K1 Visa - Getting married before the visa comes through

[amykathleen2005 441]

Hi All,

My fiance and I submitted our initial K1 petition before the Christmas break. I am the sponsor, UK nationality so going via the US embassy in London. Although we are early in the process we are trying to plan our wedding later in the year (end of August) and had a question about a possible problems that we thought we should check.

1. If we arrange the wedding for August but dont have the Visa in time, can we go ahead with our plans, me fly in, get married in the US and then I would have to leave presumably. Would we need to advise them we had got married during the process and would there be a problem coming into the country without a Visa yet in order to get married whilst still in the process to obtain one.

Not sure if there is any other complications we might not have considered yet, although I am trying to look through the vast quantities of info to cover everything, so any advice welcome.

Many thanks and best of luck to all other December applicants (and everyone else) out there

Owen

Wait so are you both living in the UK? If you are then you can marry and do a DCF and you will get your visa very quickly if that is an option for you.

[PeruvyandGringa 25]

What I would suggest as many have done is once you get the visa in hand, come over, get married in the courthouse to get your paperwork started, then begin preparations for the wedding "party" as you have called it. It may take you nearly a year to get the visa in hand (hopefully sooner). That way you can have as much (or as little) time as you want to plan your actual wedding party together.

[dwheels76 5,468]

Hi All,

My fiance and I submitted our initial K1 petition before the Christmas break. I am the sponsor, UK nationality so going via the US embassy in London. Although we are early in the process we are trying to plan our wedding later in the year (end of August) and had a question about a possible problems that we thought we should check.

1. If we arrange the wedding for August but dont have the Visa in time, can we go ahead with our plans, me fly in, get married in the US and then I would have to leave presumably. Would we need to advise them we had got married during the process and would there be a problem coming into the country without a Visa yet in order to get married whilst still in the process to obtain one.

Not sure if there is any other complications we might not have considered yet, although I am trying to look through the vast quantities of info to cover everything, so any advice welcome.

Many thanks and best of luck to all other December applicants (and everyone else) out there

Owen

So you probably are at the Vermont Service Center? which now is approving at about 7 to 9 months. Than another 1 to 2 months for IV intact at embassy for you. Is a tight squeeze.

Just follow your course if not working right away and driving and going to school is important. Please please don't get even play married.

I have seen people denied for having a engagement party the consulate deemed a wedding party. Walk very careful. Good luck.

[mtcmk1 37]

I would suggest:

1-Either wait for the K1 visa to pull through, set a date after, and get married.

2-Cancel your petition, wait for August, get married, and go the spousal visa route...

If you do your option, you will end up lying to USCIS and they do have a way of finding out these things... Fall weddings are still very pretty Which is when it'll likely fall. Or Spring... Let us know what you do! Good luck!

Edited January 8, 2013 by mtcmk1

[bigdog 376]

Unfornately this is on USCIS time line and schedule not ours, patience.

[CaroSL 68]

If you guys want to be together asap, like most of vj members, then stick with the K1, wait patiently till you have it, and THEN make plans...

Winter weddings can be nice And if you are together, what does it matter what the weather is like. Plus, you can have bad weather in august too, you never know

Our personal choice is this: I'll fly to the US as soon as I as the visa, and we'll get married right away, with just two witnesses and no guests, so I really don't need to plan anything. Maybe we'll go crazy and book a table for 2 in a nice restaurant. Latter on, we'll have a nice little ceremony, a nice dinner and a big party with all our friends and familly. This is not ideal, but seriously, I wouldn't tolerate to be separated from my fiancé any longer than absolutely necessary.

In any case, you could have your K1 visa in hand in august, but there is a good chance that you won't. 8 month is the average time to get the visa those days... And if it grows a little bit longer for whatever reason, then...

Good luck to you guys!

[Feiticera1 0]

Thanks for all your replies, some of you are very..ahem..tenacious.. but its good to know people out there care, great helpful community here.

Carol, over lunch today we have basically come to the same conclusion.

- Clearly from the advice we have been given, we should not have any party or anything that might complicate or concern USCIS or the consulate during the Visa process

- That said, would they frown on making plans? i.e can we buy dresses, consider booking venues etc albeit with the knowledge that we might have to cancel if we run out of time.

- More realistically though we are now thinking it is best to do exactly what you said. Wait till we have the Visa, use it asap because our priority is be in the same place! Then have a small wedding and start planning the big party for some point in 2014.

- To answer a few other queries, she is based in the US and I am in the UK, and our application got NOA1 at VSC just before Christmas.

- I have seen that VSC is currently processing at 6months on average, hopefully if we dont make many mistakes August-October is a realistic time frame for completing this process therefore.

- I noticed some people who applied in July last year got their Visa by November, 4months for the whole thing! What happened since then!!!

