May 2010 Interviews

[Sean John 0]

Hobo--You're overthinking it. Just explain what you did and why and you should be set.

We had a civil ceremony as we got married under The Special Marriage Act, 1954--signing the marriage certificate in front of the marriage registrar and about 30 witnesses. Then we exchanged flower garlands and gold wedding bands. My father did the blessings. All this took place at our home. Then we had a dinner reception for about 150 people at the wedding venue. Neither me nor my husband are big fans of rituals or traditions and frankly, I couldn't be bothered to deal with a full-blown, eight hour Bengali wedding hoopla in the blistering August heat. I have pictures, video, affidavits, receipts, wedding invitation, congratulations cards etc. for proof of bonafide marriage.

When I return to the States we plan to have another similar ceremony for my husband's family and our college friends who couldn't be here for our wedding. This excites me because I've always wanted to wear a white dress.

Dont you leave me out of that invite list..

[TatyanaR 6]

Tats and sach, funny my wife also talked about that at one point - wanting to have a church wedding (even tho we're not christian), altho we're obviously totally cool w/ other faiths. of course, we do plan to have a US wedding reception in NYC...maybe she'll choose to dress in white then...

Awww how exciting! I think every girl should have a chance to wear a white dress even though Indian attire is beautiful too!

[TheBears 9]

Guys, I think you're going to be fine. Your situation sounds a lot better than mine.

Husby and I got married by filling out the marriage certificate at the District Office. No rings. No flowers. No guests. Just a private lecture from the District Registrar for my husband about "Are you sure you want to do this? What if she's scamming you? I don't want to be responsible for making a false marriage registration. If this ends up being illegal, that's all on you, Buddy."

Needless to say, Husby was more than a little upset and nearly threw his legal credentials in the man's face. Fortunately, I overhead and walked in to explain very calmly, in Thai, that if the man had concerns, he should be expressing them to both of us. We would like to register our marriage in Husby's home district, but we could also go and have it done in another district if he was unwilling to help us.

The man looked at me like . I think I surprised him that a woman would come and speak up, potentially causing a scene in a man's discussion in a country she had no claim to.

He ended up taking a formal statement from me saying that I was single, employed, living in the US, and was not marrying for immigration purposes. I giggled when he asked me the last question. It's so funny how people all over the world can think the same way. People here wonder if Husby married me just for a GC, and here was a Thai man wondering the same about me.

So that was our first taste of what was to come in this process. And one more document for me to translate.

I plan on visiting him again the next time I'm there to inform him Husby was the one who got visa and that we are still happily married. And a big, fat, totally sincere "thank you for making it possible."

You guys are fine. Stop stressing.

[life2live 0]

Chennai does not give the medical results in a sealed envelop anymore. I think both KartikRaj and I who had medicals in Appolo Chennai last week can attest to that. My wife said Chennai consulate does not allow any sealed envelops inside the consulates.

We did not submit any documents to VFS other than the courier fee.

Thanks vivekjay!

[Gina2010 1]

Guys, I think you're going to be fine. Your situation sounds a lot better than mine.

Husby and I got married by filling out the marriage certificate at the District Office. No rings. No flowers. No guests. Just a private lecture from the District Registrar for my husband about "Are you sure you want to do this? What if she's scamming you? I don't want to be responsible for making a false marriage registration. If this ends up being illegal, that's all on you, Buddy."

Needless to say, Husby was more than a little upset and nearly threw his legal credentials in the man's face. Fortunately, I overhead and walked in to explain very calmly, in Thai, that if the man had concerns, he should be expressing them to both of us. We would like to register our marriage in Husby's home district, but we could also go and have it done in another district if he was unwilling to help us.

The man looked at me like . I think I surprised him that a woman would come and speak up, potentially causing a scene in a man's discussion in a country she had no claim to.

He ended up taking a formal statement from me saying that I was single, employed, living in the US, and was not marrying for immigration purposes. I giggled when he asked me the last question. It's so funny how people all over the world can think the same way. People here wonder if Husby married me just for a GC, and here was a Thai man wondering the same about me.

So that was our first taste of what was to come in this process. And one more document for me to translate.

I plan on visiting him again the next time I'm there to inform him Husby was the one who got visa and that we are still happily married. And a big, fat, totally sincere "thank you for making it possible."

You guys are fine. Stop stressing.

Bears, mine was the same....lots of yelling in a language I don't speak by him and his cousin at the city hall. Looking forward to the real ceremony this year, to say the least, that was NOT our wedding .

But how do you answer that if they ask in the interview, "why wasn't anyone at your wedding?" Obviously we did it quickly for the Visa, and are having the "real" thing in a few months. I can't imagine the interviewer wants to hear that, or are they used to it?

