Reporting back to the U.S. about a marriage abroad

I have searched online and found tons on registering a birth abroad, but have found nothing about if you need to register a marriage abroad. Did you have to report anything to the embassy or US government after wedding a German national, in Germany?

Well, I had this same question.
I called Social Security and they said you only need to notify them if you change your name but if your spouse, for some reason, needs the benefits, he will have to prove the marriage happened (ie Marriage Cert), which, if you got married in Germany, is already in English (or at least, ours was).

When you file your American taxes, this is when the government really knows if you are married or not. Other than that, I don't think so. I was even on the phone with the Attorney General from Vermont who said 'no, you don't need to do anything (except file your taxes).

Apparently, the Standesamts here are misinformed because they told us that we have to notify the U.S.

If anyone else knows better, please post it.

Here's a link: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis

Found this one too: http://germany.usembassy.gov/germany/servi...ng_married.html

I think you missed the point. We are already American citizens who happened to get married in Germany.

And I'm an American who got married a few days before coming to Germany. I don't have 'income' to report so I haven't notified the IRS that I've married. I also married a foreigner, but not a German.

The US doesn't give a shit if you are married or not. Taxes and immigration are the only times that it matters. If you want a US record of marriage for whatever reason, then just get married again the next time you are visiting the states.

I'm an American and just married a German in Germany. We have all our documentation and approval, etc. from the marriage and have a multilingual marriage certificate( in German and English)
Question is, do I need to report any other info to the consolate? Maybe for tax purposes or whatever?
We'll be moving forward with the Visa process soon to go back to the States, but in the interim, does anyone know if I need to report any further marriage info to be documented on US side? Or is our multilingual marriage certificate enough.

Thanks.
Topics merged by admin

Congratulations!
sorry, but the only help I can give you is by "bumping" this thread up a bit, so here we go "bump"!

You do not have to report anything to the US. You only need to contact the social security administration if your last name has changed.

Yes, exactly what Serenajean1 said. Also, this exact question was posted before (by me). So, Mods, please merge.

You can do that?!? My German boyfriend and I are getting married at the Standesamt as soon as we get the paperwork together, but going back to the States for a church wedding in May - cannot deny my parents the Big Fat Central Texas wedding for their only daughter! Getting a Texas marriage license is trivial: show up at the county clerk's office at least three days before the wedding with passports and the earnest declaration that we are not committing bigamy or incest. I thought we couldn't do that if we were already legally married in Germany. It would be quite convenient to have the Texas one for all the name and beneficiary-changey stuff I'm going to have to do on the American side.

I checked in my city and they said no you cannot do that. As you are already married, you have to use your original marriage certificate. Due to the fact your husband is German the first thing they will do is ask for proof he is not married in Germany, and hence you already are it is thus null and void. There is no point in the first place lol.

@Texmandie,

Please do yourself a favor and contact your local (ie Texan) town clerk. I contacted mine in Vermont with the same questions (can I get a license in Vermont if I'm already married in Germany legally? etc). They were not even sure so they connected me to the State's Attorney and he said it is perfectly OK...in Vermont.

When I called the Social Sec. Administration they told me that all I need to change my name is the marriage certificate from Germany (which is in English and German so no need to translate it).