[sak9645]

The issue isn't the foreign country, in most cases. The issue is that many homestudy agencies won't or can't (because of state law or internal policies) approve people married less than a year.

Getting married, just like getting divorced, involves making lots of adjustments. Some of these adjustments are major, such as deciding who will pay for what home expenses, if both spouses work. Some of these adjustments are minor and trivial, such as, "Darn! He left the toilet seat up AGAIN." Many social workers believe that the two members of a couple should have at least a year to figure out their OWN relationship, before they take on responsibility for a child.

And, of course, one of the key elements in approving a homestudy involves analysis of the stability of a person's living situation. This is often interpreted as meaning that the person must have lived in a particular situation for a year or two or three. A person who is newly single is just as unlikely to be approved as a person who is newly married, since there is no evidence on which to base a conclusion about the stability of his/her living situation

Now, the good news is that, in states where there is no prohibition, SOME agencies will approve people who have been married less than a year if they have been cohabiting in a marriage-like relationship for a significant period of time before the wedding. Of course, don't look for such approvals if you consult a faith-based agency that opposes non-marital sex on religious grounds.

It is true that some countries will not allow people married less than 3-5 years under any conditions. But some countries will accept -- and have accepted -- a couple with a valid homestudy and a relatively short marriage, especially if there has been a good reason for such approval.

As an example, some foreign countries DO accept couples with a valid homestudy if they have lived together for several years before marrying.

Sharon