what happens if we don't get the K-1 in time???

[mitch.snyder 0]

I'm not from Canada so I'm not gunna be much help except for sticking up for making wedding plans "early"

I too started planning my wedding AGES ago. We filed in late Feb 09 set a tentative date for Nov 09.. thinking this was plenty of time. By June we still hadn't heard anything and were REALLY freaking out... I'd also booked my flight because it was cheaper when I did.. and that flight was booked 12 Sept 09... I was told that it would take 6 months. Only after filing, and finding this website did I find out that it CAN be six months but it's typically longer.

Anyway my FH and I set June 30th as our "need NOA2" by date. If we didn't get it by then, we would move my flight back. The night of June 30 I received my NOA2 by email. Not long after that (you'll have to check my signature or timeline) I got P3. P3 took a while to get together but we set the deadline (again) of July 30th to have it sent by, and we were *fingers crossed* that I'd get an appointment in August sometime. Turned out that it took an extra week (so early August) to send P3 but 2 days or so after sending it I received P4. My interview was set for 25 August 2009 at 10am.

While waiting for the interview my FH paid for the reception hall in full he was that confident. My sister and her husband booked flights from Germany (were they will be around my wedding time) to come to my wedding, my bridesmaids have ordered their dresses, my sister has bought her dress,... things are in motion. i was scared, don't get me wrong, but I was also determined.

So it's the 27th August today, and here I sit, waiting for my Visa to be sent in the mail because I got APPROVED! I am catching my Sept 12 flight, I am sticking with my Nov 7 wedding date and it took almost 6 months to the day for me to get my Visa.

So I suppose what I'm trying to say is there's nothing wrong with planning. My sister and her hubby could have changed flights. My FH and i would be getting married at SOME stage so the dresses weren't wasted... and I have my wedding dress already and it's being altered so everything is transferable...

Stick with it. Double check everything. Have someone else read over the forms and the correspondence to make sure you didn't miss anything (I had my mum check some things and my FH check others) and also, as a matter of note, we had NO RFE's which I think helped, had we, might have been a difft story.

Good luck!!

Thank you to all of you!!! Both for your encouragement and for your caution. I do value both. I know it's a gamble and I could end up having to move the date but we'll see I guess! I already know that the venue we're looking at for the reception can easily be changed to another date as my fiancee is involved with the organization we're looking at using....

I guess we'll just cross our fingers and move on in faith!!

[CBR 0]

We also thought we'd sail right through, nothing weird about our case. It took 11 months from file date to his entry in the US from Canada. Our consulate was Montreal which does have a history of taking longer than Vancouver, but the majority of our wait was for the noa2 actually, filed through CSC.

I hope it works out for you and if not that you're able to get dates moved or money refunded. I do understand the frustration of your life plans being in the hands of government employees. It's not a good feeling.

[Sinergy 3]

Its most valuable infomation you can get on this is do not make a wedding date until you are approved. Even if you make the wedding date 300 days away, you can not predict what the uscis is going to do. You could wait 4 months or 2 yrs, you never know...and planning a wedding and missing that date is not only hurtful but a loss of money as well.

[RUSSandRACHEL 3]

I know everyone on here cringes when I answer one of these threads...because I'm one of those who decided to plan and put deposits down while the visa was still processing (before NOA2 even...). I did just like you, using the stats on here to figure out with some degree of confidence how long I thought it would take, and then added on some padding. End result: He had the visa more than 90 days before the wedding, and now we are sitting with the visa in hand but still apart (he wanted to work as long as possible).

I'd just like to reiterate that you should not make any completely inflexible plans without being willing to eat the cost if things don't work out (and believe me, you won't get any sympathy from VJ if you come back to complain! ). Check your contracts so you can change the date - know what the fine print says about notice (60 days? etc). If it's not in the standard contract, ask if it can be put in. I found many of my vendors were sympathetic when I explained the situation. If you can't afford to loose deposits on venues and caterers, and can't get a change the date for free clause, then start working on things like flowers, dress, rings, officiant, invite design, etc. These are time independent and might ease your planning bug!

Go into this with your eyes open - even people who thought they would have no problems get hung up too, so take it seriously when I say be prepared to loose what you cannot build flexibility into.

I understand wanting to be able to plan a complete wedding (legal and ceremonial together + family and friends from all over). It takes meticulous planning and the will/ability to take calculated risks, so not everyone can do it. Best of luck!

I'm not from Canada so I'm not gunna be much help except for sticking up for making wedding plans "early"

I too started planning my wedding AGES ago. We filed in late Feb 09 set a tentative date for Nov 09.. thinking this was plenty of time. By June we still hadn't heard anything and were REALLY freaking out... I'd also booked my flight because it was cheaper when I did.. and that flight was booked 12 Sept 09... I was told that it would take 6 months. Only after filing, and finding this website did I find out that it CAN be six months but it's typically longer.

Anyway my FH and I set June 30th as our "need NOA2" by date. If we didn't get it by then, we would move my flight back. The night of June 30 I received my NOA2 by email. Not long after that (you'll have to check my signature or timeline) I got P3. P3 took a while to get together but we set the deadline (again) of July 30th to have it sent by, and we were *fingers crossed* that I'd get an appointment in August sometime. Turned out that it took an extra week (so early August) to send P3 but 2 days or so after sending it I received P4. My interview was set for 25 August 2009 at 10am.

While waiting for the interview my FH paid for the reception hall in full he was that confident. My sister and her husband booked flights from Germany (were they will be around my wedding time) to come to my wedding, my bridesmaids have ordered their dresses, my sister has bought her dress,... things are in motion. i was scared, don't get me wrong, but I was also determined.

