Married or honeymooned in U.S. territory on K1 visa?

[youtube 0]

Just wondering if anyone here has been married or honeymooned in U.S territory outside of the 48 states? Like Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, or somewhere like Hawaii? These are all considered part of the U.S.A. but require passports to travel and return from there. If you did, were there any issues coming back through customs when you returned?

Huh? I never used a passport to go to Hawaii or PR. Never went through customs either.

Everything I have read says that if you are a non-US citizen, you will have to go thru customs when you return back to the port of entry, even for Hawaii. Technically we wouldn't be outside of the U.S., and the one time entry on the K-1 would still be okay because we never left. I just don't want any ugly surprises.

HAWAII IS the 50th State of the United States of America.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

As long as you can prove legal status in the US, meaning post AOS, you can do whatever you want. Before that, Hawaii is okay but USVI is a no go. (Please check my response in related post.) It's a no go because people could have entered the USVI from somewhere else.

Let's say a UK citizen has traveled to the BVI, which is British territory, so it's perfectly legal, yet from there charters a small sailboat and sails over to St. Thomas. There he attempts to enter a flight to the US mainland, which, in theory, would be an inland flight from the US Territory to the US continent.

For that very reason, the USVI is treated like a foreign country by US Immigration and it's really an intimidating experience, so intimidating that my wife, a USC, was in shock when it happened to us.

In Puerto Rico, when entering the airplane through the boarding tunnel, nasty people in uniform will jump out of nowhere and ask you "what is your country of citizenship?" If you say US (assuming they meant "residence" instead of "citizenship" you are in deep sh*t. If you answer correctly, they pull you aside and treat you like a terrorist.

What I've stated is from personal experience when visiting Puerto Rico, the USVI, and Tortola, which is part of the BVI, in August of this year.

[Mrs. Gil 1]

As long as you can prove legal status in the US, meaning post AOS, you can do whatever you want. Before that, Hawaii is okay but USVI is a no go. (Please check my response in related post.) It's a no go because people could have entered the USVI from somewhere else.

Let's say a UK citizen has traveled to the BVI, which is British territory, so it's perfectly legal, yet from there charters a small sailboat and sails over to St. Thomas. There he attempts to enter a flight to the US mainland, which, in theory, would be an inland flight from the US Territory to the US continent.

For that very reason, the USVI is treated like a foreign country by US Immigration and it's really an intimidating experience, so intimidating that my wife, a USC, was in shock when it happened to us.

In Puerto Rico, when entering the airplane through the boarding tunnel, nasty people in uniform will jump out of nowhere and ask you "what is your country of citizenship?" If you say US (assuming they meant "residence" instead of "citizenship" you are in deep sh*t. If you answer correctly, they pull you aside and treat you like a terrorist.

What I've stated is from personal experience when visiting Puerto Rico, the USVI, and Tortola, which is part of the BVI, in August of this year.

Thank you! That totally legitimizes my question. I'm fully aware Hawaii is the 50th state of the United States of America, but as you said it is possible to enter US territory in more than bizarre ways. I'm just trying to cover all my basis.

[lao_wai 0]

Just wondering if anyone here has been married or honeymooned in U.S territory outside of the 48 states? Like Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, or somewhere like Hawaii? These are all considered part of the U.S.A. but require passports to travel and return from there. If you did, were there any issues coming back through customs when you returned?

DONT BELIEVE THE BS POSTED ON THE NET AND EVEN HERE ABOUT THE US VIRGIN ISLANDS - TRAVEL HERE BEFORE OR AFTER WEDDING FOR SOMEONE WHO ENTERED THE US ON A K1 VISA IS TOTALLY OK. PASSPORT IS REQUIRED.

I personally did this with my fiancee, who is from Shanghai. I am American, live in New York. Out of caution (like everyone) I did loads of research and find a lot of conflicting information.If you ultimately want to know contact someone in a supervisory position at the US Customs and Border Patrol, preferably at an airport (Miami, New York City, Chicago) that receives direct flights from the US Virgin Islands, either St. Thomas or St. Croix. I spend loads of time researching this and was finally relaxed enough to do it when a very high level supervisor at CBP told me that its no problem at all (but he did warn me not to travel to the British Virgin Islands).

Our honeymoon was on St. John , which I 100% recommend over St. Thomas because most of the island is a national park it is pristine, very undeveloped. To get here you first fly to St Thomas and then take a ferry.

When traveling take a direct flight to/from US. We did not stop in Puerto Rico, though that should be OK. NEVER LEAVE THE US VIRGIN ISLANDS ON SAILING TRIPS TO THE BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS. These islands are all very close together, and by motorboat you could make it from USVI to BVI in 10 minutes.

As long as you stay in the US Virgin Islands you are totally OK. Make sure on your way out no airline staff take your I-94 card (since you are not leaving the US).

I can understand why post 9/11 traveler from the USVI have their travel documents checked, which is probably the reason so many people give inaccurate info about travel here. When returning to the mainland, they simply confirm that you have a valid visa or status in the US. This is probably because it would be so easy to enter the USVI from other islands, impossible to prevent people from getting onto the USVI because it is all miles of beaches, bays, cays, and coastline. To prevent people from slipping into the mainland US by way of the USVI or Puerto Rico, they check your passport to see that you are legal to be in the US. Coming here DOES NOT constitute leaving the US.