Pregnancy & X-Rays while Pregnant for K-1 Visa

[stfrancisofassisi 0]

My Fiancee & I are Catholic. Since my Fiancee is from Mexico, we decided to celebrate the sacrament of Holy Matrimony in Mexico but prior to our K-1 Visa approval. We did not have a Civil (Legal) ceremony in Mexico and plan to exchange Wedding vows & have the Legal (Civil) ceremony in the United States in August, 2009 after the K-1 Visa is approved. We filed the application for the K-1 Visa in January, 2009 and had a Church service in Mexico in April, 2009. All went well and God blessed our Holy Matrimony with a child while on our honeymoon in April, 2009.

The Visa Application was approved in May, 2009 and we received an invitation to come into the Consulate in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico for my Fiancee's K-1 Medical Exam & Interview in June, 2009. In February, 2009, I asked an immigration attorney, if my Fiancee gets pregnant during our honeymoon, will they ask about this during the Medical exam & interview. The attorney laughed at me and said: "absolutely not." The reason I asked is because I didn't want to jeopordize the health of my child with an X-Ray or jeapordize my Fiancee's approval of the Visa. My Fiancee gets to the Medical Exam & there are signs all over the place, "If you are pregant, let us know prior to the examination."

After reading on the Consulate's website that skin tests are done for pregnant women and that pregnant women have exemptions from X-Rays, my Fiancee (even though she is my spouse as approved & blessed by the Catholic Church at this time) goes in for her medical exam and they tell her she MUST have an X-Ray to complete the medical examination and there are no skin tests performed. The doctor's office said she may receive an exemption from the Consulate but it's not a guarantee. So she returns in the afternoon to get her incomplete Medical Examination results & when they called her name, they didn't give her the results. They didn't tell her why, but we knew it was because she didn't have an X-Ray. She went to the Consulate later in the afternoon & the Consulate told her she could go to the Interview without the results and maybe could get the Visa. We're thinking it could be due to a waiver. She goes to the Consulate and answers all of the questions and gives them the documentation. After harrassing her about being pregnant, Catholic & not married (even though our Holy Matrimony is blessed & approved by the Catholic church...see my discussion about this below), they say they cannot approve the Visa because she has not had the Medical Examination. I am really p!$$ed off at this moment. She calls her doctors and they tell her she can have the X-Ray without any harm to our baby. She wears the protective shield and gets the X-Ray the next day (no extra charge for the Medical Examination since it was done within 6 months of the first one) & goes to the Consulate later that same morning & receives the K-1 Visa.

If I had known this would happen, I would have considered having the medical exam conducted before the honeymoon (they are good for 6 months). The immigration attorney should have recommended this but didn't because she was clueless. Well anyway, the attorney didn't have a clue about what would be done during the medical exam and provided me with information (that I relied on) that was false. Lesson Learned:Don't trust the advice of immigration attorney. I knew more than she did. In fact, I think my unborn child had a higher IQ than she did.

P.S. I gave a letter to my Fiancee to have for the Consulate that was notarized saying I was aware of the pregnancy, that I was the father of the baby (which I knew because it happened on our honeymoon and my Fiancee is Holy) and that I still intend to marry my Fiancee (my Church-blessed spouse). I read where sometimes Consulates want to see such a letter in case the Sponsor changes their mind after finding our about the pregnancy.

On the issue of getting married in a Church prior to being married civially, you have to be VERY careful what you tell to the Consulate during the interview. Even though you had a sacramental service in a church...DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT tell the Consulate this. If they ask you if you are married: tell them "No" because thier own paperwork asks if you are free to "legally" marry. You are answering honestly if you tell them "No" because your Church service in Mexico is not legal unless you have a Civil (Legal) ceremony. If you tell them "Yes" that you were married in a Church, this will cause you to engage in a debate with them that you will lose. They "hold all of the cards". Even though Holy Matrimony in a Catholic Church is not recognized by the federal government, they will tell you you need to get a different Visa (K-3 Visa) because you said you were "Married".

