HELP - Fiance might miss wedding

[LisaBen 0]

Hi,

My fiance had his interview on June 2nd and he was approved pending the physical receipt of his Dutch police certificate. The problem is that they requested the certifcate eight weeks ago and we sent him his full dutch address twice. And four weeks ago, we called to ask if they had the police certificate and they said yes, everything was in order. So imagine his shock and surprise when they said they still needed the certificate. They said that the computer says that his police certifcate was received by the dutch embassy and it was all good but they still needed the physical copy and that they just needed a fax of it too. So not sure what the hold-up is??

Anyways - my wedding is on June the 12th of this year. Which is next weekend. I don't think the visa will be ready in time so do you guys have any suggestions on how we can get him into the country?? I was wondering if the embassy would give him back his passport and if he could hop over here on a tourist visa and we pretend to get married , i.e. just have a commitment ceremony but not officially get married. Have our pretend honeymoon and then have him fly back to the UK to wait patiently for this phantom police certificate? Is that possible? Has anyone experienced something similar?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[yankepeach 2]

Hi,

My fiance had his interview on June 2nd and he was approved pending the physical receipt of his Dutch police certificate. The problem is that they requested the certifcate eight weeks ago and we sent him his full dutch address twice. And four weeks ago, we called to ask if they had the police certificate and they said yes, everything was in order. So imagine his shock and surprise when they said they still needed the certificate. They said that the computer says that his police certifcate was received by the dutch embassy and it was all good but they still needed the physical copy and that they just needed a fax of it too. So not sure what the hold-up is??

Anyways - my wedding is on June the 12th of this year. Which is next weekend. I don't think the visa will be ready in time so do you guys have any suggestions on how we can get him into the country?? I was wondering if the embassy would give him back his passport and if he could hop over here on a tourist visa and we pretend to get married , i.e. just have a commitment ceremony but not officially get married. Have our pretend honeymoon and then have him fly back to the UK to wait patiently for this phantom police certificate? Is that possible? Has anyone experienced something similar?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Ouch. I don't have a answer for you hun. But man I can imagine the panic your in. Wish you much luck.

[Fandango 1,439]

How about him flying over to Holland to the Dutch embassy? It seems like a long shot, but I don't think you'll have any luck with your plan either.

I'm so sorry, I do hope it works out though.

[Justine+David 218]

This is why VJ does not recommend making such intricate wedding plans prior to getting one's visa. I made sure that all my vendors were able to push the date forward if immigration was slow and I mailed off the initial petition package more than a year in advance of the wedding.

You can always call the London embassy and ask if they will release his passport. I don't think their reaction will be too kindly however and will probably tell you that you should cancel the wedding plans. If you do have a fake wedding, make sure the person marrying you knows this so that you're not accidentally married, in which you would have to start all over again.

Just so you know, even if they do get the police certificate copy shortly, they may not immediately release the visa. We had to send them a check for the visa fee (David was never asked to pay for it) and it took them 3 weeks to cash it and issue the visa.

Good luck in whatever you decide!

Edited June 4, 2010 by Justine+David

[Nik+Heather 121]

It's late for shoulda coulda woulda's - I know that I could have been in your shoes if things had gone wrong, so I feel sympathetic.

Anyway, I assume that at this stage it is too late to move the wedding date, so I think your best bet is to try to get that passport back from London so he can attend the ceremony. I guess I wouldn't go into too much detail about the reasons for travel when communicating with the embassy. "passport is required with or without the visa for travel abroad within 1 week"

You should know that they may put 2 and 2 together when they match up the request for the passport with the wedding date on your checklist - which may cause problems if they then believe that you are married and ineligible for the K-1 visa. But that is for you to make your decisions about.

Edited June 4, 2010 by Nik+Heather

[Fandango 1,439]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the fact that he is basically approved pending some document....what would the actual approval date be? because I'm wondering since the visa is good for the next entry, whether him actually entering America is going to muck up the whole validity of the visa.

I say either try to expedite this form from Holland, try to implore someone to expedite things, or just cut your financial losses with the wedding, and reschedule. Many vendors might give partial credit for moving the date...check your contracts.

[Nik+Heather 121]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the fact that he is basically approved pending some document....what would the actual approval date be? because I'm wondering since the visa is good for the next entry, whether him actually entering America is going to muck up the whole validity of the visa.

I say either try to expedite this form from Holland, try to implore someone to expedite things, or just cut your financial losses with the wedding, and reschedule. Many vendors might give partial credit for moving the date...check your contracts.

I would guess yes, it would take even longer for the visa to be issued now that they have yet another visit to the US to consider, more searches to do etc.

[LisaBen 0]

Hello, thank you all your responses. I contacted the embassy in Amsterdam last nifty and they said they mailed the police certificate on Thursday. And thy it wasn't the first time they did this either! So the London embassy lost the thing. Anyways, good news is that they have confirmed receipt of the file and said he is in the final stages of processing. How long has it been taking for visas to get processed recently? Do you think we will be okay?

[Nik+Heather 121]

I think that you should prepare for and expect the worst outcome. You have a week to begin mentally preparing yourself for this. It sounds as though there is nothing more to be done.

I don't mean this in a callous way, but I wouldn't put my bet on him being there in time for a wedding in a week.

However, I do think he'll get the visa, arrive in the US and marry you. Time will pass, and you'll find that what really matters is that he got here and you got married, and not so important that he was late. So yes, everything is going to be OK.

[LisaBen 0]

I think that you should prepare for and expect the worst outcome. You have a week to begin mentally preparing yourself for this. It sounds as though there is nothing more to be done.

I don't mean this in a callous way, but I wouldn't put my bet on him being there in time for a wedding in a week.

However, I do think he'll get the visa, arrive in the US and marry you. Time will pass, and you'll find that what really matters is that he got here and you got married, and not so important that he was late. So yes, everything is going to be OK.

You aren't callous, it's realistic and you've put things into perspective. I just feel terrible since 75% of our guests are from out of town. And they will be out money because of this. I can handle the financial loss on our part, it's our guests I am concerned about...

[LIFE'SJOURNEY 970]

Suggestion, just have the reception and have the SO to appear on skype. This way your guest will still be celebrating the up-coming event with you'll and they won't be out of money.

Promise to send them DVD of the actual marriage event when it happens at a later time.

[LIFE'SJOURNEY 970]

P.S. it would be another excuse for me to get a new reception wedding dress. Turn it into something postive instead of negative.

[LisaBen 0]

Thanks for the great responses. Fortunately, I don't need to skype him in since he made it!! Got in Wednesday. I guess the embassy can speed things up. So relieved!

[Justine+David 218]

Happy for you!!

[Krikit 1,164]

Wow. Talk about coming back from the brink. Congratulations!