{"id":39618,"date":"2013-07-06T21:07:00","date_gmt":"2013-07-07T02:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=39618"},"modified":"2021-11-18T21:10:05","modified_gmt":"2021-11-19T03:10:05","slug":"how-do-we-handle-getting-married-when-we-are-from-two-different-countries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-we-handle-getting-married-when-we-are-from-two-different-countries\/","title":{"rendered":"How do we handle getting married when we are from two different countries?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

Question:<\/h2>\n

Hi, God bless you!<\/p>\n

My girlfriend and I are Christians. We have been together for two years now, and everything is going great so far. We have never had any time of sexual intercourse or anything related to it. We are planning on getting married right after graduating from college, which is about three years from now.<\/p>\n

The thing is that I have a scholarship. As part of the contract, I have to go back to my native country and spend two years there. We were thinking of getting married through a church ceremony in my country to then be able to consummate our marriage. Then she would come back here and when I get the permission to come back here again, then we would get married by the law. Do you think this is correct in God’s eyes? Is it must for us to get married by the law first? Are we deceiving the government?<\/p>\n\t

Answer:<\/h2>\n

I’m a bit confused because in this country no distinction is made between\u00a0where\u00a0<\/em>a marriage takes place. Both religious and civil ceremonies are recognized by the government. Since you want to be seen as married by two different governments, you need to see what requirements those governments have — especially since you will be out of the country in one government’s view.<\/p>\n

In regards to the teachings of God, any marriage is recognized that is formed by a witnessed covenant between a man and woman who have the right to marry. See Marriage Covenants<\/a>. Since Christians are expected to follow the laws of their government (Romans 13:1-2), Christians are expected to do whatever society deems necessary to recognize their marriage, so long as those things don’t violate God’s laws.<\/p>\n

Please realize that living apart shortly after marrying is going to put a strain on your relationship. You will need to work extra hard both while you are apart and after you get back together in forming the tight bond needed to make a marriage work.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: Hi, God bless you! My girlfriend and I are Christians. We have been together for two years now, and everything is going great so far. We have never had any time of sexual intercourse or anything related to it. We are planning on getting married right after graduating from college, which is about three…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[64],"class_list":["post-39618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-marriage"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":40730,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-i-wait-three-years-to-get-married\/","url_meta":{"origin":39618,"position":0},"title":"How can I wait three years to get married?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 20, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have been dating my boyfriend for two and a half years now. We are both Christians and both want and work toward a marriage. We believe sex belongs in a marriage and want to keep it like this until we marry. I've come to a point where I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":39994,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/since-a-couple-cant-get-married-for-a-while-should-they-break-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":39618,"position":1},"title":"Since a couple can’t get married for a while, should they break up?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello sir, I've always found your advice useful and I hope you may help out. There is someone who is in a long-distance relationship. At the beginning of the relationship, the lady went off to college in a different country while the guy stayed behind. At present, she has\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26518,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-cant-marry-my-girlfriend-because-we-are-from-the-same-clan\/","url_meta":{"origin":39618,"position":2},"title":"I can’t marry my girlfriend because we are from the same clan","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 17, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I am from Uganda. I have lived with my girlfriend for 8 years, but it was only a few months back that I realized we belong to the same clan. 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I was born and raised there\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":53411,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/am-i-not-married-to-my-partner-after-living-with-her-for-seven-years\/","url_meta":{"origin":39618,"position":5},"title":"Am I not married to my partner after living with her for seven years?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 4, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I came across your website today and read one of your questions and answers topic and found it very interesting and comforting. 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