If the spouse enters the United States on a tourist visa to meet someone and then get married, this is not a good situation. This can be considered a scam. In addition, it may affect the spouse`s eligibility to obtain the green card or future U.S. visas. In Massachusetts, the general age of marriage is 18, but teens can marry with court approval. Unlike many other states,[2] a teenage couple in Massachusetts does not automatically emancipate the minor or increase their legal rights beyond allowing the minor to consent to certain medical treatment. [3] As we mentioned at the beginning, yes, it is possible to get married in the United States because it is illegal. In fact, many U.S. citizens regularly marry undocumented immigrants.

However, it must be taken into account that the undocumented immigrant entered the United States legally or illegally. RALEIGH, N.C. —— North Carolina lawmakers passed a bill Tuesday to raise the state`s minimum age for marriage from 14 to 16, a move that would end the state`s atypical status for neighboring states. It is important to understand that the laws that govern marriage in the country depend from state to state, so in some states there are certain restrictions on who can marry on their territory. Some states require couples to meet a waiting period before marriage: a time when the bride and groom should think about whether they want to take the next step. However, this waiting time is usually not very long. For example, in states like Illinois and New York, this period is only one day; whereas in states like Florida, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, it`s 3 days. „We don`t even allow people to have a drink until they`re 21, and we allow them to get married at 16. It doesn`t make sense,“ said South Carolina State Representative Brad Hutto. 1. Residence. Some states require you to live in the state for a few days to get married.

Not in others. This means that in some states where you don`t live, you can legally get married, but in others it won`t be possible. It is important to note that once the marriage is solemnized in the United States in accordance with the laws of the local states, it will be recognized by all states and, especially for immigration, by the federal government. In the late nineteenth century, a „social purity movement“ made up of Christian feminist reform groups began advocating for raising the age of consent to 16, with the aim of raising it to 18. In 1920, 26 states had an age of consent of 16, 21 states had an age of consent of 18, and one state (Georgia) had an age of consent of 14 years [19]. Conversely, when you marry a U.S. citizen, there is a big difference between people who have entered the U.S. legally and can adjust their status, and those who have crossed illegally, who cannot.

Child marriage remains legal in all 50 states of the United States, where thousands of children under the age of 18 marry each year, although the practice is often more associated with developing countries in the South than with the world`s largest economy. „These are old laws that were never changed because people didn`t know what was going on,“ said Fraidy Reiss, director of Al Fin Sin Cadenas, an organization that fights to eradicate child marriage under the age of 18 in the United States. Based on existing data, the organization estimates that between 2000 and 2010, more than 250,000 children under the age of 18 were married in the United States, including 12-year-old girls in the states of Alaska, South Carolina and Louisiana. The Tahirih Justice Center, which protects women and girls from gender-based violence, concluded that the southwestern state of Texas has the second highest rate of child marriage in the country, with an estimated 40,000 children under the age of 18 marrying between 2000 and 2014. Most spouses are girls, and about 77% of the total were married to adult men, often much older than them. These cases span different religions, ethnicities and circumstances, from a 15-year-old girl whose Muslim family forced her to marry a 23-year-old man because she was in Nevada with someone from different backgrounds, to a young woman whose Christian community in Colorado forced her to marry because she was pregnant. „I think it`s absolutely outrageous,“ said Heather Barr, a researcher at Human Rights Watch. Child marriage is a problem that occurs on all continents and with similar consequences, he said. „The damage suffered by a girl who marries in New York State is not that different from that of a girl in the Central African Republic,“ she said. Child marriage is closely linked to high drop-out rates and poverty. Those who marry before the age of 18 are three times more likely to be victims of gender-based violence than those who marry after the age of 21. Women and girls who marry at an early age also often have physical and mental health problems, including higher maternal mortality and sexually transmitted infections.

Reiss explained to IPS how forced marriage affects girls` mental health, as many turn to suicide as a way out. Others simply give up and continue the marriage because they have no other choice. „They know that continuing the marriage means that they will be raped on their wedding night and from that moment on they will be taken out of school, that all their dreams will disappear for the future,“ he said. Although the minimum age of marriage is 18, most states allow minors to marry with parental consent or the court. However, Reiss and Barr call this problematic and „ridiculous.“ „Child marriages are often arranged or forced by the parents, so in a situation where it is actually the parents who force a girl to marry, consent. they make no sense,“ Barr argued. With regard to judicial consent, the law does not establish criteria that a judge must take into consideration before approving the marriage. In 27 states, laws do not set an age below which a child cannot marry. „The minimum age of marriage is effectively lowered to zero,“ Says Reiss.

IN RECENT YEARS, THERE HAVE BEEN SEVERAL INITIATIVES TO ERADICATE CHILD MARRIAGE IN THE UNITED STATES. In May, the Texas Legislature passed a law that sets the legal age of marriage at 18.