So it's the 27th August today, and here I sit, waiting for my Visa to be sent in the mail because I got APPROVED! I am catching my Sept 12 flight, I am sticking with my Nov 7 wedding date and it took almost 6 months to the day for me to get my Visa.

So I suppose what I'm trying to say is there's nothing wrong with planning. My sister and her hubby could have changed flights. My FH and i would be getting married at SOME stage so the dresses weren't wasted... and I have my wedding dress already and it's being altered so everything is transferable...

Stick with it. Double check everything. Have someone else read over the forms and the correspondence to make sure you didn't miss anything (I had my mum check some things and my FH check others) and also, as a matter of note, we had NO RFE's which I think helped, had we, might have been a difft story.

Good luck!!

First of all, can I just say thank you to the two positive posters. I know people are trying to be helpful and cautious by advising people to not make any wedding plans, but sometimes its just not realistic. If you truly want the dream wedding that you have had your heart set on for many years, taking a small risk on the date is completely worth it in my opinion.

Also, it seems a little more than a co-incidence that the people worrying or making wedding descisions within a short time span are the people waiting and waiting. We have made our wedding plans, but we've made smart choices, and flexible plans. For almost everything we've booked, the date can be changed in an emergency and on top of that, we have allowed a good 11 months before the wedding (which is way above the average time).

We're thinking positive and it will all be alright. It has to. I have the love of my life now and losing a few dollars (if that) is a tiny price to pay for having our dream day and reducing our stress levels by organising things in advance as much as we can. Saying that though, we are more than well aware that the whole process is unpredictable and things can come up, but we've decided to stay positive, we've done plenty of research and we've made intelligent choices. Different people have different priorities and this is ours.

Not everyone wants the same quickly-arranged small wedding. Also, it means alot to me to have our close family and friends with us on our day and unfortunately that takes some pre-planning. I respect everyone for their opinions but I just wanted to give my support out there to everyone who's chosen to do things the same way as us.

Good luck everyone!!

[CandyLovesAhmed 0]

Hey, I was wondering what will happen if I don't get my K-1 in time for the wedding date we have planned?? Is there any way for me to move to the US and get married without the K-1??? Can I just change the process from K-1 to K-3 (I believe it's a K-3) I am trying to do the whole application thing without a lawyer but early in the process I did call one immigration lawyer who said that what I'm describing here is indeed possible but she didn't say how... she wanted me to retain her services at a fee of $3500 CDN and I figured that was a waste of money....

you have all been EXTREMELY helpful in the past and I'm very thankful for this website!! It has made this whole process a heck of a lot easier! Please let me know!!!

thanks for your time!!

change your plans dont make any dates and just be patient and wait... mine took a year :$

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Hey, I was wondering what will happen if I don't get my K-1 in time for the wedding date we have planned?? Is there any way for me to move to the US and get married without the K-1??? Can I just change the process from K-1 to K-3 (I believe it's a K-3) I am trying to do the whole application thing without a lawyer but early in the process I did call one immigration lawyer who said that what I'm describing here is indeed possible but she didn't say how... she wanted me to retain her services at a fee of $3500 CDN and I figured that was a waste of money....

you have all been EXTREMELY helpful in the past and I'm very thankful for this website!! It has made this whole process a heck of a lot easier! Please let me know!!!

thanks for your time!!

Planning a wedding without a visa in hand is a fool's errand.

You can "move" to the US today and get married. I live 6 miles from Quebec and lots of Canadians come here every day, it is fairly common really. I have done it myself a few hundred times and it is not so difficult to cross the border. I do not it for lunch often enough. So, come on down, get married and THEN file for a CR-1 visa. You can visit while you wait. No, you cannot change. You can withdraw the K-1 and file for a CR-1 (better than K-3)

Lawyers are a waste of money

[Jonara 0]

Hey, I was wondering what will happen if I don't get my K-1 in time for the wedding date we have planned?? Is there any way for me to move to the US and get married without the K-1??? Can I just change the process from K-1 to K-3 (I believe it's a K-3) I am trying to do the whole application thing without a lawyer but early in the process I did call one immigration lawyer who said that what I'm describing here is indeed possible but she didn't say how... she wanted me to retain her services at a fee of $3500 CDN and I figured that was a waste of money....

you have all been EXTREMELY helpful in the past and I'm very thankful for this website!! It has made this whole process a heck of a lot easier! Please let me know!!!

thanks for your time!!

It's kinda cutting too close. It got my NO2 after 5.5 months, then I have to add 2-3 months for the rest. It's all a gamble..you'll be lucky if you can get here before May but then every case is different. Don't risk it until at least you got your NO2, at least half of the battle is gone.

If you don't have any prior convictions or trouble with the law, you don't need any representation. You can do the paperwork yourself and they are not very hard plus you have VJers here who can always help 24/7. Save your money...you'll need it when you get here

[movingsoon2 0]

That's pretty much the timing of our wedding last year! We applied in September, got the visa in Feb/March and got married on May 30, 2009. I did my interview in Vancouver, BC. It worked out but I stressed too much about the timing.

If I had to do it again, I would get the visa and then plan the wedding. It really can get stressful.

[notmrshamiltonnow 0]

Make sure that you cross all ur T's and dot ur I's because u don't want any thing to go wrong. Best wishes for u guys, I hope all goes well.. Bless & Respect

[thongd4me 69]

I think the bottom line is, go ahead and set the festivities for that date,

but be prepared to have a reception without a wedding.

{Eat and get your gifts first and marry later.}