Ahmed

Dear googlers =)
I am writing this question on behalf of a friend who is getting
married.
He is a USC and he and his family are living in the USA. They are
planning to get married to a girl who is within thier own close family
(first cousin) who is currently residing in PAKISTAN. I have a bunch
of questions

1) Is it necessary for them to have met in the past 2 yrs before they
could apply for a K1 visa? Since it is an arranged marriage and given
the cultural situation the bride and the groom really dont 'meet', its
the elders who decide. Would the INS accept a letter from the parents
as 'proof of engagement' or other evidence as ring reciepts etc. I
mean is it possible for the guy to start the K1 visa without actually
having an actual engagement party.

2) What if the groom and his family goto Pakistan and have a formal
engagement and with that they also perform a religious wedding
ceremony (exchanging of vows). And then the groom comes back to the
USA and files for a K1 fiance visa on the basis of his engagement. Is
that possible?

3) If they do get married in Pakistan would they have to apply for a
K3 visa?
Which one is quicker K3 or K1. As regards to the processing times in
pakistan.

4) In this situation what are your comments. (from personal expreience
or other) As to what could be best done. Should they get married in
the US after the K1 or should they go for a K3?

Please clarify this. thanks

osaeed

Let me take a stab at your questions, I went through a similar set of problems when deciding whether to bring my (now) wife on a K1 or K3.

Question 1
The requirement is that you must have met in the last 2 years and provide proof thereof (airline receipts, dated photos, etc). You can try to use that cultural exemption, but it is extremely difficult. My recommendation, they should meet.

Question 2
A very tough question. Originally we had applied for a K1 visa and were going to have an unregistered religious ceremony in Pakistan. After researching US and Pakistani law a little further, I discovered that the US recognizes any overseas marriage that is recognized by the foreign government, and Pakistan recognizes a marriage whether it is registered or not in court (read the Pakistani Family law). Thus, the unregistered marriage in Pakistan is still legal, hence not allowed under a K1 visa. You may say "it's unregistered, so how can the USA find out". Well, a friend of a friend went in for an adjustment of status interview having performed an unregistered wedding in Pakistan and then coming on a K1, somehow the INS found out about the wedding and denied the AOS. Based on this, I decided against performing an unregistered wedding and opted for an actual wedding in Pakistan followed by an I-130/K3. Insodoing, I had to cancel my K1 process.

Question 3
Processing time IN Pakistan is roughly the same for K1 or K3. The difference is in the processing time in the USA. K1 is the fastest route. K3 is taking much longer than expected.

Question 4
This will depend on the risk tolerance of the couple and the cultural allowances of the family. If the couple wants to quietly have the religious ceremony in Pakistan and lie throughout the rest of their INS processing, than they can go with the K1. They can also go with the K1 if the family can allow the girl to come here unmarried, get married in the USA (civil as well as religous), and go back to Pakistan to have the rest of the ceremonies. A K1 can also work if they chose to have a "going away party" instead of an actual wedding in Pakistan. If none of these circumstances will work (none worked for me), then they will have to have the wedding in Pakistan and go for the I-130/K3. My K3 process, end to end, took 5 months. The I-130 process (to get the green card) is almost complete (my wife's file was sent to Islamabad last week), it will take roughly 9 months end to end.

omer

Folinskyinla

Hi:

I have almost nothing to add to Omer's fine response. Except I want to empasize that under no circumstances is anyone to lie to the INS or the Consulate. Even given the rubric "how will they find out?" you have to consider the penalty if they do -- and its quite high.

By the way, the clients of mine who have traveled to Pakistan and have gotten married -- the child born 9 months after the marriage was able to enter as a US citizen.

Rete

No one has commented on the fact that the bride and groom are first cousins. I thought one is not allowed by US law (or is it only state law) to marry a first cousin.

Rete

osaeed

First cousin marriage laws vary state to state. My parents are first cousins and were married in Georgia. I know of other first cousins married in the USA. As far as I know, the laws are only for obtaining the license in the state, so one could go to a state that permits 1st cousin marriages and get married there. A lawyer can correct me if I am wrong.

And for the record, my wife is not related to me

omer

Ahmed

Thank you every1 ..in particular Omar =)