YouWantFriesWithThat

I agree strongly with Rene & Rete about this.

Your fiance could spend the rest of her married life regreting not having the wedding of her dreams and perhaps even becoming resentful about it.

Going for the CR-1 has big advantages over the K-1, the biggest being that you don't have to through the AOS or wait to be able to work once you she arrives in the USA. Factor in that it also means she can have her dream wedding - and it becomes an absolute no brainer, imo. The disadvantage of the slightly longer processing time for the CR-1 is massively outweighed by the benefits.

(I'm assuming applying for a K1 and having a Catholic wedding over in the USA with loved ones coming over to join has been discussed but is a non starter?)

If you decide the K1 route with a civil ceremony:

Please please please check and double check with any priests that are you are thinking of approaching for a 'blessing'. Unless things are very different in Ireland then you will probably get told a 'blessing' is not possible because there is no marriage to bless. 'Blessings' in the Catholic church are a bit of an urban myth to be honest. There are various other ceremonies that could take place but you'd have to discuss that with the priest.

jeffreyhy

k_m,

I also agree. Don't let immigration over-rule your personal life when it isn't necessary, let your personal desires determine what route you'll take for immigration.

I had an I-129f petition for fiancee well into processing when my wife and her parent's decided that they'd really rather she got married, with a ceremony that her family and friends could attend, before she picked up and moved halfway around the world. Starting the immigration process all over again added considerable delay to the date of immigration, but 6 years later the delay is forgotten and the wedding remains a happy memory.

Regards, JEff

meauxna

Since I'm the one who brought up 'risk' I want to clarify what I meant.

People over the years, especially with non-VWP country fiances, have looked for a way to bend the rules on the wedding thing. For a lot of people, it's important to have the wedding ceremony in the foreign country, which of course doesn't conform with the K-1 visa.
Because of the problems that people have posted about after doing one of these overseas-ceremony-but-we-didn't-sign-anything-to-make-it-legal deals, I have to call it a 'risk'. It's not black/white, legal/illegal. True, a wedding may not have become legally recognized by this (there are fascinating examples of Indian ceremonies) you're then gambling on the border agent knowing what is a legal marriage and what is not. For every culture/combination in the world. That's not very practical.
Another case I remember involved an Islamic marriage minus the registration. Unfortunately, the fiance made an error at entry and referred to his 'wife' (spiritually etc she was, to him). He was not allowed to enter and his K visa was canceled.
People have hand-carried their precious photo albums through, full of pictures of a white dress, black tux and big cake. It doesn't really matter that they didn't sign the marriage license, to the border agent it looks like a regular wedding, and he just knows that the K-1 must be unmarried. He doesn't have time to do an investigation at the border so there is just the one solution.

This is just a handful of examples of the things that can go wrong. Will they for you? I have no idea.

And while I agree with the call to not bash your lawyer, what I hinted at earlier but didn't beat to death is the distinction between types of immigration lawyers. Unless the person specializes in or focuses a lot of their time on family based cases, I'd submit that they would not be current on family based procedures. Sure the law hasn't changed, but the procedures have evolved dramatically in the past 7 years that I've been watching. What you seem to want is someone who will shepherd your case in the fastest manner. Someone who does exclusively or mostly business immigration, or asylum cases etc may not be able to do that, especially if they still believe the propaganda about the K-3 visa.

Be clear: it doesn't matter to me which path you choose; I want you to choose the one you have the most confidence in and can commit to. I want you to have confidence and good communications with your lawyer for your own peace of mind. You've got some great information here, now it's just a case of making sense of it all. Please don't hesitate to ask if we can clarify terms or procedures for you, and good luck to you both.

Englishman in Eugene

Have you considered a marriage in the US? We had a civil ceremony in Feb 2006 with very little preparation required (we arranged everything over the internet, meeting the Officiant only a couple of days before the ceremony), and 10 family members as guests. We didn't get hung up on having the "perfect wedding", it's the marriage that's important. Our wedding was perfect for us, and memorable for everyone who attended.

Would it be possible to have a US Civil Ceremony so you are married in the eyes of the USCIS, and then have the full Catholic Wedding as planned in July 2010?

I don't know if this is even possible, just throwing out an idea.

Noorah101

The only way this would work for the OP is if she came to the USA on a VWP and got married. Then they can file the I-130 to get the ball rolling. She'll probably be getting her Immigrant Visa around July 2010, so they could have the fancy wedding in Ireland just before she moves over to the USA. That would certainly work, if they don't mind doing a small civil ceremony in the USA first, before the big one in Ireland.

The fiance visa won't work in that scenario, because she won't be getting the K-1 until right around June 2010 or so, and then the marriage has to take place in the USA, but she won't be able to turn right around and leave the USA to have the big wedding back in Ireland by July. They'd have to postpone that part of it until she has AP in hand and can travel outside the USA.

Rene

YouWantFriesWithThat

We explored that idea and were told by the RC church that it can't be done. You can have the cilvil ceremony, yes, but cannot then have a RC wedding mass.

It's a good idea in principle so would be worth checking with priests in Ireland but, like I said, we were told a very definite 'no'.

kayo_michael

Thanks to all those that have gave their time to help us make our decision.

We have decided 'for the most part" to go with a civil service in Jan/Feb in Ireland. I say "for the most part" because all loose ends haven't been tied and something may fall though.

Once we have the civil service we plan on taking the CR1/I-130 process and hopefully she will be able to come to the US a few months after our blessing in July.

Do I need a visa to marry in Ireland? We are aware of the 3month wait, my papers are already in the mail to the Irish registrar office. My fiance is scheduled to have a meeting with officials of the HSE at the end of this month. (hence the civil ceremony in Jan/Feb time frame, 3 months from Oct.)
From what I read on irish marriage site, I don't require any sort of documentation/arrangement since USA is part of a VWP and I don't plan on residing in Ireland after we marry. My fiance will find out specifically what we need to do through her sit-down with the HSE later this month, though.

Noorah101

Sounds good. If you marry and file the I-130 in January, she should be getting her visa around September-ish.

To my knowledge, yes.
Edit: My knowledge seem to be wrong, sorry for the confusion.

Rene

meauxna

Here's what the US Embassy says.

AMERICAN CITIZEN SERVICES
Requirements for Marriage

Since the London US Embassy site says "American citizens coming to the United Kingdom to marry British citizens or persons settled here, or to register as Civil Partners, generally require entry clearance from UK authorities. Clearance must be obtained in advance of arrival." and is silent on it for Ireland, and I've never heard of a special visa being required for Ireland, I suspect you're on the right track.
Just re-confirm it everywhere you can so that you're not caught short.

Family_Guy

No