Marriage before K1 visa approval!

[Channah&Aaron 51]

; If you are doubting to have the visa in hand before your actual wedding date, withdraw your K1 petition, get married and file for CR1. If you can postponed your wedding date, stick to the K1 since you already paid the fee and you're already in the waiting line

Good luck with whatever you decide

[Christi85 86]

How about if it's just a wedding/ religious ceremony only--without a civil wedding & no papers signed?

In the UK a religious ceremony is still a legally valid wedding. A civil ceremony is not required for the marriage to be recognized legally. Couples in the UK who wish to get married can either have a civil or a religious wedding and they'll be considered legally married either way. Papers are signed in either case. This applies to most church weddings and to weddings performed under other religions as long as the premises where the wedding takes place (e.g. mosque, synagogue etc.) holds a license to legally solemnize weddings.

To the OP - you could get married before being granted the K1, but then the procedure would have to be cancelled (as you wouldn't be a fiance anymore) and you'd have to start afresh by filing for a CR1 (spouse) visa. If you already have a K1 pending, I strongly suggest sticking with it, as doing the above will definitely add considerable delay to the process, which translates to an additional 8-9 months apart from your loved one. Like others have said, if at the time of the K1 interview you are married, your K1 visa will be denied and you'll be instructed to apply for a CR1 spousal visa instead. Which means, 6-8 months for the K1 (plus all the money you've paid to get it) will have gone down the drain.

Just to stress: don't even consider lying about being married (if you do get married in the meantime), as they'll eventually want to see your marriage certificate when you file for adjustment of status in the US, and then the discrepancy in dates will be obvious and guess what - you'll be accused of material misrepresentation and will be denied adjustment of status in the US!!!

I know it may be a major hassle, but better change wedding plans if necessary rather than putting the visa process at risk, because this may put your future life together at risk. I suggest sticking with the K1 since you've started the process, waiting until you get it, then having a simple civil ceremony in the US within 90 days of entering on the K1, which will allow you to file for AOS, and if you want something more elaborate you can plan a big social event-type wedding for later on.

[Udella&Wiz 325]

The moral of the story here is gthat you can;t have your cake and eat it too. If you'd like to be married back home, then do so but that changes the type of VISA you will apply for and when (no more K1). You cannot apply for a CR1 until you're married....1 of the items you supply is your marriage certificate.

Lying about or having a 'fake' wedding probably isn't the best idea either. If USCIS gets wind of it no telling what they're opinion on that is.

Many K1 folks have had a quick civil ceremony here in the US and then gone back home (once they have travel authorization) to have a larger religious wedding with fam and friends later

[Que Saudade 284]

I don't understand how this question can be asked so frequently. The rules of the K1 visa (which should be read and understood before applying) FIRMLY state that the petitioner and beneficiary must get married within 90 days of the beneficiary entering the United States. If you get married BEFORE you get your K1 visa, you no longer have a fiance. You will have a spouse.

:thumbs:

I think that people keep hoping there is a special loophole........

[iampatricias 17]

:thumbs:

I think that people keep hoping there is a special loophole........

... but I guess there isn't? Haven't we found one yet??

[Patricklove 0]

Hello fellow visa applicants,

My fiance (us citizen) and myself (uk citizen) are in the process of applying for our K1 visa. Once we are married, I will be moving to the states.

We were planning on getting married in September this year, however due to the processing times, its highly unlikely we will have approval by then. Our plan was to get married in september and then I will return to the UK and wait until the K1 visa is approved.

Is this legal, or will it jeopardise our K1 visa application?

Your opinions and thoughts are greatly appreciated.

Hi it would be applyig for K3 not K 1 I am in the same boat however we are in the final stages of the application I will be going to the USA in a few months we will get married and stay with my love and then apply for AOS. Hope this helps wishing you both of the best for the decison that you make from here on....

[Kathryn41 3,205]

One duplicate post has been removed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Moderator hat off . . .

