tim131

Hi there,

I have posted here in the past about information about fiancee visas, and the information I have been give in invaluable, so I really appreciate, I do have a few queries I am hoping someone can help me with though.

Last time I wrote this I was talking about visitng my girlfriend and proposing, well I have since proposed and returned to the UK from texas (possibly the hardest thing I have done in my life haha) and my fiancee who has been in the USA since she was 1 is working on her citizenship, and will then file a k1 visa.

What I am wondering is, we have set a date for the wedding and in the process of booking it, for the 26 of July 2014 - if for whatever reason, my paperwork etc is not done, is there anything stopping me from going over anyways, and still going ahead with the wedding - we probably wouldnt make it an official i.e sign the marriage license, and just remain technically fiancee's as I know getting married would void or K1 application and just add months on to our wait to be together.

Can anyone see a problem with that? I know you can travel on vwp whilst a K1 is processing, but what would the border patrol say if it came up I was going to a wedding - would I technically have to tell them I am getting married (as I am technically not) should I just tell them that I am visiting my fiancee, as legally, by the time I leave, we will still be finacee's.

Could anyone give me a little bit of info surrounding that?

Also, I am an Irish citizen living in the UK, do I do it through the UK or Irish embassy? I think the Irish one has a less of a wait time for K-1's - what do you reckon?

Was also considering, when she comes over in Decemeber, if she is a citizen, maybe just get married, and do a CR-1 visa instead, I am not too sure - would I run into problems that way?

Many Thanks,

Tim

civilservant

I-129f petition. Only after that petition is approved will YOU apply for the visa.

An official will not go ahead with a ceremony if it is not legally binding, at least that is my experience. In most states they sign it, you sign it, and they take it away to be filed. You can't hang on to it and file it when you feel like it. If you do ahead with the wedding, you will be married, and the K1 will no longer be appropriate. She will need to file an I-130 for you as her spouse.

Tell the truth - but I wouldn't say getting married. Visiting is fine. Drop the 'technically' from your vocab, because you are or you aren't. I would not do anything that may causes an IO to believe you may have gotten married - because it they believe you are married they may deny your visa as being inappropriate.

If you live in the UK, you'll go to London automatically. I think I've heard of others changing though, perhaps do a search.

She would need a visa to get married in the UK.

tim131

Thanks for your response - My father is actually going to be the officiant at our wedding - so that shouldn't be too much of a problem, so we would just have the ceremony with all our family and friends, but just technically not get married!

And I am ok to say just visiting at the border, thats fine, thanks.

Well she is also visiting Ireland too at Decemeber, I didnt know you needed a visa to get married in the UK. I guess the other option is marriage by a proxy which is legal in Texas.

Just not too sure what to do - so assuming my k1 is still processing come July, I can just visit saying I am here to see my fiancee, get a letter from my work or something saying I will be returing, that should be ok?

Also, I may be visiting in April time also? will this effect me getting through the border? I have visited twice this year, each for 3 weeks, with no intention of visiting again this year.

Thanks for your help.

ian-mstm

You need to drop the word "technically" from your vocabulary. It's only purpose is to obscure your true intent and absolve you of using the word "actually" - which, by the way, is what you actually mean! When you use the word "actually" instead of "technically", you'll find that your entire premise is faulty.


If your fiancée is not yet a USC, I doubt this will happen by your due date. She can't submit the I-129F petition until after her Oath Ceremony... and then it'll take 8-10 months before you get the K-1 visa.


No - but it will invalidate the entire K-1 process, and you would be forced to start over again with an immigrant visa. The K-1 visa allows you to enter the US - once, and once only - for the specific purpose of marrying the USC petitioner. If you marry ahead of getting the K-1, it's game over!


Well then, you already know what you need to know... and everything else is just some bizarre attempt to avoid the truth.


I reckon you shouldn't have set a wedding date before knowing whether or not you'll get the visa.


She will need a visa to get married in the UK.


Is your father licensed in the US to perform a wedding ceremony? Regardless, it sounds as though you want to add him to your conspiracy of a "technically" flawed immigration process.


It seems that you are now seriously considering using bizarre methods to get married... all because you've already set a wedding date.


Easy - change the wedding date. Don't set it until after you have the visa... then you won't have to employ convoluted plans!


There is no way to know, in advance, whether it will or won't.

Ian

tim131

Ian, I like your straight to the point style, I'll give ya that much.

But what I'll tell you now, and preface this post is - I am in no way trying to employ "convuluted" or "bizzare" methods or plans, or in anyway cheat the system or lie to border patrol.

I unsderstand your point about my use of "Technically" I guess it was for the lack of a better word - I find it hard sometimes to convey myself.

Put simply I was asking:

Can I go to visit my fiancee on vwp whilst my K1 visa is being processed, whilst there, I was planning on having a service/party/wedding without it being legally binding - like 1000s of people do when they cannot afford a wedding and go to a court and get married and then in a few years time actually have a wedding. My plans were to only do this if my visa hasn't fully processed by this stage.

