shent

I'm at my wits end here guys, so I'd appreciate any input may have for my situation.

We petitioned to get married in October of last year, thinking we'd have plenty of time to complete the visa process for a summer wedding. Fast forward best part of year, and I'm a month away from my wedding with no K1 visa. I have been told this week via email by the consulate that all my paperwork is correct, and I can expect to receive my interview letter in the next 2/3 weeks. I have stressed the date of my wedding to them, and apologised a million times over for cutting it short, but if I get my letter in 3 weeks, have to wait another 4 weeks for the interview, and then wait until I get my passport back, then I miss July 1st by a long way. Will begging and pleading help my case any?

If not, the only other option is this:

Fiancée is adamant that she wants to get married in church, but she is 8 weeks pregnant, and if she is showing, they wont marry her in Catholic church apparently. Plus she won't fit in her dress either.
So, the plan was to fly to the US under the WVP, do a mock wedding so she can have her church wedding [normal ceremony, but not sign any of the marriage licences/paperwork], and attend our wedding reception. I would then return to the UK, get my K1 visa, return to the US, get married at city hall with a few witnesses and complete my AOS then. Am I clutching at straws here? I'm scared to death if I do this I'll either be (a. deported and ruin my hopes of getting my visa approved, (b. miss my interview appointment while i'm out there and be denied, or (c. break immigration laws by doing the mock wedding or not be eligible for K1, and have to reapply for another visa, but I'm getting my balls busted with a 2x4.

I figure if I went over there and told immigration I was just visiting for her birthday or something, and not tell them anything about the mock wedding & reception, I'd go for a couple of weeks, do all that, then fly home. It's shady I know, but I'm desperate.

I only ask because we've spent around $9k+ for everything, and don't know what to do for the best. I really think we should change the dates and get everything approved properly, but it's hard to tell her & her family that after the time, effort & money put into it. So what do I do?

Thanks,
Paul

P.S. My apologies if I've rambled, I've tried to get this down as fast as possible. I'll clarify anything anyone needs.

Noorah101

1. You can try politely asking for an earlier interview date, via email to the London embassy. That's about all you can do on that side of things.

2. I highly recommend NOT having a mock wedding. I don't know if a church will even DO a mock wedding, besides which the whole thing will look on the surface too much like a REAL wedding, if she's wearing the dress, you're wearing the tux, you have guests and a reception, etc. Way too dangerously close to a real wedding and throwing the K-1 into the trash that way.

3. We always advise not to make any plans that can't be refunded or rearranged, before having the K-1 visa in hand (I know, too late for that for you now, but for others reading...this is why we recommend not making any firm plans ahead of time).

4. Never lie at the POE.

5. "What do I do"? Wait until you get your K-1 visa in hand, then come to the USA and get married. If that happens after July 1, try to recoup as much of the investment in the wedding as possible, and then make new plans.

Rene

sir_eccles

Depending on state law, any ceremony resembling a wedding requires a marriage license. Most law abiding officiants will likely insist on one.

If you get married it will invalidate your K1 process and you will have to start over.

Never lie to an immigration officer.

Change the date of the wedding, perhaps after the birth so she can fit in the dress.

randomgirl

Yikes...

It seems highly unlikely that you will have your visa interview in time to be in the US for July 1st - as you say, if you get your appointment letter in 2-3 weeks and the interview is scheduled for a month later, you'll have missed it. My interview letter came 4 weeks before my interview, but I know other people have had less notice for theirs. Even so, it doesn't seem feasible that you'll complete the visa process in time, it's only 4 weeks away.

As you say, it's probably best to change your wedding date but I can understand why you wouldn't want to do that due to finances etc. Are any of your vendors flexible with things? I mean, would you get any money back if you changed the date?

I think it is possible to do a 'mock wedding' as you called it, but you have to be very, very careful about it not being a legal marriage in any way. I'd tread very carefully if you decide to go down that route, because if you give the consulate any reason to think you're already married you'll invalidate the entire K-1 process. Also, the IO might ask the question "when are you getting married?" and you'd have to answer honestly. Maybe someone with more experience with mock weddings will be along shortly.

As for pleading with the Embassy about your wedding date, you can try but they aren't responsible for anything like that. Really it's best not to make any solid plans before you have your visa, but it can hard if you're wanting to have a big wedding.