One quick comment- the K-3 is no longer a valid option. The K-3 was established as a ways to allow married couples who are apart during the lengthy CR-1 process to come together and complete the process in the US. Once the K-3 process started to take the same length of time as the CR-1 process (which sped up), anyone applying for a K-3 finds the application administratively closed and their file transferred to a CR-1 - so save yourself some trouble and some time from filling out unnecessary forms and apply directly for the CR-1.

To the OP: You have received some good advice here. As much as you would like to get married in September, then return to the UK to await the approval of your K-1 visa - that is not a legal option.

You have applied for a fiancee visa. That means you still have to be a fiancee when you receive the visa and when you enter the US on the visa. You cannot be married. Several points you need to know:

1.) If you enter the US on the K-1 visa and are no longer a fiancee, then you will be found out during the rest of the immigration process (there are several stages to complete within the US over the next few years involving copies of your marriage certificate, etc. ) and deported for misrepresentation - considered one of the highest immigration 'crimes' by USCIS - with a probable life time ban.

2. If you enter the US and get married then leave to return to Britain, you nullify the K-1 visa and it is no longer available for you to use. You have to start the whole immigration process all over again from the beginning with a CR-1 (spousal) visa, with its fees and applications and additional waiting time which again is just under a year - so you basically make your 'wait' longer rather than shorter.

3. If you enter the US with the intent of getting married and remaining in the US without having the K-1 visa, that is considered visa fraud - using a visitor visa or the VWP as a means to by pass the proper immigration process with its longer processing time (K-1) - not that you have suggested this but I want you to know that this is NOT an option at this stage of the game. Visa fraud is taken very seriously by USCIS and again can lead to a lifetime ban from the US. (If you were in the US with no plans of getting married when you arrived and your circumstances 'changed' while here, you would be allowed to marry, remain and change your status from visitor, student, worker, etc. to become a permanent resident without leaving the country but not when you entered with the intention to marry - you need the proper visa for that).

4.You can have some sort of celebration of your union in September that does not include any marriage activity - calling it an engagement party is a good idea. Having any sort of officiant present will run you up against the risk of it being perceived as a wedding - and even wearing wedding clothes and going through the whole 'process' gives the impression that it is a wedding. This can be an uphill 'fight' against USCIS/Consulate staff who often think 'if it looks like a wedding, then it is a wedding'. K-1s have been denied their visas even for such non-official weddings because the interviewing officers believe that a wedding may indeed have taken place and on the chance that it is legal, have denied the petition. The individuals involved have then had to get married for real and apply all over again from the CR-1. So - don't do anything that 'looks' 'sounds' or 'acts' like the actual wedding prior to arriving on the K-1.

5. When you do enter the US on a K-1, I hope you realize that you will not be able to leave the US and return again until one of 2 things happens. After you are married you need to apply for permission to remain in the US (called 'Adjustment of Status' or the green card). At the same time you can apply for special travel permission called an Advance Parole. Until you receive either the green card (become a permanent resident of the US) or the Advance Parole (also known as 'AP') if you left the US, you would not be allowed back into the country and again would have to start the visa process all over again from the beginning with a CR-1.

So, just be aware that the US takes immigration very very seriously and has little sympathy for anyone's personal circumstances, virtually no 'give' in the process, and a strict insistence on following all of the rules absolutely.

Edited March 20, 2011 by Kathryn41

[kaibosh 3]

Ya your best bet is to stick with the K1 and push back your wedding date, or have an engagement party on that day, get married in a courthouse once you've got your K1 then you can have a bigger wedding afterward with all your family and friends. That's the plan I'm going with as I doubt I'll have my K1 as orignally planned.

[Christine + Blake 18]

I'm in the same situation as you, we have our wedding planned for 11-11-11 but with the slow processing at VSC it is going to be very tight whether or not I make it in time. We already have deposits down and one of my bridesmaids has booked her flights already, so pushing it back isn't much of an option for us anymore. We figured that if we have to, I will come to the states for our 'wedding', which will have no minister/officiant/anything of any sort and will not be legally binding (no marriage license, no signing anything), and then become legally married once we actually can.