If I wanted to do it illegally and imorally, I'd just get married and adust my status when im next visiting, but I dont want to do that, I just want to keep on the right side of things.

Your point about setting a date before knowing if you get a visa - its very difficult to plan a wedding in the 3 months we have to get married when I get granted the visa - my fiancee is stressed enough now as is.

I do appreicate you taking the time to respond to me

ian-mstm

Thank you for interpreting my post in the manner in which I meant it. I don't deliberately try to be mean, but very often only a "tough love" approach makes the point.


The difficult part is the word "wedding" and you having an "officiant" present. If the US government gets a whiff of what you've done, you will be asked to prove that you, in fact, didn't get married. That'll cause even more complication... insofar as you can't possibly prove a negative! This has, by the way, happened several times over the years.


The US government doesn't make a distinction between "marriage" and "wedding". You might, but they don't. You should immediately stop calling it was you want it to be or what you think it is, and call it what it actually is... a party! But, as you say, it's only if the visa doesn't come through in time.


You have about 8 or 9 months to plan a wedding, since you have 5 or 6 months in which to use the visa, and then a further 3 months once you enter the US. If you can't plan a wedding in 6 months, it's way too fancy!


With respect, it sounds as though she has unrealistic expectations of the process. Immigration takes time, and sometimes the romance has to be set aside in favor of the practical. A few weeks' or months' delay will not be an earth-shattering catastrophe... and certainly not when compared to the rest of your lives together!

Ian

jeffreyhy

As others have already told you, there's nothing "technical" about it. You will be married or you won't. You might want to check with a family lawyer in the place where this wedding wil take place to determine whether or not the wedding will create a marriage, failure to apply for a marriage license or register the event aside.

Regards, JEff

Noorah101

You can visit your fiancee on the VWP and have a PARTY. If you actually get married, you can no longer follow the K-1 path. But that's OK, you can still do the CR-1 Spouse Immigrant Visa path.

The people who go to a court and get married are legally married after that. You do NOT want to do this, if you still want to do a K-1 visa.

As you said yourself, many people just have a courthouse marriage so they can be legally married, then they have the big "wedding" or reception at a later date. You can also do this, after you arrive on the K-1 visa.

Or, she can start planning everything now, just without setting a firm date until you have your K-1 visa in hand.

Since she's not yet a USC, nothing can be filed yet anyway, so it seems to me you have plenty of time to plan a nice wedding. You just can't set a firm date until you have the K-1 visa in hand. The K-1 will be valid for 6 months from the date of your medical, plus you will have 90 days in the USA before you have to get married. I'm sure a decent wedding can be planned in those 7 or 8 months.

Rene

Rete

Is your father legally able to perform a wedding ceremony in the US? I thought you had to have the State's license to perform the ceremony?

Yes, you can have a wedding ceremony a/k/a Blessings Ceremony and not sign the papers, thus, not making it a legally binding contract. In the past many fiancee's from some countries, i.e. Ukrane, have done this as a woman's family might not be able to come to the US for the "legal" ceremony and want to see their daughter "married".

Why does it have to be July? Why not plan for a Fall or Winter wedding? Or the two of you go to another country together and get married where a visa is not required to marry and is seen by the US as legal and then apply for the Immediate Relative Visa. This can be filed even before she becomes a US Citizen and then "upgraded" when she has been sworn in.

Your entrance to the US is never guaranteed. Just answer the questions put to you honestly.

sir_eccles

If you don't "actually" want to be married before your visa issues do not "actually" have anything that resembles a wedding ceremony. Whether your father does it or not and you have your fingers crossed while standing on one leg, some state laws will consider you married.

Many people (myself included) have had two weddings. A quick civil ceremony at town hall with parents only and then the big fat Jewish wedding 3 months later.

Do not set a date until you have your visa.

Nutmegger

Just what stage is she at? Has she actually filed the papers and this is in process, or is she now getting started? If she is just starting, you really have to slow down on the plans until she gets closer to becoming a citizen.

BubbleChog

This.
Though in my case it was a big fat chinese wedding.

Speedwell

One or more states even have "common law" marriage rules. One such that I remember had the simple requirements of cohabitating for more than 24 hours and representing yourself as married to others. (This had the amusing side effect of legalizing de facto bigamy, since there was apparently no provision that the common-law spouses had to be unmarried.) Many of the states that used to have such laws have repealed them, but not all. Your safest bet is simply not to represent yourself as married by having a "wedding".

Malashaan

I agree with the general consensus. If you're not going to get legally married, there's no need to use the words wedding or married at all. You're going to visit your fiancee. If you have a wedding themed party while you're there, that's really not relevant (barring any common law marriage laws that apply, as others have mentioned). What IOs are interested in is detecting people who intend to come in on the VWP, get legally married, and then not leave. As long as your fact pattern doesn't look like that's your intent, you shouldn't have a problem.

As a side note, when I went through this process, the only time I had real difficulty at the border was when I was on my fourth visit of the year on the VWP. The IO grilled me hard about how I was affording it and whether I'd done any work in the US while visiting, but he still let me through eventually.