I hope this will help those who might be in the same predicament as I was during this process. Good luck! Feel free to email me if you have any questions.

[YuAndDan 153]

Moving to consulate embassy forum.

[jsnearline 2]

What you describe is pretty risky. I've heard of situations where fiancees have been turned back at the border because CBP finds evidence of a church ceremony in their luggage.

My wife is Filipino. We're both Catholic and wanted a church wedding in the Philippines, but we decided it was too risky to have a ceremony in Manila before she came here. I was able to arrange things with my parish in Washington DC to have a simple church wedding about 50 days after she arrived here in the US on the K1. Normally they are pretty strict about requiring six months to a year of marriage prep, but if you inform them that you are under a government imposed time limit, they can make exceptions. As it turned out, we got married in the oldest Caholic chapel in Washington.

[bhajishah 4]

you can put a lead apron over her tummy and still get chest xray.

[TBoneTX 44,787]

you can put a lead apron over her tummy and still get chest xray.

That must be what the OP said when he wrote "She wears the protective shield and gets the X-Ray".

[TBoneTX 44,787]

Even though you had a sacramental service in a church...DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT tell the Consulate this.

And what if the consulate ASKS if you had a sacramental service in a church? Lie to them?

I hope this will help those who might be in the same predicament as I was during this process.

I read the original post several times and could not shake a palpable feeling of disquiet. If every VJ member "in the same predicament" followed this advice, it is doubtful to me that more good than ill would result. Finally, and after rethinking and pondering, I conclude that the entire original post -- although perhaps well-intended -- generally smacks of presumption bordering on arrogance.

Also, who on VJ (one guess, everyone!) will parachute in to claim that "all immigration attorneys are worthless" solely on the basis of the little that the OP has posted? For example, it is possible that rules or policies changed between February and June 2009, resulting in the attorney's answer's being correct as of February but not in June. (The example may not be true at all, but it is presented to cause people to stop and THINK, rather than knee-jerking.)

I believe that jsnearline's stated approach is far more sensible and responsible to pursue and to recommend.

Edited June 25, 2009 by TBoneTX

[stfrancisofassisi 0]

My Fiancee & I are Catholic. Since my Fiancee is from Mexico, we decided to celebrate the sacrament of Holy Matrimony in Mexico but prior to our K-1 Visa approval. We did not have a Civil (Legal) ceremony in Mexico and plan to exchange Wedding vows & have the Legal (Civil) ceremony in the United States in August, 2009 after the K-1 Visa is approved. We filed the application for the K-1 Visa in January, 2009 and had a Church service in Mexico in April, 2009. All went well and God blessed our Holy Matrimony with a child while on our honeymoon in April, 2009.

The Visa Application was approved in April, 2009 and we received an invitation to come into the Consulate in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico for my Fiancee's K-1 Medical Exam & Interview in May, 2009. In February, 2009, I asked an immigration attorney, if my Fiancee gets pregnant during our honeymoon, will they ask about this during the Medical exam & interview. The attorney laughed at me and said: "absolutely not." The reason I asked is because I didn't want to jeopordize the health of my child with an X-Ray or jeapordize my Fiancee's approval of the Visa. My Fiancee gets to the Medical Exam & there are signs all over the place, "If you are pregant, let us know prior to the examination."

After reading on the Consulate's website that skin tests are done for pregnant women and that pregnant women have exemptions from X-Rays, my Fiancee (even though she is my spouse as approved & blessed by the Catholic Church at this time) goes in for her medical exam and they tell her she MUST have an X-Ray to complete the medical examination and there are no skin tests performed. The doctor's office said she may receive an exemption from the Consulate but it's not a guarantee. So she returns in the afternoon to get her incomplete Medical Examination results & when they called her name, they didn't give her the results. She went to the Consulate & the Consulate told her she could go to the Interview without the results and maybe could get the Visa. We're thinking it could be due to a waiver. She goes to the Consulate and answers all of the questions and gives them the documentation. After harrassing her about being pregnant, Catholic & not married (even though our Holy Matrimony is blessed & approved by the Catholic Church...see my discussion about this below), they say they cannot approve the Visa because she has not had the Medical Examination. I am really p!$$ed off at this moment. She calls her doctors and they tell her she can have the X-Ray without any harm to our baby. She wears the protective shield and gets the X-Ray (no extra charge for the Medical Examination since it was done within 6 months of the first one) & goes to the Consulate later that same morning & receives the K-1 Visa.

