gnasher12

HI,

this is my second question on here, I am UKC, and my finance is USC, we plan to marry in the UK in the summer, then file for CR-1 while i remain here,

my question is should i go there now, and marry him in the u.s, and come home to start the cr-1 proccess because i hear it takes a long time, then have our wedding in summer, but have like a renewal of vows, or some kind of ceremony, we have booked a venue, music, invitations have gone out, i have an amazing wedding dress, so we want a proper wedding day,

or should i wait untill our planned wedding day to get married, and start the cr-1 after the summer (august) as we will be waiting even longer,

as I am already waiting for the wedding day now, maybe we should start the process as soon as we can.
I hope this all makes sense, im happy to answer any questions.

Advice please, thank you so much

nettlebed

Doesn't sound to me like you need advice on the immigration aspects of your situation. These sound like purely personal concerns about how you want to manage the mechanics of your wedding events.

My advice would be decide what is most important for you personally, then do that.

gnasher12

Thanks , Kind of yes, I have read so many threads, and all the information on CR-1 through this site, and been doing alot of research on CR-1 visas for 3 days, This site has answered many of my visa questions already, and i probably will have more, once the application is started, but for now yes its more personal, and more about finding people in my situation or something similar, I have no clue whether it will make much difference if i marry in the summer or feb to start the visa process sooner, Im hoping someone on here, has been through the same experience.
Thank you

YouWantFriesWithThat

Hi,

I'm not that knowledgable about CR-1s but on a general note it seems obvious to me that the sooner you start the visa process the sooner the visa will be in hand (other things being equal of course ).

Also think long term here - you will have the rest of your lives together. You will have the rest of your lives to either remember fondly your wedding or regret that you hadn't been so rushed......

What I'm hinting at is ask yourself would you rather have a 'proper' wedding that all can enjoy with you or a from of blessing or similar having already married elsewhere out of 'convenience'.

Act in haste, repent at leisure.

This next year or so will be full of memories for all your life - so make sure they're the memories you want

Noorah101

Hi blueberry,

This is really a decision you have to make on your own, between you and your fiance. You know that the Immigrant Visa process takes about 8 - 10 months to process. So you guys just need to decide if you want to get married sooner and start the process sooner, or wait until summer to get married and start the process then. You can't start the process until you are married and have the certified copy of marriage certificate in hand, whichever way you go.

Rene

gnasher12

Thank you so much for your all reply's, I understand i have to make this decision, hardest one ever at the moment, I am torn between family and friends flying over to watch us get married, and not wanted to wait so long to start the visa process, im sure ill be thinking about this , until my flight to the states, which ever way I go, thanks so much for all the advice

ork

If you have an immigration consultant, I would ask them what they recommend and how getting married sooner / later might be seen by US Immigration on your application (positively or negatively) before you decide what to do.

I cannot comment on it from that perspective as I immigrated into Canada and not the US so the rules may be different. However, I can tell you what we did and what it was like from my own emotional point of view...

...the way that we handled it was that we had a civil ceremony in Canada (last Spring), followed by a local small celebration for my husband's family and our Canadian friends. We then initiated the immigration process. After that, we held a Wedding Blessing Ceremony in the UK (in the summer).

In effect, our wedding was in 3 parts and I got to wear my wedding dress twice (which would have been fine if it hadn't had been for the fact that it was a nasty polyester affair which I hated. Still do, in fact).

At the time, I was a bit sad to be getting married a long way away from my friends and family. It just was not how I had imagined it. However now, when I look back, our civil ceremony was really the best part of our wedding. We went away to a picturesque hotel (booked their 'Elopement Package'). The hotel spoilt us rotten and we had a fabulous Wedding Day. We video-skyped in my family so that they could see us getting married and celebrate with champagne with us over the internet afterwards. It was really relaxed. We hired a photographer who took some great photos of us too.

As far as my UK family and friends were concerned though, our Wedding Blessing day in the summer was our real Wedding Day. We knew the chaplain well and he was more than happy to do a full run through of our vows and the ring exchange again. We held a reception for 70 people afterwards - everyone in full wedding regalia and everyone really enjoyed it.

To be honest, our venue was a bit disorganised and as a result, I found the blessing event a bit stressful. So I was really glad that we were not actually getting married on that day - it took a bit of pressure off!

My husband, who is a real sweetie, still welled up during our vows second time around and afterwards he said to me, "Well...vows twice in 6 months - we are really married now!"

So, it is possible to have a big formal bash without any problems, even if you slip away quietly to deal with the paperwork part of it earlier!

Noorah101

I disagree about having a consultation with an immigration attorney on this specific matter. Getting married sooner / later will not affect the Immigrant Visa application at all, except on how soon they can start filing the I-130.

Rene

ian-mstm

This really is a silly suggestion. USCIS doesn't care one way or the other when or where you get married. Indeed, even how long you've been married is irrelevant. If you are eligible, you're eligible.


And yet here you are... commenting!

Ian

jeffreyhy

o,

"immigration consultant"? Best to steer clear of such people. If one feels that they need professional assistance they should get it from an immigration attorney.

Regards, JEff

nettlebed

Unless they have lots of money that they want to squander uselessly...

meauxna

NB: In Canada, "immigration consultant" is a legitimate profession and is the type of bod you would use.

In US immigration, not so.

And, the length of the marriage can make a difference in some US immigration cases. Probably not this one, unless Mr Future blueberrymuffin has naturalized recently having gained his PR through marriage to a USC or some other convoluted twist of fate.

C'mon old timers, a little more love, a little less pedantry where it counts? Don't *make* me start up my BE Nice campaign again. I lost the banner.

ork

Correct. I only meant to comment on the personal aspect of it though - not the immigration part. It came across in the original post that the OP was as much worried about that, as the immigration element. I just wanted to point out a case where a couple got married earlier in order to start their immigration paperwork, still had a big bash and it all ended well (from a marriage event perspective). That's all.

Apologies to all if I used the wrong phrase in 'immigration consultant'. In fact, we took advice from a solicitor in Canada and our approach was based on what was right for us, in our own circumstances, for Canada. Not the US. My first sentence was simply intended to point that out. I wasn't aware of the sensitivity around the phrase 'consultant' in this forum. Clearly, I am now!

BritishGuy36

You have correctly summarised the pros and cons here...so make a decision.

Something that hasn't been mentioned is that your fiance will need to obtain the correct fiance visa to marry you in the UK - whereas you can show up on the VWP to marry him in the US (which seems much simpler).

If it was me I'd just fly over and get the deed done....then he can start filing the I-130 for you. Your family's concerns should be secondary to that of your future husband's - surely?

gnasher12

Thanks, you would think family concerns would be second, but after people are saving up to fly out and watch us marry in the summer, and everything has been organised for the big day, ive been having doubts...about doing it ourselves in the states.

and yes he already got his marriage visitor visa for u.k, and we gave notice, and are free to marry in the u.k now. so that part has all been sorted.