Wedding At 1st Physical Meeting

[Vizcayana 4]

I am glad I have found this thread.

I am on the same boat too.

Me and my husband got married. Actually we met on April 2011 at my sister's wedding. We exchange calls and text and after two weeks, he proposed to me. I became his fiancee in just 2 WEEKS! He went home to California and we can't stand long distance, so we decided to get married on July (that's his second trip to Philippines). He stayed 3 weeks. He came home again to spend holiday last december and january.

Now, we are waiting for my interview.

The span of time we became together and until we married, will that be a problem?

There's no other way to prove the genuineness of our marriage than phone record, chat logs, emails, snail mails, remittances. But those evidences came after marriage. Are they enough?

Please enlighten me and give us advice.

[Tanya and Barry 59]

The big boss of Consular services in any country is actually the Consul General but meeting the Ambassador and unnamed "others" as a couple would provide an opportunity for the relationship to be observed and commented on to the appropriate person in authority.

Especially in Georgia. They don't get as many K1 and K3 applications as other countries. It definitely won't hurt your chances unless you were a bore at dinner...

[Kimbear 53]

I hope NVC realize trips of these magnitudes cost 3-5k........Hmm maybe the K-1(fiance visa) visa would have been easier.. They require one meeting

K1 requires one in person meeting to initially file the i-129f yes, BUT you still have to have "proof of relationship" with photos tickets etc by the time the consulate interview comes around. And depending on the consulate this can be easy or very hard.

You should not have any issues though as you did spend a month together as well. Should be fine as others have posted.

Edited April 1, 2011 by Kimbear

[Aztec&Taino 144]

Hi everyone.. been reading a lot of the posts here but haven't really found too much info that might apply to us. Was hoping that some of the more seasoned VJ'ers here would analyze our situation and give opinions.

Here's the deal - me and my now husband met online in 2008 and have had uninterrupted communication in the form of video, e-mail, snail mail, chat and phone since then.

The topic of marriage had come up maybe a year into the relationship, because that was basically the goal for both of us. We really got to know each other completely before arranging our first trip in person, just to be sure that we would both be as compatible as we've been all along. To me, the trip just felt like a confirmation to what I already felt strongly about... and I was right!

We went on our trip and all was great - even better than expected. We spent a month together overseas and decided to get married while we were there. We could not see any reason to wait, so we didn't.. and went ahead with a civil ceremony.

We are not in a position to have a big wedding party for a few reasons. Financial, logistical, personal.. honestly, we'd rather spend our money on some more great trips together, not a big, expensive party.

We just filed our I-130. We will have another trip together this summer, but obviously we have to work things around our finances and what our employers will allow.

Does anyone think that this step to get married on our first trip would appear to be a red flag/problem?

I think this is a very consulate specific issue and, as such, you should seek the advice and experiences of beneficiaries who have filed and interviewed at the beneficiary's intending consulate or embassy. I think that this would be a big problem and be seen with great scrutiny at some consulates while in others it might be questioned, but would not signify an automatic denial. Best wishes!

[Deputy Purple 1,294]

The span of time we became together and until we married, will that be a problem?

There's no other way to prove the genuineness of our marriage than phone record, chat logs, emails, snail mails, remittances. But those evidences came after marriage. Are they enough?

Please enlighten me and give us advice.

I would agree that this is a very Embassy specific thing. In Vietnam it would probably be difficult (from what I've seen in the VN threads but in the Philippines it's not a problem if your relations is real.

I met Anna online in October of 2008, our first in person meeting was Jan 16 2009 and we were married on Jan 30 2009. I filed the I-130 in April of 2009 and she arrive int he US in Nov 2009!

We didn't have any visits after my trip where we got married and it was out only 3 weeks together in person before her interview. There was no problem at all. If the CO had asked for it, she could have shown that she was already joint on 2 bank accounts with me, we had constant daily contact and were sending each other the appropriate holiday cards.

For the OP, I have no relevant to Iran experience, sorry.

[Ryan H 3,812]

Hi everyone.. been reading a lot of the posts here but haven't really found too much info that might apply to us. Was hoping that some of the more seasoned VJ'ers here would analyze our situation and give opinions.

Here's the deal - me and my now husband met online in 2008 and have had uninterrupted communication in the form of video, e-mail, snail mail, chat and phone since then.

The topic of marriage had come up maybe a year into the relationship, because that was basically the goal for both of us. We really got to know each other completely before arranging our first trip in person, just to be sure that we would both be as compatible as we've been all along. To me, the trip just felt like a confirmation to what I already felt strongly about... and I was right!

We went on our trip and all was great - even better than expected. We spent a month together overseas and decided to get married while we were there. We could not see any reason to wait, so we didn't.. and went ahead with a civil ceremony.

We are not in a position to have a big wedding party for a few reasons. Financial, logistical, personal.. honestly, we'd rather spend our money on some more great trips together, not a big, expensive party.

We just filed our I-130. We will have another trip together this summer, but obviously we have to work things around our finances and what our employers will allow.

Does anyone think that this step to get married on our first trip would appear to be a red flag/problem?

