asked the purpose of their visit, they said they planned to get married while they were there. That was not a problem. Since your fiancee is a US citizen, you are a theoretical risk to overstay, so it would be wise to have your return flight on hand, as well as evidence that you are settled in the UK. They may not ask to see any of this but it is better to have it and not need it...

There is no problem renting a car or driving in the USA on a UK licence (I do this). I do not know the rules applying to holding a license from South Carolina when she is no longer resident there (or how to surrender it). It is obviously better not to get pulled over :-) but if anyone asks for your license, I would say show the one you used to rent the car. It creates less confusion but also, the whole point is that you are both UK residents, only visiting the US. Since I presume her UK licence shows her UK address, why complicate things?

Have a nice trip.

Do I need to take proof that we're settled in the UK and plan to return? We're buying a house at the moment (it's all happening!) so I could always take that. Will they be expecting that from me or is it much more casual? I've travelled a lot but never in this situation.

They probably won't ask for it, but there's no harm in taking evidence of your settled life in the UK with you to show them in case they ask for it.

You could also print off the page on the US Embassy website that states that if you wish to marry in the US, but not live there after the wedding, you should just travel on the Visa Waiver Program (ESTA) and that you don't need a visa: http://london.usembassy.gov/immigrant-visas/marriage-to-a-u.s.-citizen.html

Most US IOs should know this anyway, but I think a few people have come across  IOs who seemed to think you need a visa to marry in the US.

I've travelled to and from the US several times over the years (I'm British), mostly on the Visa Waiver Program, and I was never asked for anything, but then in 2007  I got a DUI and when I applied for a US student visa a couple of months later I was told I would always need a visa to enter the US from then on.

Since travelling on a visitor visa (I abandoned the student visa a few months after I moved there), I have been asked more questions and have been required to provide evidence of my plans... the first time, they asked me how long I was staying, why I was not living in the US anymore (re: my still 'valid' student visa), what I did in the UK, and I had to show them my flight itinerary and travel plans (I was in the US for 2 weeks before going travelling in South America).

Thanks guys. We'll take a couple of documents just in case they do ask.

My husband wasn't asked to show any documentation that he was returning to Ireland after we were married. I think we did get a letter from his employer, but they never asked for it. If you have your return ticket, I'm sure that's sufficient.