Does the foreign person have to come to the U.S. to marry someone or can they get married through forms in the mail?

Answer 1

In most cases, both parties must be physically present at the marriage, and the marriage must have been consumated, in order for it to be valid for Immigration purposes. If a couple can prove that they do not meet one or both of these requirements for legitimate long-established religious or traditional reasons, exceptions may be made on a case by case basis. You can be 99% sure that a mail-order marriage will not work, especiall if the parties have never met each other in person before.

Some states allow marriage by proxy.

To bring your non-US spouse to the US, you must submit a form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative. This form clearly states:

For Whom May You Not File?

D. A husband or wife, if you and your spouse were not both physically present at the marriage ceremony, and the marriage was not been consumated.

If one or both of you were absent at the marriage (Montana allows marriage when neither party is present) you would probably have to prove without a doubt that the marriage had been consumated. Not sure how you would do that, as its somehwat hard to verify! They may not even accept the proxy marriage at all.

To obtain a K1 visa for a fiancee, you must be able to prove that you have met within the past 2 years.