would it be ok to wed right after fiance receives his visa?

[marielac 7]

i dont know if itd be legal or no big deal. we want the ceremony to be in honduras since our families are there and we love our small town...but since the K1 is for not married couples i dont know if the US will have a problem with this...but then again it would be after he receives his visa. we will have the ceremony there regardless but if we wait until we can go back after adhusting his status, it will be a long wait. what do you guys think?

[paojack 41]

With a K1 visa you MUST get married in the USA.

[HeatDeath 430]

In a word, NO. Here's why:

Your fiance will be asked, at PoE, if he is legally free to marry. If he can not answer that question with an honest, sincere, and convincing "I am not married, and am therefore legally free to marry", the CBP officer at the PoE will cancel his fiance visa right there and then and you will have to start all over with a spousal visa.

Furthermore, once in the US, your fiance will have to send in a bunch of Adjustment of Status forms to USCIS. He will have to include a copy of his I-94 entry document, and your official marriage certificate. If the marriage certificate is from outside the US, and/or the date on the marriage certificate is not subsequent to his PoE date, the AOS will be denied, and you will have to file an I-130, and pay another thousand dollars plus in fees, and that's assuming the CBP officers at PoE didn't find the foreign marriage certificate and cancel his visa and deny him entry in the first place.

While it might be possible to have a purely religious non-binding ceremony of some kind in Honduras, you must look at the local laws and be very very careful - if it is a legally binding wedding under Honduran law it will be legally binding in the US.

And even if you find you can get away with that little, it's still a really bad idea. You never ever want to put yourselves in a position where your answer to a government official's question has to begin with "Well, technically...".

In your shoes, I would not have anything in Honduras other than a completely-non-wedding-like engagement/departure celebration/party. You need to avoid even the slightest appearance of being legally married before he enters the US on a K-1.

Edited July 5, 2011 by HeatDeath

[MatthewNCarolina 73]

This would be wrong... you have to get legally married within 3 months after his POE (port of entry) in the U.S, so if you get married in Honduras, when you decided to go to U.S, you'd have a problem with it.

Why don't you just wait, get his visa, go to U.S, get legally married IN THE U.S (courthouse, small ceremony, whatever it suits you), and when you get the advance parole to visit honduras you just have another reception? Or a big party to celebrate, or the religious ceremony only there... many ideas, you just can't get legally married out of U.S under a k1 visa.

That's what we'll do, have 2 receptions but the legal marriage of course, it'll be in the U.S.. good chance to use your dress twice! Good luck

[NHKx2 43]

Yes, the US will have a problem with your plan.

If marrying in Honduras is essential, you should get married there then pursue the CR-1/spouse visa.

[newlyweds2010 208]

Some couples have a small wedding in the US to comply with the terms of the visa and then, once the foreign spouse gets his or her green card, they go back to the country of origin and have a bigger party.

[Anh map 2,098]

Have a big party, stand up in front and swear to love each other forever. Just don't have anyone "officiating" that actually has the power/authority to perform a legal wedding.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

He may be able to enter the US with the K1 visa after he's married, presuming he keeps his mouth shut and doesn't mention the marriage to the CBP officer. He won't be able to adjust status though because the date on the marriage certificate will be before the date he entered the US. There's no way you can hide this from USCIS. You must marry in the US after he enters with the K1 visa.

[souleymon 27]

All said and done..its advisable to marry in the us since he enters via a K1 Visa

[Casprd 167]

To answer your question and re-iterate the previous, No it wouldn't be legal and yes it would be a big deal

[gland 5]

i dont know if itd be legal or no big deal. we want the ceremony to be in honduras since our families are there and we love our small town...but since the K1 is for not married couples i dont know if the US will have a problem with this...but then again it would be after he receives his visa. we will have the ceremony there regardless but if we wait until we can go back after adhusting his status, it will be a long wait. what do you guys think?

My fiance and I had an engagement party in her country. Had pics and wedding dress and the whole ten yards. No marriage though but her family and frineds all came and it was a great time. That way they all got to be part of her celebration but wedding will be here.

[Daniel&Theary 30]

You can marry if you do not file government papers for proof of marriage. Something of a ceremony for the family but no marriage license. Then when you come to the states you do not have to lie and you can do a small ceremony here.