Question about wedding

[laura819 0]

We are planning our wedding for August 15, 2009. We've got a lot of things reserved, etc. However, I don't think we are going to recieve our visa in time. So my first thought was obviously to move the wedding. However, my pastor said that he thinks we can still do the wedding without the visa, but just not sign the paperwork. What i mean is, have the ceremony, etc, but not do a marriage license. And then after getting the visa approved, we could fill out the marriage license. Is this even a possibility? Or is it still illegal?? Please help!!!

I can relate with you there!! Tim and I are so hoping to get married in June!! *Uncontrollable laughter over that one* As you can see...USCIS just received our information earlier this month. Not that it's impossible to have everything ( including visa ) for that time, but unlikely. Talking to him last night, I mentioned that it's a good thing to be mentally prepared for a later date, and now we are hoping for August too. ( EEEKK In a South Carolina summer!!! I'm going to melt!!) I've only brides maids picked out, and we both belong to the same faith, so the church won't be a problem. If it's your friends that are helping out with other details, then hopefully they'll be able to accommodate you at the time. What I've asked Tim to do, is look for plans A, B, and maybe even C for halls and photographers, because you never know which may or may not be available for your wedding date. We won't even set the date until I have my interview. ( Then he'll probably get on the phone and say "mail off those invitations!!!) LOL

I do hope that things will work out for you considerably. This waiting game sucks!!! * and all peoples nod their head in agreement* This is the price to pay about marrying a foreigner! The hurry up and wait game. I like the comment of "penciling" in the tentative date. All though way too many people have said they want to be at Tim's and my wedding....( well over 300!!), it's a strong possibility that when our date is finally set, a lot of guests won't be able to make it because of prior commitments. Take care Laura and keep posting your progress. You never know....could very well be an August wedding for both of us....and legal!!!

Thank you so much I think if we get too close ((maybe april/may)) and aren't well through this process we will just move it to a later date...but I really don't want to But trying to do it in August isn't worth the chance he wouldnt even be allowed in the country, not to mention the implications it could have later. It looks like CSC is moving fairly quickly, so hopefully we will make it.

By the way, I was looking at Igor's list, and some of the people who just got approved, their timeline said it only took 60-70 days?! How is that possible??

[Jeraly 4]

Debz is right - I was a wreck about it all because as others have said, there is no guarantee that the non-USC is able to enter the country for the non-legal ceremony. Also mentioning the non-legal ceremony in any kind of immigration contact (Embassy/Paperwork/AOS interview...) is a big no-no - as far as the authorities are concerned, you only have one wedding and that will be the legal one.

We booked everything in advance based on timelines we had seen and then got caught in the huge summer 2007 backlog. Sure, maybe we were naive, but it happens like you say

We had a wedding planner who was awesome - they even wrote us a letter to say that we were going to postpone the wedding (as we had sent the contract saying we were to marry in Feb 2008 to the USCIS) in case there were any problems. On entering the USA, I made sure I had as many ties to the UK as I could - I had a rental agreement and a letter from my employer stating when I was due to return to work. If you have any other ties then bring those as well - for the record I didn't have to show them but definitely bring them.

I went through pre-clearance at Dublin airport. Warning - if you do this, then check baggage restrictions. I flew with Ryanair and got stung both ways for having too much baggage... It really isn't much different to US Immigration (although the IO was friendly ) but it meant that I could travel across the Atlantic without the huge weight on my shoulders. I told the guy that I was going to visit my boyfriend for Valentine's Day and our birthdays - also true. And when he asked if I had any intention of getting married I said "no" - as far as he was concerned I wasn't.

If you have any other questions then PM me

Don't get me wrong - I don't recommend doing this at all - if there is any way you can change the date then do so - it will be much less stressful. We had no other choice short of spending thousands of dollars we didn't have and I would never suggest it as a viable option unless there was literally no other choice

Good luck!

[rebeccajo 14]

I wouldn't recommend Jeraly's path either. First of all as she says, the whole path hung on her being able to enter the US for that errantly planned wedding. I watched her story unfold here and frankly I thought it was too huge a risk to take. I cannot imagine how stressed she was - it was stressful just to watch.

The best advice when you are marrying internationally is to make no firm wedding plans. But this doesn't work for everyone. Some women (especially first time brides) have always dreamed of the big wedding. In some instances there is family pressure for the big wedding.

If I were the OP, I would back my wedding date up to the fall. It sounds as if there is little money at stake at this point (the reception hall). I would get the date changed now so I could relax at least a bit.

We married in October. It was a lovely day. So did my parents 55 years ago. I loved my little fall wedding and I loved the fact that it was truly my wedding day rather than a party later blessed by state.

[texpat_cymru 0]

I think y'all are unfairly jumping down her throat. In my view, the only mistake she has made is waiting so long to submit the application, but what's done is done.

I booked my venue for my July 26, 2009 wedding in July 2008. I submitted our I129F application in August, because I wanted to make sure we had more than enough time to get approved (even if there was a chance of an RFE). Since I have been living in the UK for the majority of the last 4 years, we were also planning on doing a NON-legal ceremony here right before moving to the US, for all the friends and family who we weren't expecting to make the trip to America, but after most of them said that they will be coming to America, we decided to save the money and put it all towards the real ceremony.

Yes, the poster runs the risk of not being allowed entry into the US for the visit, but they wouldn't technically be getting married, so the visa (when/if approved) would not be invalid.

Yes, you could run into trouble with the embassy if they catch wind of it.

Is it possible, though? yes.

I hope everything works out for you.

[laura819 0]

I think y'all are unfairly jumping down her throat. In my view, the only mistake she has made is waiting so long to submit the application, but what's done is done.

I booked my venue for my July 26, 2009 wedding in July 2008. I submitted our I129F application in August, because I wanted to make sure we had more than enough time to get approved (even if there was a chance of an RFE). Since I have been living in the UK for the majority of the last 4 years, we were also planning on doing a NON-legal ceremony here right before moving to the US, for all the friends and family who we weren't expecting to make the trip to America, but after most of them said that they will be coming to America, we decided to save the money and put it all towards the real ceremony.

Yes, the poster runs the risk of not being allowed entry into the US for the visit, but they wouldn't technically be getting married, so the visa (when/if approved) would not be invalid.

Yes, you could run into trouble with the embassy if they catch wind of it.

Is it possible, though? yes.

I hope everything works out for you.

Thanks I think I may just try to push it back. And yes, I realize that I waited way too long to file this, but it was out of my hands, as clearly I am not the only person involved in this visa ((it takes two to get married)) and he had his reasons for wanting to wait. So don't think I am irresponsible or stupid or something. If it was up to me this would have been filed almost a year ago.