Questions about having met within two years

[Thai family 0]

Another member from your fiance's home country, had the visa in hand...he went over to her country for the interview, then they had their "non-legal" traditional ceremony for her family, THEN flew back to the US, and then fulfilled their requirements of the K-1 by having a small legal ceremony here within the 90 days. That way you have the best of both worlds, without having to explain to anyone about legal vs non-legal ceremonies.

All the best!

similarly, KimandRuss wrote: ... I would advise against it or.... as mentioned previously... wait until that visa is in the passport (you have 6 months to use it) and then make no mention of your little gathering upon entry to the US.

In thinking about all this some more, I don't really understand this advice.

As I understand it, the logic being offered is to get the K1 entirely above board - no wedding/betrothal/engagement etc. ceremonies until after passing the interview stage and getting the visa in her passport. Then return to her country for the ceremony. And then board flight back to the states (one nice thing about that I suppose is we can fly back together, and enter POE together). However that still would mean needing to duck the ceremony issue at POE and run the risk of rejection there. That's still no different than if we did the ceremony even before beginning the I-129F filing.

It seems to me that it eliminates - at best - 2/3 of risk (USCIS rejection of I-129F, Consulate rejection at interview) but not final 1/3 of risk (POE rejection).

The only entirely risk free approaches seem to be: (1) K1 with NO ceremony. PERIOD. Nada. Nyet. Then, with K1 in hand, have her come to US, and marry civilly. Then at some future point (probably after Green card) return to Thailand for Buddhist ceremonial wedding. (2) Go for K3. Just bite the bullet, do the ceremony with Amphur registration, and remove any and all ambiguity about what our status is while we are filing and awaiting visa.

I think anything other than these two approaches has some degree of the 'risk' we are discussing. And if so it's all a question of risk management, contingency planning, etc. Once the risk is quantified and the contingencies planned, well now it's just time to execute the gameplan. As you can probably tell by now I'm a Project Manager by profession

My kids are taking the opposite risk. They registered at the Amphur, but have had no ceremony to date. They've spent a lot of time together, so I don't expect it to be a problem. They have pictures of our families together. The K-3 interview is the 24th, and they might still hold out for a CR-1.

What does the project manager think about that??

[scandal 951]

Why don't you email the embassy and have them answer the question? visasbkk@state.gov Some people have more success with visas2bkk@state.gov. "IV Inquiry" needs to be in the subject line along with your surname. They want a case number, but obviously you don't have one yet. Another helpful source is the visa information office here in the states:

Phone: 202-663-1225 Fax: 202-663-3899. You can actually talk to a person there after waiting on hold.

You are right. A marriage is not legal in Thailand until registered at the Amphur, and I believe the consulate sees it that way, but it's understandable that you don't want to take chances.

My kids K-3 interview will be right at 8 months after filing. YMMV

Thai Mom

I had actually contacted embassy via email even before you suggested it .. I responded to acssbkk@state.gov address. I didn't actually expect a direct response, but lo and behold, I have actually received one! See below. I think this is the most direct, incontrovertible evidence I've seen yet on this question.

KimAndRuss: Yes, it's possible that the agent interviewing my honey may have a different POV than the one who responded to the email. I realize they can still be arbitrary and exercise individual judgment. But I feel now that if she is armed with a printout of this email at the interview I can't see them giving her any grief. I think we're gonna go for it! Timeline as follows:

1. File I129F in August before ceremony

2. Ceremony in Bangkok Sept 13 -- all are welcome to attend <kidding> + no Amphur registration

3. All that good NOA2, Packet3, Packet4, medical, police, interview scheduling stuff happens (whew!) I'll be back on this board LOTS during that stage....

3. She attends Embassy Interview .... Feb? March? April? who knows? Take printout of embassy email with her. She's open and upfront about the ceremony if asked.

4. POE shortly after K1 issuance ... have no rings, no ceremony pics, no "hubby" references on arrival (thanks for the tips Kim!)

5. Into my sweet arms and they Lived Happily Ever After!!

I'll post our experiences here of course.

RE:General Question: K1 visa filing with NO REGISTRATION at Amphur?

Friday, July 18, 2008 11:16 AM

From:

"Bangkok Auto Replies (Not for Public Use)" <visasbkk2@state.gov>

To:xxxxxxxx@yahoo.com

Cc:"Suttirak, Sutaree" <Sutaree@state.gov>

Dear Ron,

Thank you for your inquiry regarding the Thai Buddhist marriage ceremony without registration in regards to the K-1 versus CR1/K-3 question. Since the Thai Buddhist marriage ceremony is not officially registered with a civil authority in Thailand it is not considered an officially recognized marriage by either Thai authorities or U.S. authorities. Thus, if you choose you can go ahead and have the Thai Buddhist marriage in Thailand it will have no negative effective on the K-1 visa status, so you will be free to marry the applicant civilly in the U.S. after she is issued the K-1 visa.

Best Regards,

Visas Unit

U.S. Embassy Bangkok

From: Ron [mailto:xxxxxxxx@yahoo.com]

Sent: Thursday, July 17, 2008 3:35 PM

To: Bangkok ACS

Subject: General Question: K1 visa filing with NO REGISTRATION at Amphur?

Hello,

I am a US citizen who is considering a K1 visa filing for my Thai fiancee - I have not begun any filing yet.

I am aware that a legal marriage in Thailand requires registration at local Amphur, and if we have such registration we MUST file K3 spousal visa rather than K1 finacee visae.

What I would like to CONFIRM is whether having a traditional Buddhist ceremony WITHOUT an Amphur registration could prejudice in any way a K1 fiancee visa filing? If we perform such a ceremony (we have not yet done so) but do not have it registered at Amphur, could this in any way lead to denial of eligibility for K1 visa - either at the initial I-129F filing, or at the consulate interview in Bangkok, or at POE?

Thanks for any assistance you can offer,

Ron

[scandal 951]

My kids are taking the opposite risk. They registered at the Amphur, but have had no ceremony to date. They've spent a lot of time together, so I don't expect it to be a problem. They have pictures of our families together. The K-3 interview is the 24th, and they might still hold out for a CR-1.

What does the project manager think about that??

Well, the project manager is by no means an expert on any of this stuff! I just joined this board 2 days ago, so what would I know?

However I don't really see why your kids are taking any risk? If they're Amphur registered, they're clearly married and so K-3/CR-1 is the obviously correct way for them to go. As I understand it there's absolutely no requirement for any kind of marriage ceremony to qualify for any class of immigration visa so the lack of ceremony is not relevant. You do of course need evidence of relationship, but as you say you have loads of that. So looks like they should be all set. Good luck!

[KimandRuss 0]

KimAndRuss: Yes, it's possible that the agent interviewing my honey may have a different POV than the one who responded to the email. I realize they can still be arbitrary and exercise individual judgment. But I feel now that if she is armed with a printout of this email at the interview I can't see them giving her any grief. I think we're gonna go for it! Timeline as follows:

Good luck.

[Thai family 0]

Ron,

I'm glad the embassy replied to your email. It's always nice to have hard evidence at the interview.

Thanks for reassuring me regarding my kid's interview. The required part of their file is fairly thin. The "what-if" and "proof of relationship" sections are much thicker. I think they are taking far less evidence than a number of people who have posted, though. If I were a consular officer I would prefer quality over quantity.

Best wishes on your journey! Sounds like you've started on the right foot.

Thai Mom