Hi Guys

My Fiance has just submitted our i129f and we've started the planning of our wedding. Does anyone have any advice on organising a wedding while dates are up in the air due to the K1 visa process?

We've started looking at a date of 5th October but are already finding places are booked up. One of the venues has said they have earlier dates but we're reluctant to book anything earlier just in case the process takes longer...

checking the i129f times for Dallas on the uscis site they are currently quoting 5 months for processing but I guess that just takes us up to the point where they grant the interview date?

Rob

Short answer: Don't plan anything that isn't fully refundable.

Rob, the way my husband and I worked it was to get married while we happened to be in the same country, and then file I-130 (spouse visa). Of course we did our wedding with the absolute bare minimum humanly possible, essentially an elopement, because we are allergic to fuss. Seriously... Gretna Green was too much fuss. lol... The advantage of this is that we could plan the wedding without worrying about the paperwork. But since you've already filed the I-129, it might be awkward (not impossible, illegal, or problematical) for you to file the I-130 later. Wiser heads on this forum would have something to say about how best to do that if you so choose.

The 5 months quoted for processing are a best guess, date from September, and don't take into account things like requests for more evidence (RFEs) or the off chance that your app might be approved even earlier than 5 months. The only reason they put 5 months is that it's their target completion time and they are currently meeting it. I know that for the I-130, the interview date is not given until you file for the immigrant visa, and you don't do THAT until after the I-130 is approved, so it's a two-step process for us.

In other words, don't sign anything or pay any deposits until you KNOW your dates.

Yes. Don't pay for anything that can't be refunded or rescheduled.

Smart!

No, that takes you up to the point where you start applying for the K-1 visa. You'll be notified what forms to fill out and return, how to get your medical done, and then you will have an interview date scheduled. You can expect this part of the process to take another couple/few months.

Rene

The visa is valid for roughly 6 months, and you then have almost 3 months to get married once you enter the US. That's over 8 months to plan the wedding. Don't start until you're much farther along in the process. If it takes longer than 8 months to plan a wedding... it's much too elaborate.

Ian

The I-129F has already been filed. If they marry now, they abandon the K-1 process altogether, and have to start over with the Immigrant Visa process by filing an I-130. Some people do this, yes. As long as they know they are *starting over*, from scratch, with a new petition after marriage, for a completely different visa.

Rene

Thanks, Rene, that is what I wasn't perfectly sure of. I knew that they abandoned the previous process, but I didn't know whether making the substitution was likely to cause confusion among the paper pushers.

There's no substitution to be made. They simply start all over in a different via category.

Rene

The "easy" way is to have two weddings. A quick city hall job for the paperwork, on relatively short notice (though that could still be as long a few months depending on how long your visa is valid) perhaps parents only. Then you have all the time in the world to plan the big fat [insert ethnic group] wedding later. Ours was about 6 months later.

Yes, my wife and I decided to wait until I was approved before we even started planning/booking anything to do with the wedding. In fact, I had to request an interview date because the consulate didn't want to issue me one so far in advance of the estimated flight arrival, until I explained I wanted the full six months of the visa for planning, before I set off to the States (which thankfully they then did with no problems).

After the OP enters the USA using the K-1 visa, he will have only 90 days in which to get married.

Rene

To clarify, the short notice was mainly referring to the period from receipt of visa in hand to the the time at which the visa needs to be used (6 months from date of the medical). Some people jet off the next week giving them only a few months (essentially only the 90 days) to do any wedding planning. Others spend a few months getting their affairs in order before leaving giving this additional time to plan pick a date for weddings, allow parents time to fly in etc.

This... I landed in the US with my K1 visa on Tuesday Night and Thursday afternoon me and the TAS went down to county hall and picked up our Wedding license and got legally married. Just the 2 of us - we didn't even have rings.
5 months later we had the Big fat chinese wedding in NYC with family and friends and dresses and cake and all that fun wedding stress.
We consider the big wedding to be our wedding anniversary and the 90 seconds at city Hall to be yet another step in the Immigration paperwork process