Foreign lovers denied chance to walk down the aisl
13 July 2007
Foreign lovers living Stateside are being denied the chance to get hitched, reports say.
They are being held back by a law which says that couples cannot tie the knot unless they can produce a social security number - the US equivalent of National Insurance.
As a result, thousands of couples, particularly illegal immigrants, are unable to say their vows.
Some are getting round the problem by heading abroad for the big day, but others have found that there are certain US states and cities that are more willing to hold ceremonies with or without social security numbers.
These include New York City, Los Angeles and Texas - which all have large immigrant communities.
But the discrepancies are proving highly bothersome to some American Christians.
The reverend Joseph Breen of Nashville's St Edward Catholic Church, which has a large Hispanic congregation, told the Associated Press he was unhappy with the number of people who couldn't marry legally in his parish.
"We call ourselves a Christian country, but you've got to go to Georgia or Kentucky in order to get married,'' Breen said.
