28 THE BEST OF MONTEREY BAY ® WEDDING GUIDE 2026-2027 After being introduced by a mutual friend, Javier Fernández and Michael Christensen decided to go big for their first date in early 2023. Instead of meeting for coffee, they would shop and cook together, with a main course (Fernández) and dessert (Christensen) representing the places where they’d been born and raised. For Fernández, that meant lots of flavors from his native Spain—tapas, empanadas, tortillas de patatas. For Christensen, the Utah-inspired options were limited. “I just mixed a Jello-O salad together and put it in the fridge,” he recalls. To Fernández, when dessert was served, the Jell-O was reminiscent of a scene from a movie showing inmates scooping out slop. But the two learned they had a connection, and it was the beginning of many hours in the kitchen together. They traveled together; they connected over a shared love of languages (Christensen is fluent in Spanish and French, and both are professional language teachers). Fernández moved from Santa Cruz to live with Christensen in Monterey. Although neither had ever imagined someday having a husband, it was clear that this relationship was the one. Then in January 2025, President Donald Trump was sworn in with a promised immigration crackdown, making even routine visa renewals suddenly a cause of concern. More pressing for Fernández was the news that his teaching contract would not be renewed, meaning his H-1B visa sponsorship through his employer would be going away in June 2025. “We said, ‘We know we’re going to get married—let’s do this,’” Christensen says. “It changed the timeline.” In February, they got married on paper, at the County of Monterey building in Salinas. They hired an attorney, Chris Cain Law, to help Christensen submit a Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on his new husband’s behalf. Then they waited. Attorney Chris Cain notes that nothing has changed about the Petition I-130, but in the past year, he’s heard from more prospective clients, including many who have been married for years but never filed to adjust their immigration status. “Then about a year ago with the new administration, they said, ‘We’ve got to fix this now,’” he says. “There is an increased sense of urgency for people.” Love Knows No Borders Marriage is about love, but also the law, including immigration status. By Sara Rubin IMMIGRATION Michael Christensen (left) and Javier Fernández knew they were headed on a path to marriage anyway, then moved up their timeline before Fernández’s visa expired. immigration.indd 1 2/18/26 5:12 PM
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