Nope. America, at least, has a habit of not recognizing unions that are contrary to our policies. This is why, for instance, gay marriages in Massachussetts are not recognized in Georgia, despite the general "full faith and credit" that states generally grant to marriages from other states. I'm guessing that a 13-year-old/20-year-old marriage from Kentucky would not be upheld in more liberal states. I remember seeing one news article in which a gay couple married in England, one of whom was American and one of whom was British, and they said they were sad that even now they couldn't move back to America because the marriage wouldn't be recognized and the Englishman wouldn't legally be allowed to take up residence there.
Polygamous marriages from other countries are not recognized. Otherwise there would be a lot of immigration scams in which tons of people people marry one American citizen to get them green cards or citizenship (in fact this is one of the few objections I have to polygamy- too much potential to abuse it as a device for getting benefits).
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2005-12-21 03:26 pm (UTC)Polygamous marriages from other countries are not recognized. Otherwise there would be a lot of immigration scams in which tons of people people marry one American citizen to get them green cards or citizenship (in fact this is one of the few objections I have to polygamy- too much potential to abuse it as a device for getting benefits).