I see that Kathryn41 says this can be dangerous but I'm hoping that it won't have to come to that anyway

[marymina119 3]

DO NOT GET MARRIED !!!

i did this mistake and its costing me a lot now if u apply for K1 then she needs to be only ur fiance until u r in the U.S if u get married before that then ur K1 is no longer good and u will have to apply for I-130 and wait 8-10 month thats where im now so either delay ur wedding or go get married now and forget about the K1 and apply for I-130

[Lisa and Kano 2]

How about if it's just a wedding/ religious ceremony only--without a civil wedding & no papers signed?

I think that's a good idea. That way, you don't have to change your plans, you can have a ceremony and you'll be "spiritually" married or whatever, and you can just save the legal part for after the K-1 is granted. Start dress shopping, I'd say...

[iampatricias 17]

It sounds like a great idea in theory, one that I tried to vigorously convince my own priest of too, but in practice, it is quite risky. If you have to swear you are not married, when you've had a religious ceremony and you do, on the one hand, consider yourselves married, that's kind of a problem, no? Especially if you are repeating any kind of vows, if there is any kind of 'handing over of the bride' even without a legally binding marriage certificate.

Like Kathryn said in her point #4, the interviewer won't give you a chance to convince them that since you didn't *actually* sign a wedding certificate, you're not *technically* married. An engagement party, like a wedding shower or something of the like, is much less likely to arouse suspicion, and if something like an engagement ceremony is expected in the beneficiary's culture, it's even less of an issue.

Nevertheless, since the distinction between a 'legal' and 'religious' wedding in a Christian/North American context anyway (I'm only speaking for myself, folks, sorry for any offense!) is so fine, the instinct to feel like you have to hide something to still be allowed to immigrate should be a pretty good indicator of the risk involved, even though you are legally complying with the requirements of the K1 visa. In any case, my priest wouldn't go for it, so we've made alternate arrangements.

[jkminney 30]

I know at one point or another we have probably all asked questions that the answers are available on visajourney, but this question seems to come up time and time again! Are people not doing any research at all? Why in the world would someone think that a visa for a FIANCE is ok to use for a SPOUSE? Sorry I just don't understand why this particular question is asked so frequently...it states specifically in the instruction who can and can't apply. Come on folks lets take a little responsibility for ourselves here and take 60 seconds to ready the forms before we ask questions that aren't needed to be asked.

[SophWeb 25]

I know at one point or another we have probably all asked questions that the answers are available on visajourney, but this question seems to come up time and time again! Are people not doing any research at all? Why in the world would someone think that a visa for a FIANCE is ok to use for a SPOUSE? Sorry I just don't understand why this particular question is asked so frequently...it states specifically in the instruction who can and can't apply. Come on folks lets take a little responsibility for ourselves here and take 60 seconds to ready the forms before we ask questions that aren't needed to be asked.

I completely agree. I don't understand why so many people try to circumvent the system. Yes, it is hard being away from our loved one. Yes, we want our wedding to be there sooner. But no, you cannot play fast and loose with immigration laws. There are no loopholes. It is what it is and we all have to deal with it.

[Derek and Callie 7]

I know at one point or another we have probably all asked questions that the answers are available on visajourney, but this question seems to come up time and time again! Are people not doing any research at all? Why in the world would someone think that a visa for a FIANCE is ok to use for a SPOUSE? Sorry I just don't understand why this particular question is asked so frequently...it states specifically in the instruction who can and can't apply. Come on folks lets take a little responsibility for ourselves here and take 60 seconds to ready the forms before we ask questions that aren't needed to be asked.

I do not think people are trying to purposely plan a wedding before they get their k1, over the past 6 months the process time has change quite alot, and when organising a wedding with lots of people and lots of people from different countries it needs to be done early and timed well. I do not believe people are deliberately trying to "break rules" and I do not believe these issues were an issue when they were filling out forms, I for one did not predict the processing timers to increase by another 2 or so months, which has caused us to delay our wedding 2 months, which still looks like it will be close with a wedding date of 29/10/11 and a NOA1 of 20/12/2010. I think if anything people are trying to work out how they can both celebrate "a day" with friends & family as well as abide by the k1 rules.

Edited March 22, 2011 by Derek and Callie