If I had known this would happen, I would have considered having the medical exam conducted before the honeymoon (they are good for 6 months). The immigration attorney should have recommended this but didn't because she was clueless. Well anyway, the attorney didn't have a clue about what would be done during the medical exam and provided me with information (that I relied on) that was false. Lesson Learned:Don't blindly trust all of the advice of immigration attorneys. I knew more than she did. In fact, I think my unborn child had a higher IQ than she did.

P.S. I gave a letter to my Fiancee to have for the Consulate that was notarized saying I was aware of the pregnancy, that I was the father of the baby (which I knew because it happened on our honeymoon and my Fiancee is Holy) and that I still intend to marry my Fiancee (my Church-blessed spouse). I read where sometimes Consulates want to see such a letter in case the Sponsor changes their mind after finding our about the pregnancy.

On the issue of getting married in a Church prior to being married civially, you have to research the civil laws in your particular country. In Mexico, a Church service is NOT legal unless you have a civil ceremony. In other countries (such as Europe), a Church service may be considered civally legal. If your Church wedding is "legal", you must answer the question honestly in such countries. The lesson here is you must be VERY careful what you tell to the Consulate during the interview. Even though you had a sacramental service in a church...DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT tell the Consulate this, unless, of course, the Consulate asks if you received "the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony" a Church. You must always tell them the truth. Even so, only God knows for sure if your marriage has received without impediment so I wouldn't know how to answer this question for the Consulate if they asked me. If they ask you if you are married (and you are not "legally" married: I would still tell them "No" because their own paperwork asks if you are free to "legally" marry. Their own paperwork defines marriage as a "legal" marriage so when they ask questions about being "married", it's reasonable to respond about marriage in the Consulate's terms (i.e. "legal marriage".). You are answering honestly if you tell them "No" because your Church service in Mexico is not legal unless you have a Civil (Legal) ceremony. The immigration attorney I hired told me I was answering the question honestly by saying "No" to being married if undergoing a Church service...as long as it is not considered "legal." If you offer to tell them them that "Yes" you were married in a Church, this will cause you to engage in a debate with them that you will lose. They "hold all of the cards". Even though Holy Matrimony in a Catholic Church is not recognized by the federal government, they will tell you you need to get a different Visa (K-3 Visa) because you said you were "Married". Ultimately, the safest thing to do to avoid ANY possibility of a problem, is to have the Sacramental AND Civil Marriage in the United States to avoid having a moral conflict at the COnsulate or the Border if they ask you questions about this. I am not the Pillar of Truth on these matters and cannot be responsible if your K-1 Visa is rejected or you are turned away at the border for bringing in paperwork or pictures of your sacramental wedding. I am not recommending people do this, just giving them my experience.

I hope this will help those who might be in the same predicament as I was during this process. Good luck! Feel free to email me if you have any questions.

[tbaygrrl 2]

I'm just going to comment about the x-ray. I too am pregnant. I had my family doctor write a note stating that I was pregnant, when I was due and their contact information incase the medical staff or embassy had questions. I had no problem when I went for my medical. I gave them the note and x-ray was bypassed.

The USCIS does also show on their site that pregnant women are excempt from the x-ray with a letter from their doctor. Because, even with a lead apron on the belly, the radiation is still not fully prevented from travelling in the tissue and possibly to the fetus, as little as it may be.

Also, at the interview, she should have had prove of the pregnancy such as an ultrasound picture or documentation from her doctor. Sorry you 2 had to go through this, as I know the process is stressful as is. I hope she has an easy labour and congrats on the up and coming bundle of joy