Would a Cruise Wedding violate our Visa?

[Ryan & Amanda 1]

My fiance and I are looking to do a shipboard wedding on a cruise. I know leaving the country can void our application in some cases. But the idea of cruises is so vague. If he has the visa, comes here to get married, and we get married in the US (at port and such) would we be able to do a Bahamas/Caribbean cruise or something in the like? What about Mexico? Or can he not leave the US at all until we file the Advance Parole?

Thanks in advance!

[KayDeeCee 4,893]

My fiance and I are looking to do a shipboard wedding on a cruise. I know leaving the country can void our application in some cases. But the idea of cruises is so vague. If he has the visa, comes here to get married, and we get married in the US (at port and such) would we be able to do a Bahamas/Caribbean cruise or something in the like? What about Mexico? Or can he not leave the US at all until we file the Advance Parole?

Thanks in advance!

He cannot leave the US until he has AP or a green card.

[canadian_wife 1,822]

Don't even bother with it. Do not have him leave the US without AP or GC. Too much riding on it. If a destination wedding is what you want, think Hawaii or Puerto Rico.

And Bahamas and Mexico are other countries. To land in one means he's left the US - a K-1 visa is single entry, he won't be able to return even if you are married

Good luck

[Ryan & Amanda 1]

Don't even bother with it. Do not have him leave the US without AP or GC. Too much riding on it. If a destination wedding is what you want, think Hawaii or Puerto Rico.

And Bahamas and Mexico are other countries. To land in one means he's left the US - a K-1 visa is single entry, he won't be able to return even if you are married

Good luck

Gotcha. I figured as much but this was very helpful, thank you.

[Lavi 3]

Uff, good to know i wont be able to leave US, coz we thought also to go to Bahamas for the wedding.

[account closed 4]

Hi! Don't leave the US! He will not be allowed back in. Even Hawaii is risky. Just DONT do it! There are plenty of places you can get married in the US that are beautiful and romantic.

-Bonnie

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

They do wedding cruises ( of only a few hours) out of the Los Angeles area. Then you could go stay on Catalina Island ( also just outside of LA and not outside the US )

[gretchen_darren 67]

LA is a good option, Lake Mead up by Vegas has riverboat cruises. and I am sure there others across the country. If you set foot on foreign soil, with no AP, you are giving up your application. You cannot get married outside of the US on a K-1 visa. on a K-1 visa you MUST (mandatory MUST) marry in the US. This is the reason for the K-1. If you want to marry somewhere else, it would be a K-3. Most cruise ships in the US are foreign soil and registered to foreign countries. (this includes Carnival, Celebrity, and RCCL.)

Cruise ship laws in the US dictate a Cruise Ship must stop at a foreign port if not registered under the US flag on a cruise unless paying certain tariffs. unless you know you are remaining in the US the entire time and the ship is US registered, I would not set foot on it until the AP was in hand.

[bigdog 376]

My fiance and I are looking to do a shipboard wedding on a cruise. I know leaving the country can void our application in some cases. But the idea of cruises is so vague. If he has the visa, comes here to get married, and we get married in the US (at port and such) would we be able to do a Bahamas/Caribbean cruise or something in the like? What about Mexico? Or can he not leave the US at all until we file the Advance Parole?

Thanks in advance!

Save that trip until you have a GC or AP, you cannot leave USA. :Join the club, waiting. Lots of beautiful places in US. We went to Las Vegas, Cruise next year.

[Nigel&Meggie 40]

Hi! Don't leave the US! He will not be allowed back in. Even Hawaii is risky. Just DONT do it! There are plenty of places you can get married in the US that are beautiful and romantic.

-Bonnie

What's risky about going to Hawaii without AP??

[GG.Gutierrez 0]

Don't even think about leaving the US not even Hawaii or puerto Rico! That was the first thing the immigration officer told me and my husband when I got here to the US. he said you can wait until you have your residency or your AP it won't be as long as it would be to be denied entry and start all over again. I got my green card in 3 months. The wait is not that long and is not worth the risk.

Good luck!

[Matt & Bing 56]

Hi! Don't leave the US! He will not be allowed back in. Even Hawaii is risky. Just DONT do it! There are plenty of places you can get married in the US that are beautiful and romantic.

-Bonnie

What, is Hawaii no longer part of the United States??

Don't even think about leaving the US not even Hawaii or puerto Rico! That was the first thing the immigration officer told me and my husband when I got here to the US. he said you can wait until you have your residency or your AP it won't be as long as it would be to be denied entry and start all over again. I got my green card in 3 months. The wait is not that long and is not worth the risk.

Good luck!

Going to Hawaii is not "leaving the US".

[Nigel&Meggie 40]

Don't even think about leaving the US not even Hawaii or puerto Rico! That was the first thing the immigration officer told me and my husband when I got here to the US. he said you can wait until you have your residency or your AP it won't be as long as it would be to be denied entry and start all over again. I got my green card in 3 months. The wait is not that long and is not worth the risk.

Good luck!

Hawaii is a US state! It is fine to go there without AP.

[HeatDeath 430]

Hawaii isn't risky, because it is a full state. Flights to and from Hawaii are domestic flights - you never go through a PoE and you don't interact with CBP at all. The only slight risk is if a TSA officer, while looking in your passport to confirm your identity, gets confused by the visa and I-94 and calls an immigration officer over, and even that is not a problem, since the immigration officer will be able to tell (assuming the I-94 isn't expired) that you are in the country perfectly normally.

Puerto Rico, OTOH, is somewhat more risky. Because it is not a full state, and because it is so easy to get there by boat from other Caribbean countries, passengers returning from Puerto Rico usually do have to go through the Customs and Immigration PoE at the airport when they get back to the mainland US. In that situation a K-1 entrant may be asked to prove they did not leave the US while in Puerto Rico. Not usually a problem, the vast majority of the time, but somewhat more stressful, with a small element of risk.

[Hawaii is way nicer than Puerto Rico, by all accounts, anyways.]

Edited August 8, 2011 by HeatDeath

[Casprd 167]

Hawaii is not a "risk" at all. Not sure where that is coming from but you are perfectly fine going to Hawaii. Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Guam or any other US Territory is an option but there are risks that the CBP may get confused, but it is still perfectly legal.