The Fear

[YuAndDan 153]

The other option is to shoot for a date waaaay in the future, that short of an act of terrorism or God you'll comfortably make. You only need to be legally married for your K-1 requirements. The USCIS don't care if you're stark naked and conduct the entire ceremony in clingon, as long as it's legal in whatever state. Family and friends don't have a clue whether you're legally married or not. The ceremony part is the lovey-dovey stuff, so make the legal one as clinical as possible and keep the fun stuff for the celebration.

Yep, can always do the court house marriage shortly after entry on K-1 file AOS, and plan a large ceremonial marriage that take place much later.

In our case my wife had her green-card through AOS before we had a wedding party.

[Scarlett 0]

I was in a similar position when I move to the US. We provisionally booked a wedding date, based on the current processing times, so that we could have a semi-normal planning experience with family and friends, but told the venue our situation and asked them for a definite cancellation date. They told us we could cancel up to 30 days before the wedding date.

Then we actually used this cancellation deadline date in our application for an interview at the Embassy in London (forgive me, I have forgotten the details of the process - blanked it out like a bad memory!). The Embassy seemed to take this into account and scheduled my interview exactly 30 days before the proposed wedding so that I would have a decision in time to cancel or continue. So as soon as my visa was approved at the interview in London, I emailed the venue in America to confirm that their would be a wedding. It worked out OK for us, I had only 3 weeks after visa receipt and arrival to prepare for the wedding, but we kept our date.

Having said all that, it took 10 months from start to finish to get my K1 visa, so we built in what we thought was a tonne of time, and ended up cutting it really fine...

What a nightmare, I do sympathise.

[DiZZyLoX 114]

I was in a similar position when I move to the US. We provisionally booked a wedding date, based on the current processing times, so that we could have a semi-normal planning experience with family and friends, but told the venue our situation and asked them for a definite cancellation date. They told us we could cancel up to 30 days before the wedding date.

Then we actually used this cancellation deadline date in our application for an interview at the Embassy in London (forgive me, I have forgotten the details of the process - blanked it out like a bad memory!). The Embassy seemed to take this into account and scheduled my interview exactly 30 days before the proposed wedding so that I would have a decision in time to cancel or continue. So as soon as my visa was approved at the interview in London, I emailed the venue in America to confirm that their would be a wedding. It worked out OK for us, I had only 3 weeks after visa receipt and arrival to prepare for the wedding, but we kept our date.

Having said all that, it took 10 months from start to finish to get my K1 visa, so we built in what we thought was a tonne of time, and ended up cutting it really fine...

What a nightmare, I do sympathise.

That's really good to know that you made it in the nick of time. I'm definitely nervous about our date, but trying to keep nerves low by knowing everyone knows our situation and movements can happen. Happy you guys made it. Gives me a little hope

[amykathleen2005 441]

The USCIS don't care if you're stark naked and conduct the entire ceremony in clingon, as long as it's legal in whatever state.

Shhhh.....don't let my husband know that was an option.....

[minkthecat 6]

Thanks for all these posts.

We cannot wait long to decide because some guests went ahead and booked flights and the need time to rearrange and we will need to pay their fees. So, I think we will have to postpone very soon. When to is the question?

[Nik+Heather 121]

Thanks for all these posts.

We cannot wait long to decide because some guests went ahead and booked flights and the need time to rearrange and we will need to pay their fees. So, I think we will have to postpone very soon. When to is the question?

I'm sorry, can you explain a little further why you think there is urgency to them cancelling or rescheduling their tickets? Does some window close for when the fees are lower? If they cancel 6 months before is it free or something? Most airlines that I've looked at have a 24 (or perhaps 48?) hour window where you can cancel free of charge. If that's the case, then they should perhaps do that. Otherwise, I can't see how cancelling or rescheduling in December is any different to their pocketbooks than cancelling in March or April, or even May. And...don't let your other friends and family schedule plane tickets. We were very clear in our communications about the uncertainty of the timing to our family members, and they all waited until our say-so to buy their airline tickets.

I stand by what I said earlier: Cancel now and loose your money for SURE, or cancel later and MAYBE loose your money.

[isa_jade 1]

What to do?

We applied for our K1 in September. We have a wedding planned on May 1st. We are waiting for NOA2 having received NOA1 on 13th September. Radio silence since.

Will May 1st happen or do we need to cancel?

Your thoughts please....

I'm nearly in the same boat as you. We filed early August with a wedding planned the second half of April. I'm beginning to think it probably wont work :-/

I do wish you best.

[DiZZyLoX 114]

I'm sorry, can you explain a little further why you think there is urgency to them cancelling or rescheduling their tickets? Does some window close for when the fees are lower? If they cancel 6 months before is it free or something? Most airlines that I've looked at have a 24 (or perhaps 48?) hour window where you can cancel free of charge. If that's the case, then they should perhaps do that. Otherwise, I can't see how cancelling or rescheduling in December is any different to their pocketbooks than cancelling in March or April, or even May. And...don't let your other friends and family schedule plane tickets. We were very clear in our communications about the uncertainty of the timing to our family members, and they all waited until our say-so to buy their airline tickets.

I stand by what I said earlier: Cancel now and loose your money for SURE, or cancel later and MAYBE loose your money.

Your timeline looks pretty close to ours except your wedding was last year. I'm thinking our NAO1 will be in early January. I've been looking for folks with timelines like ours in the past. I agree with you. Try to stick it out...I think I would (or will have to) as we move through our K-1 year...

[DarlingNikki 7]

If I were you I would cancel and wait until you get your NOA2. Once you get that you can better gage everything....Just my opinion Good Luck

I agree. ITs just not set in stone that everything will be completed within the state time frame. Sorry to say it, but its my honest opinion. Good luck.