[girlygirl1819]

My boyfriend and I want to get married but he is illegal! How do we do this

[Smoked]

Get a lawyer... not trying to be funny here. You make one mistake and it could really mess things up.

[Fr_Chuck]

You go down and get a marriage license. Go to a preacher and get married, like anyone else does.

[BetrayalBtCamp]

Disclaimer first: Getting married to a citizen will not automatically change his INS status & he could still be subject to deportation. You should talk to the INS or an INS experienced attorney to see what effect your marriage would have & what steps would have to be taken to get him out of illegal status. My understanding (& I'm not a lawyer) is that no proof of citizenship is needed for a marriage license just valid ID. If your boyfriend uses false identification with a different name, it might make the marriage invalid, you would need to check with a lawyer about that. Consulting with an attorney experienced in immigration law before doing anything is a very good idea & many will give a free consultation so you can get some info that way.

That being said, here's the marriage options:

There are 2 ways you can pick from. Texas is one of the few places left in the U.S. that recognizes common law marriage (only 9 states). For that you don't need a license or a preacher. You can go to the county office where marriage licenses are given & register it any time you want to, which gives you a legal document proving you are married. But the marriage is legal in every way without any paperwork at all from the gov't.

Here are the requirements for a common law / "informal marriage":

You must (1) agree to be married, (2) cohabit, & (3) represent to others that they are married.

Signing a lease together as man & wife, filing joint taxes, & doing the normal things a married couple would do while living together as well as telling people you are married does it.

Then when you want to, you can (but don't have to for the marriage to be legal in every state) register it as a common law marriage with the county. That just gives you an official paper that says you are married which can make it easier for some things (dealing with INS, for example) to show you are legally married.

This link will take to a page that explains it & it would be the same all over Texas:

Common Law Marriage, Travis County, Texas

Otherwise, you both go to the county marriage license office with identification & pick out someone legally able to marry you (judge or preacher).

If you google: Texas marriage license with the name of the county convenient for you, you will most likely find all the requirements listed there. Or you can call the marriage license office & ask what you would need where you are at.