Get married before the fiancee visa apporved

[scottnlizzie 4]

Does anyone know what would happen if one were to get married before their fiancee visa was approved? My exact situation is that I have received my first NOA for a fiancee visa (k1), but my fiancee in the Philippines has expressed her desire for us to get married in the Philippines. Will we have to wait until she is issued her visa to come to America and then marry in the Philippines? I feel as though a marriage that occurs before the fiancee visa is issued would be frowned upon by USCIS. Am I correct?

[cdneh 3,112]

You are right. You would need to apply for a different visa if you marry first. The K1 is for her to come to the USA and marry.

If you marry her there, you would have to apply for a different visa.

Edited October 24, 2011 by cdneh

[Lainie B 465]

Yes, you are correct. You have to get legally married in the US, after she has her K-1 and has entered the US. If you get married before that you will have to start again with a spousal petition.

[Inky 1,110]

You get married before K-1 visa and before you are in the USA = NO MORE K-1 VISA.

You are married you cannot get a K-1 FIANCE visa.

You start all over again from the bottom. New fees, new waiting time of 1 year, new forms, new everything. You do not " change " or " switch " you start all over again.

K-1 is a ONE TIME USE.

If you enter the USA and then leave without filing AP/ AOS and without the AP card or GC then you have to file all over again to come back to the USA.

If you enter on the K-1 then leave to the Phils to get married you cannot use the K-1 you wasted the K-1. You will have to file a spousal visa to come back to America.

[Penny Lane 8,159]

The main stipulation of the K1 Visa is that you get married within 90 days of POE. How would you do that if you are already married? No fiance = no fiance visa.

[bigdog 376]

Depends if you want to start over.

[scottnlizzie 4]

Ok thank you everyone. I just wanted to make sure what I told my fiancee was correct. The only thing we can do is have a ceremony in the Philippines that does not include a legal marriage.

Thanks again and also for the quick replies.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

Ok thank you everyone. I just wanted to make sure what I told my fiancee was correct. The only thing we can do is have a ceremony in the Philippines that does not include a legal marriage.

Thanks again and also for the quick replies.

I kind of went thru this. Sometimes the more traditional families will frown on a loved leaving as a single woman. It would have been 6 months or more before I could come back to the Philippines to marry, then tack on another 6-8 months for the K-3 visa process starting from new again.

What I did was promise her family that I would Marry her as soon as she got here and as soon as AOS was done, we we fly back together for a wedding in her hometown. The wedding here will be for legal purposes and the one there will be the traditional ceremony with family. This seemed to make everyone happy. That was May. Her interview is Nov 3.

[mapletree 33]

Remember - She will need to submit a Certificate of No Marriage Record (CENOMAR). So you can't really do it on the sly.

And if you lie on anything in the process, they can boot you. They may not deny the visa because you have an arrest or the like, but they will deny it for lying about the arrest. This is contrary to Philippine culture and a cause for many troubles when you have Am-Phil interactions.

Edited October 24, 2011 by mapletree

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Does anyone know what would happen if one were to get married before their fiancee visa was approved? My exact situation is that I have received my first NOA for a fiancee visa (k1), but my fiancee in the Philippines has expressed her desire for us to get married in the Philippines. Will we have to wait until she is issued her visa to come to America and then marry in the Philippines? I feel as though a marriage that occurs before the fiancee visa is issued would be frowned upon by USCIS. Am I correct?

It is not frowned upon.

They simply deny the K-1 fiancee visa (which is for FIANCEE's) and you file for a CR-1. No frowning, they will take your money and put you to the end of the line with a smile!

This is the difference between a FIANCEE and a SPOUSE visa. Once she marries you, you HAVE NO Fiancee to petition.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Ok thank you everyone. I just wanted to make sure what I told my fiancee was correct. The only thing we can do is have a ceremony in the Philippines that does not include a legal marriage.

Thanks again and also for the quick replies.

This has often resulted in the denial of a K-1 also. The US recognizes religious ceremonies as marriages BUT they do not necessarily produce a marriage certificate and you are then in a catch-22 situation. You have no fiancee and no marriage certificate to file a spouse visa.

My advice? Make up your mind and do what you need to for that visa and nothing else.

[Vinny&Rose 0]

So is not okay to tell the officer during the interview that we're going to have a big weeding first outside the state? Because both of our families and friends are in Taiwan. We're not thinking about Taiwan marry certificate either. We're just trying to host a big weeding in the hotel.

[skiptex 225]

So is not okay to tell the officer during the interview that we're going to have a big weeding first outside the state? Because both of our families and friends are in Taiwan. We're not thinking about Taiwan marry certificate either. We're just trying to host a big weeding in the hotel.

i think you are hijacking this thread.. start your own thread so you can get the correct answers that you seek

[skiptex 225]

Ok thank you everyone. I just wanted to make sure what I told my fiancee was correct. The only thing we can do is have a ceremony in the Philippines that does not include a legal marriage.

Thanks again and also for the quick replies.

why are playing with fire with this K1.. this could lead to denial of your application..

jus get married and bring her over on CR1..

Do one or the other.. as it has been stated.. you asked a question.. and you getting answers.. if you don't want to listen to them.. its your application..

good luck

[Inky 1,110]

So is not okay to tell the officer during the interview that we're going to have a big weeding first outside the state? Because both of our families and friends are in Taiwan. We're not thinking about Taiwan marry certificate either. We're just trying to host a big weeding in the hotel.

You will likely be denied at the K-1 interview if you tell them your going to have a big wedding in Taiwan.

Side note.

You cannot use the K-1 after you get married in Taiwan, you are to marry in the USA on a K-1. Your AOS will be denied because you must provide a marriage certificate at the time of AOS. They will obviously see you used the K-1 to enter married because your marriage certificate will be from Taiwan and not the USA like the requirements state for AOS from a K-1.