Anyway, thanks again

Owen

[LeftCoastLady 441]

- I noticed some people who applied in July last year got their Visa by November, 4months for the whole thing! What happened since then!!!

Anyway, thanks again

Owen

I doubt those people were K-1 cases going through London.

[Carie_Azan 35]

So you probably are at the Vermont Service Center? which now is approving at about 7 to 9 months. Than another 1 to 2 months for IV intact at embassy for you. Is a tight squeeze.

Just follow your course if not working right away and driving and going to school is important. Please please don't get even play married.

I have seen people denied for having a engagement party the consulate deemed a wedding party. Walk very careful. Good luck.

VSC is n ot 7-9 months! 5-6, way to freak someone out!

[Hannah B 16]

I am going through london embassy too. I would allow 10-11 months from applying to entering the US. Just to give u an idea of my timeline we sent our I129f on march 19th 2011 and planned on a entry date of march this year. I never thought it would take that long but it has and im glad we planned for a year rather than put any extra pressure on the process by planning a wedding earlier than that. It took 7 1/2 months for approval through vermont with no rfe. Then it moved through nvc and got to london pretty quick in a few weeks. I sent packet 3 and had the medical as soon as i was able to and had all my paperwork ready well in advance. Ive been waiting 8 weeks for an interview date but havent received it yet..In all liklihood i will have the interview early feb then it takes 1-2 weeks to receive the visa in hand from london. This process is gruelling and can be very stressful. I seriously wouldnt make firm wedding plans for august because it would add a lot of pressure to u both. And i wouldnt Advise friends and family booking flights for your wedding until u have visa in hand. It will likely be fall when u get the visa and u never know what bumps in the road u will experience. One idea could be to have a legal ceremony as and when u arrive in the states and then plan a larger wedding party next summer. Fyi - i visited my fiance throughout the process on vwp no problems, even as recently as 2 weeks ago and stated i was visiting my fiance. I always brought proof of my ties to the uk with me in case i was questioned though which i would strongly advise if u plan on making trips over then whilst u wait for the k1. Good luck to u.

[Carie_Azan 35]

It seems like Married folks move slower, why is that?

[John and Camie 39]

Hi All,

My fiance and I submitted our initial K1 petition before the Christmas break. I am the sponsor, UK nationality so going via the US embassy in London. Although we are early in the process we are trying to plan our wedding later in the year (end of August) and had a question about a possible problems that we thought we should check.

Owen

Oh honey, welcome to USCIS time. Where they do what they want, when they want and how. I would wait until you have visa in hand (or at least an interview date) before making wedding plans. I wouldn't even have a "ceremonial" wedding. Even if you pull it off and get your K-1, you still have to get through AOS. Happy engagement! x

[John and Camie 39]

- Clearly from the advice we have been given, we should not have any party or anything that might complicate or concern USCIS or the consulate during the Visa process

Have an engagement party! My husband and I had one at his local pub before we came back to the States to get married.

- That said, would they frown on making plans? i.e can we buy dresses, consider booking venues etc albeit with the knowledge that we might have to cancel if we run out of time.

Go ahead and make all the plans you can. We bought our wedding clothes and rings, etc. Make sure you book a place with a good cancellation policy.

- More realistically though we are now thinking it is best to do exactly what you said. Wait till we have the Visa, use it asap because our priority is be in the same place! Then have a small wedding and start planning the big party for some point in 2014.

- To answer a few other queries, she is based in the US and I am in the UK, and our application got NOA1 at VSC just before Christmas.

- I have seen that VSC is currently processing at 6months on average, hopefully if we dont make many mistakes August-October is a realistic time frame for completing this process therefore.

- I noticed some people who applied in July last year got their Visa by November, 4months for the whole thing! What happened since then!!!

We were CSC; took us four months from filing to K-1, so keep your chin up, hun.

[BaBamSam 239]

Sounds like we have a similar timeline - I got my NOA1 just before Christmas, too, and my fiance is going through London. As almost everyone has said, just don't bother with the wedding plans (or just don't plan anything firm because there is a VERY good chance they'll have to be canceled). We are hoping to have him over by the end of September if everything goes well and we'll do a small parents-only courtroom marriage then. We really want to plan for our ceremony together so we're going to plan for a ceremony in late summer/early fall 2014. Better safe than sorry!

[Feiticera1 0]

Ok rather than start a new thread we had a further thought we just wanted to check with anyone:

Our existing scenario is we are applying for the K1 Visa for me to go to the states. We filed our 129F in December 12, but we have now had a further idea to consider. We are thinking she could come to the UK first under a student visa to do her masters as its cheaper here, and would allow me to save more money for the move too.

Rather than cancel our application, would it be possible to delay it so that we get interview in 2014 and i move over then, effectively one year later?

Is this insane/not possible? I have heard you can ask the embassy to extend the duration of the 129F approval...