[gpmaan2 0]

After reading Rhowin's posts, I wonder IF I should send another updated I864 to my wife. Her interview is on 05/14, the most recent I864 sent to her was dated 04/21 (Same day I sent the other documents to her via EMS). Do you guys think this will be a problem? Did you guys do the same thing?

Edited May 5, 2010 by gpmaan2

[TheBears 9]

Bears, mine was the same....lots of yelling in a language I don't speak by him and his cousin at the city hall. Looking forward to the real ceremony this year, to say the least, that was NOT our wedding .

But how do you answer that if they ask in the interview, "why wasn't anyone at your wedding?" Obviously we did it quickly for the Visa, and are having the "real" thing in a few months. I can't imagine the interviewer wants to hear that, or are they used to it?

Agreed.

If we get asked about "Why wasn't there a wedding?" Husby is going to explain that we're going to have an actual wedding on our second anniversary. Even if it's "Why weren't there any people at your wedding?" It's going to be "We're having a formal wedding next year when we have more time to devote to organizing it and both sides of the family can make plans to attend."

Obviously we married in a very simple way so that we could start the papers. Does that change our relationship? No. Is international wedding planning a pain in the tail? Oh, yes! So we're going with the truth. We love each other. We wanted to get married. It's hard to coordinate two sets of relatives in an international event.

[TheBears 9]

After reading Rhowin's posts, I wonder IF I should send another updated I864 to my wife. Her interview is on 05/14, the most recent I864 sent to her was dated 04/21 (Same day I sent the other documents to her via EMS). Do you guys think this will be a problem? Did you guys do the same thing?

I'm sending an updated one. Even if nothing had changed, I was still planning on sending a new one, just in case. Husby has printed out new DS-230s as well, since the form changed. One is listing his residence since birth, like the one we sent to NVC, and one is listing it since age 16. I'd say send a new one. If you send it today, maybe you can choose a less expensive, but slower postal option.

Edit: I'm an idiot. 5/14 is not 6/14 like I was thinking. So nix the part about sending it slow. Overnight that baby! It's worth heading off a potential 221g document request.

Edited May 5, 2010 by TheBears

[gpmaan2 0]

I'm sending an updated one. Even if nothing had changed, I was still planning on sending a new one, just in case. Husby has printed out new DS-230s as well, since the form changed. One is listing his residence since birth, like the one we sent to NVC, and one is listing it since age 16. I'd say send a new one. If you send it today, maybe you can choose a less expensive, but slower postal option.

Edit: I'm an idiot. 5/14 is not 6/14 like I was thinking. So nix the part about sending it slow. Overnight that baby! It's worth heading off a potential 221g document request.

True. Ill Fedex this baby tomorrow. Can't take any risks.

[hobokenworkingman 4]

Agreed.

If we get asked about "Why wasn't there a wedding?" Husby is going to explain that we're going to have an actual wedding on our second anniversary. Even if it's "Why weren't there any people at your wedding?" It's going to be "We're having a formal wedding next year when we have more time to devote to organizing it and both sides of the family can make plans to attend."

Obviously we married in a very simple way so that we could start the papers. Does that change our relationship? No. Is international wedding planning a pain in the tail? Oh, yes! So we're going with the truth. We love each other. We wanted to get married. It's hard to coordinate two sets of relatives in an international event.

woW! looks like lot of folks here have similar stories, so it wont be unusual for a consulate officer to come across our stories. certainly makes me feel a lot better!

[mrs. wife! 3]

Yuleeee good luck dear!!!!!!!!!!

[yulechka42 2]

Yuleeee good luck dear!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you! 4 hours to go.... I need a bottle of hard liquor...

[SPSguy 18]

If we get asked about "Why wasn't there a wedding?" Husby is going to explain that we're going to have an actual wedding on our second anniversary. Even if it's "Why weren't there any people at your wedding?" It's going to be "We're having a formal wedding next year when we have more time to devote to organizing it and both sides of the family can make plans to attend."

I don't know if I would admit to not having a wedding or that the "real" wedding will be a year from now. I'd hate to face the possibility of the CO telling you to come back after you have your real wedding.

What I would do is tell the CO that there was a wedding but it wasn't a full blown wedding that you had dreamed of due to circumstances beyond your control. And you plan to have this wedding in about a year's time.

[LoveRani 1]

Thank you! 4 hours to go.... I need a bottle of hard liquor...

Goodluck on the interview

I am sure you will get it

[estrellademiel 7]

yuleeeeee i dont know how i will handle this...I am praying for you. ...love.uu