OP: Congratulations first of all! I will echo the statements Darnell and pushbrk said to you. Marriage on the first trip can be a red flag but it doesn't mean it necessarily will be. I assume you have plenty of evidence prior to and since your first in-person meeting. Also, additional trips to see each other in-person prior to the interview are good too (something you are already planning to do). You will have the opportunity to include additional evidence to your file when your case reaches the NVC. The NVC will require things from you when they process your file, when you submit what they require, you can include additional evidence. I would also include what you submitted initially with your I-130. I say this because I have seen posts that USCIS does not always forward complete files to the NVC in CR-1 cases.

Also, I have seen posts from people who have spouses from countries in the Middle East have their case go into AP (Administrative Processing) after the interview. Given the current state of relations (or lack thereof) at the governmental level between the USA and Iran, my opinion is that the odds are better than 50% that your case will be subjected to AP. However, people who have been through this before with a spouse from Iran can better answer, I can only speculate.

Best wishes to you both for the future!

[thelastpetitioner 218]

OP ,first of all,was iranian embassy in the country you got married at informed?second of all are you iranian?whats your religion?

i ask because if its not in the embassy data base that you have been married ( iranian embassy ) your marriage is not recognized in iran,and therefor not in the states.youll need iranian evidence ( sighe nameh or whatever they use these days ) to prove that you are legally ( by the beneficiary's country's rules ) married.

if youre not iranian,youll be facing the second problem of different religions,iranian embassy doesnt recognize marriages between different faiths.third of all,whats more important than the marriage,is the amount of time you spend together and the amount of evidence.how big is the age gap?

Edited April 1, 2011 by thelastpetitioner

[misswhy 0]

OP ,first of all,was iranian embassy in the country you got married at informed?second of all are you iranian?whats your religion?

i ask because if its not in the embassy data base that you have been married ( iranian embassy ) your marriage is not recognized in iran,and therefor not in the states.youll need iranian evidence ( sighe nameh or whatever they use these days ) to prove that you are legally ( by the beneficiary's country's rules ) married.

if youre not iranian,youll be facing the second problem of different religions,iranian embassy doesnt recognize marriages between different faiths.third of all,whats more important than the marriage,is the amount of time you spend together and the amount of evidence.how big is the age gap?

We were married in Istanbul, and I followed the instructions of the US Embassy for what I would need to do for the marriage to be legal here. My marriage certificate/license has been accepted as legal everywhere..just about finished doing all the name changes. We did not register the marriage at the Iranian embassy yet - but I have the forms..including the Muslim declaration, no big deal I think it's like a one page document.

[thelastpetitioner 218]

We were married in Istanbul, and I followed the instructions of the US Embassy for what I would need to do for the marriage to be legal here. My marriage certificate/license has been accepted as legal everywhere..just about finished doing all the name changes. We did not register the marriage at the Iranian embassy yet - but I have the forms..including the Muslim declaration, no big deal I think it's like a one page document.

see what they use in iran,is like a booklet,which reminds both parties their obligation and rights,THAT is needed for the interview,and even if by some divine miracle it dont come up in the interview,your husband will have to go through AP,and it will most likely come up there.if i were you i would apply for getting it registered in an iranian embassy,just in case.you know there is always a possibility of getting denied in AP for middle eastern men.there is an iranian ( in farsi ) website that ill link,have your husband check that out,he might get more specific answers ( i saw a guy denied in AP for a k-1 on there )www.mohajersara.com

Edited April 2, 2011 by thelastpetitioner

[babaramin 0]

I think u have to marry in your country or his.

i think u have to marry in your country or his.

[pushbrk 12,887]

I think u have to marry in your country or his.

i think u have to marry in your country or his.

You think wrong. The USA will recognize marriages performed in any country as long as THAT country recognizes the marriage as legal. So, a US Citizen and an Iranian Citizen (male and female, not plural marriage) legally and lawfully married in ANY country are "married" as far as the USA is concerned, REGARDLESS of whether ANYTHING is registered with ANY Iranian authorities ANYWHERE.

[misswhy 0]

You think wrong. The USA will recognize marriages performed in any country as long as THAT country recognizes the marriage as legal. So, a US Citizen and an Iranian Citizen (male and female, not plural marriage) legally and lawfully married in ANY country are "married" as far as the USA is concerned, REGARDLESS of whether ANYTHING is registered with ANY Iranian authorities ANYWHERE.

Thanks, pushbrk, that is exactly what I expected. Even when asking others about this, everyone has basically said, "what does any of this have to do with Iran?" We could not find one reason that the US government would care whether or not our marriage was recognized there.

The only answer we found was that I would have to register the marriage with the Iranian government if I wished to travel there under their rules. So for now, we are skipping that step as I have no immediate plans to visit.

[pushbrk 12,887]

Thanks, pushbrk, that is exactly what I expected. Even when asking others about this, everyone has basically said, "what does any of this have to do with Iran?" We could not find one reason that the US government would care whether or not our marriage was recognized there.

The only answer we found was that I would have to register the marriage with the Iranian government if I wished to travel there under their rules. So for now, we are skipping that step as I have no immediate plans to visit.

Right, if you wish to travel to Iran as husband and wife, you'll need to comply with Iran's requirements for doing so. It has nothing at all to do with US immigration.