Leaving the US for honeymoon

[Delilah'sMan 0]

Does it generally take a long time before you can travel outside the US after arriving on the K-1? We really want an intimate wedding in Mexico or maybe the Caribbean.

[sciencenerd 56]

You can't leave the U.S. until you get your AP, which you get after you apply to adjust status, which means you would already be married. If you plan to marry outside of the states, you'd have to get a spousal visa since your fiance would be entering the U.S. as your spouse. You could potentially do Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Hawaii, etc. if you want to stay in the US, but have a tropical destination. It usually takes 1-2 months to get the AP after you apply for AOS, so you can't do a typical honeymoon abroad (meaning directly after your wedding). I know we decided upon a U.S. destination for our honeymoon because of this.

Good luck.

[Mike&Cherry 45]

Does it generally take a long time before you can travel outside the US after arriving on the K-1? We really want an intimate wedding in Mexico or maybe the Caribbean.

@@@@VERY IMPORTANT@@@@ DO NOT LEAVE THE US. If you have not applied for Advance Parole after you got married and have not been granted it, Immigration will not let the K-1 beneficiary back into the country. I repeat do not leave the US. Your honeymoon will end with a horrible night mare. I guarantee it. I'm glad you said something here first before you left because this would be the worst mistake you would ever make. If you have a green card you can travel outside of the US, but based upon your post you don't probably have it yet.

Edited December 12, 2010 by Mike&Cherry

[VanessaTony 3,567]

** moved from "Adjustment of Status (Green Card) from Family Based Visas" to " Working & Traveling During US Immigration" as this is relating to leaving the US **

OP --

You cannot leave the US (once you arrive on the K1) until you have married, filed AOS, and received AP or your GC. Well, actually you CAN leave but you won't be able to come back and will require another visa. If you leave after filing AOS but before getting AP or your GC your AOS is considered abandoned and all that money is wasted.

Some people choose to have a quick court house wedding to fulfil the legal requirement of the K1 so they can file AOS etc and then they have a bigger wedding later. I considered this option myself but with AOS being so expensive and that once I arrived we had to change states (big drive and $$ :S) we decided against that.

Edited December 13, 2010 by Vanessa&Tony

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Sorry.. duplicate. Late at night VJ really lags so this was a double post.

Edited December 13, 2010 by Vanessa&Tony

[Al422 221]

READ THIS CAREFULLY:

DO NOT

DO NOT

DO NOT

DO NOT leave the United States for any reason whatsoever with your new bride until she gets one of the following:

1. Advance Parole

2. Green Card

IF YOU DO

Then the K-1 visa you fought so long and so hard for will be dead.

She will then have to return to her country of origin and wait while you start the process over again from the beginning and get a whole new K-3 visa (since you are married now).

This may take up to one year.

DO NOT!!!

Got it?

[Fandango 1,440]

It's questions like this which really display how little research the OP has done.

PS - Since it was a K-1 question, albeit completely wrong, it should stay in the K-1 forum as it might answer the same question for another K-1er who hasn't done his/her research either...

[Barbara J 115]

It's questions like this which really display how little research the OP has done.

PS - Since it was a K-1 question, albeit completely wrong, it should stay in the K-1 forum as it might answer the same question for another K-1er who hasn't done his/her research either...

I so agree Lisa

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

There is no need to shout at the OP. S/he got her answer. Also, I want to add that there is no more K-3 visa, and that AP takes longer then 1 month. It has been coming between 2-3 months for the past year. I have seen a lot of people complaining that their AP wasn't here in a month (or even 3) and they have made plans and are sorely disappointed. So OP, also, you apply for AP after you get married, so you won't get AP a few months after you arrive, but rather a few months after you get married AND send off your AOS packet.

Good luck.

[Anh map 2,098]

*Moving back to K1 forum from Work and Travel forum as the travel answers will be K1 specific*

[SuperDuper! 230]

Wow, battle of the organizers, back and forth. I thought I was watching a tennis match.

OP, there are SO many nice places to have an "intimate" honeymoon stateside in the US.

Just make the best of it, and find something here. For most folks, it really doesn't matter WHERE you are because you are FINALLY together.

Many a honeymoon is spent mostly in the hotel room anyways, and THAT works out great for us long stamina types

Vegas is always a no brainer good time! Remember, you will have the time of your life WHEREVER you go, cause your love is the best!

Edited December 12, 2010 by Boing!

[VanessaTony 3,567]

It's questions like this which really display how little research the OP has done.

PS - Since it was a K-1 question, albeit completely wrong, it should stay in the K-1 forum as it might answer the same question for another K-1er who hasn't done his/her research either...

Normally I would agree, however the k1 forum is for the process of "obtaining" a K1 visa. This isn't a procedure for obtaining the visa and therefore in the wrong place. I have been overridden by Kathryn41 on this one so it'll be staying here.

I do agree though that perhaps there should be a sticky in the K1 forum that explains what's involved with a K1 visa (and what happens when you arrive in the US) in one place. Far too many people (even one is too many) don't realise they need to AOS, or think they can just leave the US whenever..

Edited December 13, 2010 by Vanessa&Tony

[Kathryn41 3,205]

I just wanted to clarify that there is a fine line here between where this post is best located. Both forums in which it has appeared would be appropriate, but my preference would be to leave it in the K-1 forum, first because it was first posted in the K-1 forum and fits the criteria, and second, because it does relate to a K-1 issue more than the travel issue. The key issue here isn't so much the travel aspect but the wanting to get married outside of the US aspect.

That is the point that needs to be addressed in this post - that the K-1 cannot leave the US in order to get married somewhere more exotic. If the K-1 beneficiary leaves the US before receiving either the green card or the Advance Parole travel document, he/she will NOT be allowed back into the US and the couple will have to start the whole immigration process all over again from the very beginning, this time following a CR-1 spousal visa.

So, Delilah'sMan - start looking at some of the beautiful and intimate locales within the US for your wedding and honeymoon. Key West is a lovely, tropical location in the Winter if you don't wish to leave the mainland; Hawaii is always nice as well, although after travelling from Australia you may not wish to travel half way back again. Maybe the POE can be Hawaii and you can get married there, have your honeymoon and then travel back to the mainland?

[Al422 221]

Sorry didn't mean to yell so hard. It is just that it is so monumentally important that they get this that it was worth risking a little excessive yelling.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Does it generally take a long time before you can travel outside the US after arriving on the K-1? We really want an intimate wedding in Mexico or maybe the Caribbean.

By the terms of the K-1 the marriage MUST take place in the US. You could do a JP wedding here to be legal and then go somewhere else later. Your fiancee/wife cannot leave the country and return to adjust statuswithout an AP. How long that takes depends on how soon you get married and file for AOS. The AP usually comes about 2 months after filing for the AP