Marriage before K1 Interview

[drelewis 0]

My fiancee did the same thing she planned the wedding for the 28th of October we started our via journey in jan so i said to her 10 months should be fine and i went to my interveiw on friday and got approved so we have been lucky i guess. Also we did not have the problem with IMBRA which is now another hurdle to get over.

My advice would be to email the embassy and ask them when your packet 4 will be here that could mean that your interview is aug sometime. i cross my fingers for you both because this was a major worry for me when we were going to do all this wedding stuff its stressful!!!

[no name 1]

No one is whining. They are strongly recommending you don't jeopardize your future by having a ceremony before you are legally able to.

Your initial post suggested committing visa fraud which NO ONE here takes lightly.

[David and Marina 0]

You can have the religious ceremony, that IS legal. Just make sure that when talking with family and really close friends you recognize it as such. A religious ceremony is OK, just don't sign the paperwork. If it is brought up in the interview, be honest, let them know you had a RELIGIOUS ceremony and were planning on legally getting married at a later date. I really don't think you will be denied the fiancee visa. While I am sure there is a certain level of risk, you can mitigate that risk by having it as a religious ceremony without having to change everything. Moreover, if asked you can also say that (truthfully) you thought that 6 months as fair, as it gave several more months than the average for the visa. I feel sad when the USCIS has held everyone back because they are inadequate.

[Yodrak 7]

Mew,

Start over yes, and he could apply for a K3 visa if he wanted to, but he would not have to. The K3 visa is merely an available option, and a fairly recent one at that.

Yodrak

.... If you get married before the interview, you'd have to file for a K3 and start all over again. ....

novotul,

Not a valid comparison. The reason your gay and lesbian weddings do not result in 'legal' marriages is because the state law does not permit same-sex marriages. The issue here is whether a wedding ceremony creates a marriage absent registration.

In some places it does, in others it does not.

Yodrak

I don't think a priest can marry you in a non-binding way.

It happens all the time. We marry gay and lesbians couples in our denomination -- and have done so for maybe 20 years. While we recognize these as valid marriages, for sure the States where these marriages are conducted do not regard them as legally binding.

....

Edited July 30, 2006 by Yodrak

[pj1959us 0]

Russell, I don't know if you've done this yet, but be sure to email the Embassy at the address someone provided earlier AND explain your circumstances and date you need the interview by. They are very accommodating and will do everything possible to help.

I know timelines vary, but David began emailing them on July 14, 2004 and eventually the Embassy confirmed on August 3rd that Packet 3 had been processed and interview scheduled/Packet 4 mailed on August 2nd....they provided an interview date in the week he requested in his emails, August 23, 2004 (unsure if it could have been scheduled earlier, that was during the week he requested).

I don't know when your Packet 3 was sent in, but hopefully that might provide an idea of what to expect.

Best of luck to you.

[russell 0]

Hi

Thanks david and marina, that confirms what i was beginning to think was the best option, to go ahead and have the ceremony but not legally marry until a later date.

The marriage license can be signed infront of a judge, so legally i wont be married on september the 9th.

And the best part is that i dont have to be coy with USCIS about any of the detail either as its perfectly legally acceptable.

As for emailing the embassy, i have done that and now am just awaiting a reply so fingers crossed.

My worse case scenario is doing what was suggested by david and marina, and flying back here for the interview and (hopefully) subsequent approval !!

Disaster averted thanks to helpfull peeps at VJ.. were so very grateful for your input

Russell + Chloe..

P.S check out our myspace.. http://www.myspace.com/chloeandrussell

[Kez/JWolf 6]

Some friends of ours did what you are thinking of doing... they had the church wedding but did not sign anything with a plan to get married here in the states in front of the local Judge... at their K1 interview they were honest and explained what they had done.... the interviewr asked if it was a normal wedding service as done in the Church of England... it was...at that point the interviewr informed them that even if they did not sign anything the were married and that it was recognised as such under UK Law.... the are now waiting for K3....

Be very careful is all I can say....

Kezzie

Edited July 31, 2006 by Kezzie

[russell 0]

carefull is the watch word.. neither of us are religeous people, our wedding is planned at a country club.. with a justice of the peace, no religeous denominations are involved, so it will strictly be a party, a pre-marital celebration

Thanks all

Russ

[TucsonBill 0]

Another possibility would be to go ahead with the cerimony, and do the actual legal marriage after the visa. My fiance and I are having the 'cerimony' in her country, and then flying to the USA to make it 'legal'.

Just an idea you might want to consider.

Bill

[eric_and_teresa 10]

You can have the religious ceremony, that IS legal. Just make sure that when talking with family and really close friends you recognize it as such. A religious ceremony is OK, just don't sign the paperwork. If it is brought up in the interview, be honest, let them know you had a RELIGIOUS ceremony and were planning on legally getting married at a later date. I really don't think you will be denied the fiancee visa. While I am sure there is a certain level of risk, you can mitigate that risk by having it as a religious ceremony without having to change everything. Moreover, if asked you can also say that (truthfully) you thought that 6 months as fair, as it gave several more months than the average for the visa. I feel sad when the USCIS has held everyone back because they are inadequate.

Great advice! This is the best option, keep the wedding date and if by that time you still don't have your visa, have a religious ceremony so you wont lost your reservations. Religious weddings do not necessarily are legally binding, but talk to your priest first.

