POLICY MANUAL UPDATE: USCIS Updates Guidance on Validity of Alien Refugee and Asylee Marriages

We are updating guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 4, on valid marriages between a principal asylee or principal refugee and their claimed spouse. Under the updated guidance, all marriages between principal asylees or principal refugees and their claimed derivative spouses must be legally valid under the law of the jurisdiction where the marriage was celebrated in order to be considered valid for immigration benefit purposes. This guidance is effective March 3, 2025, and applies to requests pending or filed on or after that date.