Grapes

It's where we met, so it's relevant to that. We just had this idea that it's where we would marry, it's what we wanted to do.

Grapes

Yes, it's looking like either that or we get married there and then start the visa application, albeit a spouse one.

Rete

What is the difference in spending time apart as fiancées instead of spouses? You are still apart. You can still visit the US and she the UK. You will stay married whether you are living together or separately. Many of us on the marriage-based forum have lived married life separately and the love didn't die. And, heck, you get to marry where you choose and then with the CR-1, instead of the K-1, you enter the US and are a PR with a green card and the right to work from day one and not having to deal with the USCIS until 1 year and 9 months later.

Grapes

All valid points but for us it's the amount of time it will take.

For family reasons, we ideally won't have the ceremony until May next year at the earliest; this means being apart for almost a year from now and then starting the visa process, therefore we could be looking at the best part of 2 years before we are living together. We just don't really want to wait that long....

Noorah101

That makes sense. Go ahead and do the K1 visa, knowing you must marry in the USA. Then have some kind of celebration in Mexico once you have AP in hand.

Rene

mamasue

Another suggestion which might work if you don't want to be separated for so long...
Get married now in the USA....just a courthouse wedding...
Apply for a spouse visa to the UK, going back to the original plan of being in the UK..
After she's lived in the UK for 6 months, you can apply for DCF, which is direct consular filing via the US Embassy in London, and stay together in the UK for a few more months while the DCF is processed.
You can have a 'proper' wedding in Mexico after, with all the bells and whistles.

Maybe some BE experts tell you different, but I think it might be a way of staying together.

Mangaboy84

The only snag with that is you get a double whammy on fees, your paying for your visa to America and then you have to pay for her visa to come to uk. you also have to pay a surcharge fee for the NHS I believe for her coming here.

I looked into this with my fiancée and her son and due to the costs involved, it was cheaper for me to emigrate than them.

we are going with the K1 and a courtroom wedding to get the legal bit out the way and then a proper ceremony in the new year both in the USA and UK

Noorah101

There is no more 6 month rule.

Rene

Grapes

Hi everyone,

Thanks so much for all the advice and opinion, it really does help a great deal!

Currently sat on the train heading back home having flown in from Atlanta this morning. How hard is it to say goodbye to your other half; my goodness, it's just the worst thing.

Anyway, I think right now we're looking at fiancé visa application, meet in Mexico for a 'false' wedding once all is approved, then fly directly to US for the 'official' courthouse marriage.

She still has a wish to live in the UK for a while and that was the original plan, but it seems silly to pay double the costs and have all the upheaval in both our lives in a relatively short space of time.

I wish it wasn't all so drawn out and complicated, but as all of you have proven it can work and it is worth it in the end! It's exciting, terrifying, upsetting... I'll be emotionally ruined by the end of it all, I'm sure.

Noorah101

What exactly would the false wedding in Mexico entail? If it's just a party, fine, but then call it a party, not a wedding of any sort. Don't wear wedding clothes, don't take wedding photos, don't invite guests to attend a wedding, don't do anything that would make you legally married in Mexico, don't do anything that even looks like you might have gotten married in Mexico. ...or you run the risk of not being able to use the K1 visa.

Personally, I would do it the other way around. Marry legally first in the USA, then a trip to Mexico later to do whatever kind of celebration you want.

Rene

Noorah101

It's a long-ish process, yes. ..but not complicated. It only becomes complicated if you try to do things that don't fit the way the process is meant to be done.

Rene

ian-mstm

I agree with Rene - I suggest you do not do this. If the CBP officer gets it in his head that you've done anything that even resembles a wedding, he can request verification that you did not, in fact, get married. Since it is impossible to prove a negative (read = you can't prove you didn't get married), he can deny you entry to the US on your K-1 visa... and you start all over again! Yes, this has happened. Let romance and nostalgia take a back seat for a few months.

Ian

Grapes

Thanks Rene / Ian, I take this on board... Completely understand where you're coming from.

Having said that, how would the CBP officer have any inclination that we had been on anything other than a holiday in Mexico? I may be missing something but to all intent and purpose, we've just taken a trip prior to me moving to the US?

Apologies if there's an obvious answer to this and I really do appreciate everyone's input so far!

ian-mstm

In 99.9+% of entries on a K-1, the beneficiary arrives in the US directly from the home country. Entering the US from Mexico, is more than sufficient reason to question why you were in Mexico prior to entering. Consider this - why would you even need a holiday in Mexico prior to getting married? That's something that usually happens after the wedding!


Which, by itself, is highly unusual.

Ian

Grapes

Fair point!