Some friends of ours did what you are thinking of doing... they had the church wedding but did not sign anything with a plan to get married here in the states in front of the local Judge... at their K1 interview they were honest and explained what they had done.... the interviewr asked if it was a normal wedding service as done in the Church of England... it was...at that point the interviewr informed them that even if they did not sign anything the were married and that it was recognised as such under UK Law.... the are now waiting for K3....

Be very careful is all I can say....

Kezzie

For a wedding to be legally valid is has to be recognized by the civil registry or civil authority of the country where the marriage was celebrated... so what happened to your friends is really strange. I'm not a lawyer in the UK but I'm a lawyer in my country, and a religious wedding is not legally binding unless it's registered.

I know you have to be honest, but I found it unnecessary to explain them about the religious ceremony you had... what for? if your marital status remains SINGLE there's no need to go into those details, and I doubt it that they asked her/him on the interview if they had a religious wedding??? That's kinda strange!

I don't think Rusell has to worry about this anyway, as I understand he's planning on getting married in the US right?

carefull is the watch word.. neither of us are religeous people, our wedding is planned at a country club.. with a justice of the peace, no religeous denominations are involved, so it will strictly be a party, a pre-marital celebration

Thanks all

Russ

That's even better! You'll be just fine! And hopefully you'll already have your visa so you can go home with your girl

[Kez/JWolf 6]

So what you are saying is that in the UK I could get a priest to do us a wedding service... "I now pronunce you husband and wife" then fly away on honneymoon for 2 weeks then on my return return I go to local registery office with the paperwork from the priest to register the marriage... and you are saying from the date of the wedding service until I file those papers I am not married.... wow amazing that the government would say I was married... they will even issue you with a passport in advance in your married name from the date of the service...

I wonder how many people did not know they were not married on hooneymoon ??

If you stand before someone who is legally allowed to conduct a wedding and you say all the vows and they say those majic words "you are now husband and Wife" then yes you are married... you just have not registard it with the registary office....

Kezzie

[Yodrak 7]

Bill,

Recognize that in Thailand the ceremony is legally meaningless - absolutely not necessary as far as the requirements for a marriage go.

Not necessarily the same in other countries, some place are the complete opposite of Thailand - a ceremony is all it takes.

Yodrak

Another possibility would be to go ahead with the cerimony, and do the actual legal marriage after the visa. My fiance and I are having the 'cerimony' in her country, and then flying to the USA to make it 'legal'.

Just an idea you might want to consider.

Bill

[Mew 0]

Bill,

Recognize that in Thailand the ceremony is legally meaningless - absolutely not necessary as far as the requirements for a marriage go.

Not necessarily the same in other countries, some place are the complete opposite of Thailand - a ceremony is all it takes.

Yodrak

Another possibility would be to go ahead with the cerimony, and do the actual legal marriage after the visa. My fiance and I are having the 'cerimony' in her country, and then flying to the USA to make it 'legal'.

Just an idea you might want to consider.

Bill

In this line of thought, religious ceremonies in Brazil *can* be legally binding if one requests them to be registered with the appropriate government authority, but I've never heard of anyone who's attempted to do so. So... one can get married at the, say, catholic church, and say "Yes, I do" and only be married "in the eyes of God".

[eric_and_teresa 10]

So what you are saying is that in the UK I could get a priest to do us a wedding service... "I now pronunce you husband and wife" then fly away on honneymoon for 2 weeks then on my return return I go to local registery office with the paperwork from the priest to register the marriage... and you are saying from the date of the wedding service until I file those papers I am not married.... wow amazing that the government would say I was married... they will even issue you with a passport in advance in your married name from the date of the service...

I wonder how many people did not know they were not married on hooneymoon ??

If you stand before someone who is legally allowed to conduct a wedding and you say all the vows and they say those majic words "you are now husband and Wife" then yes you are married... you just have not registard it with the registary office....

Kezzie

I said, I'm NOT a lawyer in the UK, I said I'm a lawyer in MY COUNTRY. And yes, for countries that have legal systems based on the latin tradition that's how it works.. the act (in this case the marriage) wont have effects towards third parties until it has been registered. Now, in countries with legal systems based on the common law such as the UK and the U.S. it is different.

As I was very interested on how is it in the UK I did some research, and if their intention was to get legally married there, they'd need to give notices to the register office, once given, your notices of marriage are displayed on the notice board at the register office, then wait 15 days for the marriage to be celebrated and if they are subject to any immigration control they'd have to another procedure to have an authorization to get married in the UK... so I supose if they're only going to have a ceremony that wont be legally binding they would avoid all this previous procedures.. and therefore the marriage wont be legally valid, if the notices, the authorizations and the waiting periods are not taken in consideration.

Now that's all I was saying, I'm not an expert on legal systems of other countries. But I know mine well.. so as hard as it is for you to believe that some people may go to their honeymoons without being married.. that's how it happens in the countries where the registration at the civil office or civil registry is a requirement for the validity of the marriage.

[Kez/JWolf 6]

So if they are going to have a Justice of the peace do a service for them here in the US, will the Justice of the Pease require a marriage licence to do this??? if he does then it is a legal marriage is it not???

Kezzie