Religous Ceremony

[home4paradise 0]

Good Day!!,

I have a question. Little confused-we recently had a religious ceremony in (Asia) one month ago and my wife is on a tourist visa. Can she come here?, can we legally get married here? (Los Angeles), does she need to buy a round trip ticket? And if she does come here, does she need to return to her home country or can we finally start on our life and wait for the all the paper to be in order to finally have her as a legal citizen? how long does this take?

And last, what exactly is the difference between k-1 and k-3? Does my wife need to apply for a k-1 considering she is already on a tourist visa?

So many questions and I want to be sure my wife and I do this right.

[Darnell 8,478]

'religious ceremony' ? pardon? what country? Asia is a big place - in some countries - you are legally married after the religious ceremony, in others must present paperwork to some local legal entity to certify the marriage to be a 'legal marriage'.

If you are 'legally married' - file the I-130 petition for a CR-1 Visa, ignore the K-3 visa in it's entirety.

K-1 for fiance

K-3 for spouse (but has been mostly wiped out, see http://www.visajourney.com/news/2010/02/07/department-of-state-to-close-k-3-visas-if-i-129f-and-i-130-petitions-approved-and-received-together/ )

re: her coming here with subsequent marriage in USA - sorry, can't answer you.

[home4paradise 0]

We married in Indonesia.......

[Darnell 8,478]

Are you still in Indonesia? Is she a tourist-visa holder IN Indonesia? Sorry, you are posting in the DCF forum, so I want to be able to give the right answers to you.

If you reside in Indonesia, legally, not as a tourist visa holder, for more than 6 months - YOU can file an I-130 via DCF at the Embassy in Jakarta.

[home4paradise 0]

So if we have the religous certificate, but not registered in the civil registry in Indonesia, can my wife come here and apply for a CR-1? Little lost...maybe someone can direct me...to a better way....

I'm in LA and shes in Indonesia, she does have a tourist visa...

[Darnell 8,478]

NO, she can not come here and apply for a CR-1, at all.

You had a very substantive answer here -> http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/244817-what-are-the-steps-little-confused/page__p__3760454entry3760454

you might want to go back to that topic, re-read all.

She will need to register the marriage at the civil office in Indonesia, prior to anything else being done. You will need that marriage certificate and file that with the I-130 petition.

She runs huge risk if she comes in on tourist visa , marry in USA, and you two apply for 'Adjustment of Status'.

*** moving to IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa Process & Procedures ***

Edited May 6, 2010 by Darnell

[home4paradise 0]

Perfect.....thank you for clarifying this for me! thank you for your honesty.