Just engaged

[Jennarationnext 0]

Hello!

My fiance and I were engaged just over a week ago, and will be mailing our I-129F by May 5th. In all the excitement of our engagement, my stepmother, who is a wedding planner, insists that I should book a venue now for our 2010 wedding. I live in Central California, and would really prefer to have the wedding in April. January is too cold and foggy; February and March are out due to his father organizing security for the winter olympics in Vancouver; May on gets way too hot; and the Fall is too far away <3

So my question is: with a completely straight forward case, me filing at CSC and his interview being in Vancouver, should I be worried that he wouldn't have his Visa by April of 2010? I've seen timelines that are much shorter than 11 months with our circumstances, but in your opinions do you think I'd be chancing it by putting a deposit on a venue?

Thanks for your input

[tallcoolone 102]

Wait till he or she arrives and go to Las Vegas...........

[beans 7]

Congratulations!! I would advise on holding off booking anything because this can be a crazy process where things will either go a. perfectly or b. everything will go wrong. As people will begin to tell you to check out the guides, read embassy reviews, etc etc. Congratulations again, and welcome to VJ!

[Hell0W0rld 10]

do not plan anything until the VISA is in his hands, you might not know what can go wrong, even with a straight forward case...

[TruLuv 0]

Also keep in mind that you must be married within 90 days of his arrival. This means that if you get approved quickly and he moves to the US, you may need to do this sooner than planned as well. I would suggest waiting, getting married through a justice of the peace and then do the formal thing when you can plan better. Congratulations and Good Luck!

[Jennarationnext 0]

Also keep in mind that you must be married within 90 days of his arrival. This means that if you get approved quickly and he moves to the US, you may need to do this sooner than planned as well. I would suggest waiting, getting married through a justice of the peace and then do the formal thing when you can plan better. Congratulations and Good Luck!

If we were approved sooner we would do just that. It was only the opposite that I'm worried about. I suppose if anything goes wrong we could always have the formal wedding first and me married legally later : \ Though there always would be the possibility he'd be denied at POE.

Guess I just need to tell my stepmother to hold off (despite her nagging only one week in! D: )

[movingsoon1 0]

I filed in Vancouver last September. It took us 5.5 months to get the visa.

The thing is if you get the visa too early, let's say in November, then you have exactly 6 months to use it. So that would be till May.

Now, as many others have said, take nothing in this for granted. I think you will save yourself a lot of stress if you at least wait for your noa2 to come in and then estimate the time. If everything goes smoothly you should get the visa within 2 months of your noa2 date.

We did what your mother in law suggested and it did work out but you just never know.

[beans 7]

Would be a good idea. Our case was straight forward, the first time we sent it it got lost. Then after we were approved NVC sent the petition to Australia instead of Vancouver. I'm not saying that is a common occurence but even straight forward cases go awry.

[*Robert* 2]

Also keep in mind that you must be married within 90 days of his arrival. This means that if you get approved quickly and he moves to the US, you may need to do this sooner than planned as well. I would suggest waiting, getting married through a justice of the peace and then do the formal thing when you can plan better. Congratulations and Good Luck!

Excellent point.

Once he/she gets the visa, you have 90 days after they enter the US, so you can get everything prepared and picked out, but just hold off on a date.

[Ginger cat 3]

Wait till he or she arrives and go to Las Vegas...........

you are so romantic.

[tallcoolone 102]

Also keep in mind that you must be married within 90 days of his arrival. This means that if you get approved quickly and he moves to the US, you may need to do this sooner than planned as well. I would suggest waiting, getting married through a justice of the peace and then do the formal thing when you can plan better. Congratulations and Good Luck!

If we were approved sooner we would do just that. It was only the opposite that I'm worried about. I suppose if anything goes wrong we could always have the formal wedding first and me married legally later : \ Though there always would be the possibility he'd be denied at POE.

Guess I just need to tell my stepmother to hold off (despite her nagging only one week in! D: )

You better start to tellling her to hold off, Nagging family is just a pain

Do you realize how much money people spend on Weddings, It can be as much as a Purchase of a New Car

Go to Las Vegas, Invite the family to go also.

You can get a Wedding Licenses like everyday from 9am till Midnight, 7 days per week

And their is no waiting period

We took a Helicopter Fly Over Vegas Strip at Night and it was cool, and only ran about $500.......

[R and F 34]

Also keep in mind that you must be married within 90 days of his arrival. This means that if you get approved quickly and he moves to the US, you may need to do this sooner than planned as well. I would suggest waiting, getting married through a justice of the peace and then do the formal thing when you can plan better. Congratulations and Good Luck!

If we were approved sooner we would do just that. It was only the opposite that I'm worried about. I suppose if anything goes wrong we could always have the formal wedding first and me married legally later : \ Though there always would be the possibility he'd be denied at POE.

Guess I just need to tell my stepmother to hold off (despite her nagging only one week in! D: )

You better start to tellling her to hold off, Nagging family is just a pain

Do you realize how much money people spend on Weddings, It can be as much as a Purchase of a New Car

Go to Las Vegas, Invite the family to go also.

You can get a Wedding Licenses like everyday from 9am till Midnight, 7 days per week

And their is no waiting period

We took a Helicopter Fly Over Vegas Strip at Night and it was cool, and only ran about $500.......

hahahha your answers are so funky, you make me laugh all the time. People like you are what makes the world happy

[baron555 934]

I suppose if anything goes wrong we could always have the formal wedding first and me married legally later : \

You DO NOT want any kind of wedding prior to having the visa approval after the interview.

If you do get married before the visa approval then you would be violating the conditions of the K-1 which is you are not married until after the K-1 is approved

Best bet is to either plan the big marriage ceremony once you get visa approval. If this can not be done within 90 days of your arrival into the US, then you have two options:

1. Get legal marriage at county courthouse and then later do the lavish ceremony.

2. You have 6 months once visa approval is obtained to enter the US, then you have 90 days to get married. So that is 9 months. You get visa approval, then plan the big ceremony all the while you stay in your country and wait to enter the US so you can attend the big ceremony.

Personally I like option 1 and that is what we are going to do. The visa stuff forces us to not behave like usual people. Just part of the journey. Most folks would not be brave enough to do it.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

I see your problem. You want a big wedding, and sometimes the reservations for these things must be made far in advance.

As others have said, you have a 9 month total window once the visa is approved; 6 months to use the visa and enter the US, and 3 months to get married after entry and file for AOS.

My suggestion would be to assume the average time to get the visa, and make your tentative plans based on that. Book your venue and reserve your caterers, or whatever. Try to arrange for deposits that can be refunded if you cancel within 30 days or so of the wedding date. If you can't do that, then don't put down large deposits for anything, and assume you'll lose your deposit if the timing doesn't work out. Don't book any airline tickets until you've got the visa. Until you have the visa, everything is a "maybe".

If the timing works, you'll have a great wedding! If not, there's always Justice of the Peace followed by a big party!

Good luck!

[iLoveAPolishGirl 0]

You DO NOT want any kind of wedding prior to having the visa approval after the interview.

There is nothing wrong with having a non-legally binding celebration prior to the K-1. However, do not mention it or show pictures or whatever at the consulate interview. Some have reported the consulate misunderstanding and suspecting fraud. It is NOT fraud, however, if it is NOT legally binding.

dvc