I hope everything works out for you one way or another.

EDIT: I see others have already said pretty much the same thing - sorry!

shent

We could change the dates to the end of August and pay a bit more money which would give us plenty of time for the visa, but she has her heart set on her Catholic church & wedding. End of August would make her bump 16 weeks old, and the priest won't marry a pregnant woman in the Catholic church.

This is what worries me, I know if I did that, it would be breaking the law, and all this immigration stuff makes me nervous when I don't have stuff to hide. I'd be sure to cock up if I actually did!

Thank you all for your responses, keep them coming please.

randomgirl

It's a tricky situation, but your fiancée may just have to accept that things haven't worked out as planned and be a little more flexible with the wedding stuff. If the priest won't do the ceremony because she's pregnant, and your visa isn't in hand, then both the date and the venue might have to change.

Is there absolutely no way that she would consider getting married somewhere else? If you wait for your K-1 visa, then move to the US and marry in a courthouse (or wherever), couldn't you have a "proper" ceremony in a church at a later date? (after the baby's born, so she can wear her dress).

Noorah101

She will have to come to terms with having to be flexible when it comes to immigration.

It's not breaking the law to get married on the VWP, so don't worry about that part of it. Even if you get married in the church and everything, as she wishes, all it does is cancel the K-1 visa process. Then you'll start over by filing an I-130 towards a spouse Immigrant Visa. Of course that means going through the whole process again, paying all the fees again, waiting apart again, etc. But some people do that. If having the wedding on July 1 is THAT important, then maybe you guys are willing to get married as planned and start a new immigration process.

If she doesn't want to start a new immigration process all over again, then she has to be flexible in her wedding date.

If you want to visit on the VWP and just have a party of sorts, for friends and family, you could do that. No marriage license or church involved. If she can't have the big wedding while she's pregnant, then after you arrive on the K-1 just have your civil ceremony and do a big church wedding at a later date, after the baby is born.

Rene

Noorah101

randomgirl, you and I are on the same wavelength today.

Rene

randomgirl

I noticed that!

ian-mstm

Forgive the obvious, but if she's so determined to be married by the Catholic church, you guys probably shouldn't have been doing the tango!

For what it's worth, your fiancee will have to come to terms with not getting what she wants. If she can't do that... well, I daresay it's time to walk away from the whole thing - as it'll never get better when she's so deeply entrenched in the idea that everything has to be done her way.

Ian

meauxna

That is what you need to start on, immediately. If your medical is done and all your other forms have been submitted and are on file, it may be possible for them to slot you in. Call the pay-to-call line and get the email code (or you may already have one) and make a brief but impassioned plea for an interview date before June 22 (or whatever, but allow enough time for visa delivery & travel).

Do this, regardless of what other information you gather for an alternative plan.

edit: PS, the priest also won't do a fake ceremony, from what other people have reported.

shent

I've been emailing to and fro, and was told to use CIU161PR‏ as the subject. Is this what you mean by the email code?

meauxna

That looks like one.. I've heard that they change the code weekly. I've also heard (only one time) that you pay for it once and may continue to correspond with them using that one. Using the code is to guarantee that your email will be ready and responded to.

I'm just wondering why you didn't bring it up with them more strongly in earlier communication, like when you heard the part about your letter still being 2-3 weeks out?

shent

I'm sorry, I'm confused by what you're asking. Are you asking why I didn't inform the consulate of the tight time scale? If so, I did. I emailed them the day I received my LND case number, which was May 2nd. Their response was:

Thank you for your email.

We regret that your file has not yet been received at the Embassy in London. As soon as the file is received, you will be contacted and advised of the forms you will be required to complete. You may download the forms from the Embassy website

, however, you should not complete them until you receive notification that your file has been received in the Embassy.

You will also be required to attend a medical examination with the Embassy’s panel physician. Once all the required forms and medical report have been received in the Immigrant Visa Unit, an interview will be scheduled for you. Please note that we are unable to guarantee that a visa will be issued to you by a specific date.

Sincerely,

Consular Information Unit
U.S. Embassy, London
CONS/CIU/GS


I explained everything to them which I posted at the top of this page.

meauxna

shent, I don't know how many times you have communicated with them or how recently. That was a month ago, when did you hear about the letter timing?