Marriage problem<\/p>\n
There have been so many letters from your readers concerning
\nimmigration laws and how the laws effect some people. I don't
\nintend to add to the diversity of opinions, but would like to say
\nthat my wife and I experienced similar inconveniences because the
\nlaws are different in different countries.<\/p>\n
When we got married my wife was an American citizen and I was
\nIndonesian. We were married in a Moslem mosque in Kobe, Japan. In
\norder to make the marriage legal, I had to have a statement from
\nthe Indonesian Consul in Japan. The year was 1946, so there was
\nno Indonesian Consul anywhere in Japan. In 1950, an Indonesian
\nofficial was attached to the Dutch Embassy in Tokyo, who stated
\nthat, since the marriage was performed by a Moslem cleric, it was
\nlegal and issued both of us a \"temporary\" passport. After that we
\nsettled in Indonesia. For the sake of really legalizing our
\nmarriage we petitioned the Pengadilan Agama (Court of Religious
\nAffairs) in Bandung. The Pengadilan Agama duly issued an official
\ndocument stating that our marriage was\/is legal. We lived in
\nIndonesia for thirteen years. Nobody asked us anything and
\neverything would have been OK, if we stayed in Indonesia....Well,
\nwe did not.<\/p>\n
My wife wanted to visit her parents in the U.S. She took the
\nchildren to see the grandparents they had never seen. She planned
\nto stay in the U.S. for two months. After she was gone a month, I
\ngot lonely and decided to join her for a month in California. All
\nof a sudden I was caught between the different laws of different
\nlands.<\/p>\n
The U.S. Embassy in Jakarta refused to issue me a visa. I
\nargued that I just wanted a visitor's visa. The American Consul
\ncountered: \"Because your wife is in the U.S., we cannot issue you
\na visa. We have reason to believe that you may not come back to
\nIndonesia but stay in the U.S.\"<\/p>\n
I pleaded: \"I'd really like to visit my wife and her parents.
\nWhat can I do?\" Then the Consul said: \"You can apply for an
\nimmigrant visa.\" I said: \"OK, give me an immigrant visa.\"<\/p>\n
Now the Consul said: \"We cannot issue you an immigrant visa,
\nbecause your marriage, which was performed in Japan is not legal
\nby Japanese laws. We, therefore, also consider the marriage not
\nlegal.\"<\/p>\n
I encountered: \"My marriage was legalized by an Indonesian
\ncourt,\" to which the Consul said: \"The marriage took place in
\nJapan, so it cannot be legalized by an Indonesian court.\"<\/p>\n
...now what? At least the Consul suggested that we both go to
\nJapan and get married all over again, but now, legally.<\/p>\n
We followed the suggestion and thought that all would be OK.
\nWrong! In Kobe we went to the city hall, to get married all over
\nagain. The Japanese official said: \"Fine, but you both have to
\nhave a statement from your respective consulates, that they have
\nno objections to your marriage.\"<\/p>\n
My wife did not have any problem getting the proper statement
\nfrom the U.S. consulate. The Indonesian Consul refused to give me
\na similar statement, saying: \"You cannot get married, because you
\nare already legally married as per the Pengadilan Agama in
\nBandung.\"<\/p>\n
Poor me! What now? Well, to make a long story short, we
\neventually got everything straightened out. We will have our 50th
\nwedding anniversary next year, God willing.<\/p>\n
What is now really the moral of the story? If you want to
\nmarry a citizen of a country different from your own and you want
\nto get married in yet a different country, make sure you know all
\nthe legalities involved in your own country, your spouse's
\ncountry and the country where you plan to get married. The laws
\nare different, especially the marriage and immigration laws. We
\ncannot expect a country to adjust its laws to our personal needs,
\nwe have to adjust ourselves to the rules of the land.<\/p>\n
Like they say: \"Look before you jump, or you'll be sorry.\"<\/p>\n
DJOKO SOEJOTO<\/p>\n
Bandung, West Java<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/marriage-problem-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }