August 31st Wedding

[MarkYYC 0]

Hi guys

I am pretty new to visa journey, but my fiancee and I are in the process of applying for a K1 visa to bring me down to the USA (from Calgary, Alberta, Canada).

We have sent in the paperwork, etc, and received an NOA1. We have set the wedding for August 31st, 2013.

The big question is will we have enough time for this wedding date to work? I just filled out the timeline today, and it is predicting our 129F may be adjudicated between June 22, 2013 and July 30, 2013*.

Is this a pretty good estimate? Or are these playing on the safe side of things?

If you have been in this situation before, please let me know how things turned out!

Thanks,

Mark

[Pitaya 2,577]

Hi guys

I am pretty new to visa journey, but my fiancee and I are in the process of applying for a K1 visa to bring me down to the USA (from Calgary, Alberta, Canada).

We have sent in the paperwork, etc, and received an NOA1. We have set the wedding for August 31st, 2013.

The big question is will we have enough time for this wedding date to work? I just filled out the timeline today, and it is predicting our 129F may be adjudicated between June 22, 2013 and July 30, 2013*.

Is this a pretty good estimate? Or are these playing on the safe side of things?

If you have been in this situation before, please let me know how things turned out!

Thanks,

Mark

Welcome to the forum.

You may be okay, or you may not. The general recommendation is to NOT make ANY wedding plans until you have the K-1 visa affixed in the beneficiary's passbook, and in the beneficiary's hand.

Good luck.

[visaqueries 111]

We can hope you will get your visa, but I am an August 2012 filer out of the California Service Center with no NOA2 yet. Visa Journey is only a small sampling of the people who have filed, so the information is just an estimate. Another August filer had called the USCIS and reported the USCIS were still working on July 2012 petitions. You have a shot, I suppose, but you might be cutting it a little too close for comfort.

[CHarvey80 72]

I would suggest not to make any plans. You may get the K1 adjudicated by that time, but there's no way to be sure. Remember also that there are other stages, like NVC and the scheduling of an interview at the Embassy. Play safe and wait a little longer.

[amykathleen2005 441]

Hi guys

I am pretty new to visa journey, but my fiancee and I are in the process of applying for a K1 visa to bring me down to the USA (from Calgary, Alberta, Canada).

We have sent in the paperwork, etc, and received an NOA1. We have set the wedding for August 31st, 2013.

The big question is will we have enough time for this wedding date to work? I just filled out the timeline today, and it is predicting our 129F may be adjudicated between June 22, 2013 and July 30, 2013*.

Is this a pretty good estimate? Or are these playing on the safe side of things?

If you have been in this situation before, please let me know how things turned out!

Thanks,

Mark

I think he estimate of the date is correct, but it still has to go through the Department of State and on to the embassy where they will send you paperwork and you need the medical and you need to wait for an interview date. August 31st is probably not a safe bet.

*Edit currently the average time between the embassy receiving your information and you having an interview is 82 days. So even June 22 + 82 days will mean you miss your wedding.

Edited January 29, 2013 by amykathleen2005

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

There are more steps after the approval of your petition. I don't think you'll make that date, but you never know. Is your embassy Vancouver, by chance? Montreal is really slow/backlogged.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Hi guys

I am pretty new to visa journey, but my fiancee and I are in the process of applying for a K1 visa to bring me down to the USA (from Calgary, Alberta, Canada).

We have sent in the paperwork, etc, and received an NOA1. We have set the wedding for August 31st, 2013.

The big question is will we have enough time for this wedding date to work? I just filled out the timeline today, and it is predicting our 129F may be adjudicated between June 22, 2013 and July 30, 2013*.

Is this a pretty good estimate? Or are these playing on the safe side of things?

If you have been in this situation before, please let me know how things turned out!

Thanks,

Mark

Maybe yes, maybe no. WAY too many variables to say. It is best never to make any plans until the visa is in your hand. If you do anyway, and get burned, remember...no crying in immigration!

And NO, USCIS will not grant an expedite because you already printed invitations.

[at long last 58]

Gosh I think that is possible overly ambitious but stranger things have happened. but to ease the stress I would hold off on the date. we changed ours 5 times....

Terri

[MarkYYC 0]

Hey guys

Thanks for the advice everyone, although now we aren't sure what to do now. For sure lots of praying!

Harpa: Vancouver would be our embassy, as I am in Calgary, so that is good to know!

Mark

[CaroSL 68]

Hey guys

Thanks for the advice everyone, although now we aren't sure what to do now. For sure lots of praying!

Harpa: Vancouver would be our embassy, as I am in Calgary, so that is good to know!

Mark

Hello Mark, and welcome to the forum!

To give you an idea, I have now been in that process almost 8 months, I have still no interview date. I wouldn't bet on august for a wedding.

You'll sleep better if you don't plan anything yet, I promess (and I know what I am talking about)

Good luck with the visa journey!

[iliad5000 0]

As far as not knowing what to do now... I think you do know ;-) If you can live with the very real chance that your Visa will not be completed, and thus

miss your wedding date, then do it.

If not, well, then don't set a date.

You are from Canada though, not Cambodia... so why not actually do the wedding ceremony on the 31 of August here in the States (or Canada). If the paperwork is done by then, then make it official.

If not, then wait on the marriage certificate. Go through the ceremony so you can have your guest, loved ones, etc., and then do a courthouse wedding to make it

legal?

Natasha and I are taking this route. This summer I will be in Ukraine. We are doing a Ukrainian wedding with her family and friends present. We will go through all the motions,

but we are not going to make it legal. This way she can get "married' in her country, have a great memory from it. When she gets to the states, we will do a simple courthouse

wedding and sign all the papers, etc.

[CaroSL 68]

As far as not knowing what to do now... I think you do know ;-) If you can live with the very real chance that your Visa will not be completed, and thus

miss your wedding date, then do it.

If not, well, then don't set a date.

You are from Canada though, not Cambodia... so why not actually do the wedding ceremony on the 31 of August here in the States (or Canada). If the paperwork is done by then, then make it official.

If not, then wait on the marriage certificate. Go through the ceremony so you can have your guest, loved ones, etc., and then do a courthouse wedding to make it

legal?

Natasha and I are taking this route. This summer I will be in Ukraine. We are doing a Ukrainian wedding with her family and friends present. We will go through all the motions,

but we are not going to make it legal. This way she can get "married' in her country, have a great memory from it. When she gets to the states, we will do a simple courthouse

wedding and sign all the papers, etc.

Be cautious though. You must not be married to be able to be delivered or enter the US on a K1 visa, and the CO must not have doubts you are not married. It means no wedding bands, no pictures of a wedding ceremony (even on the internet), no reference to your fiancé as your husband/wife (unless is it culturally endearing terms apparently, like in the philippines), no hesitating when the CO asks what you were doing in Ukraine, etc.

Also, if they ask you direclty : are you married, and you say no but you had a ceremony (although not legal) they can consider you were liying if they find out... this could get bad...

So I wouldn't recommend it. I planed my wedding and I am beating myself everyday for doing so. If I don't have my visa by then, I won't have a ceremony. I will fly out there to see my guests (hopefully be able to enter the US), not wear my beautiful dress, and do something much more simple than a wedding. I am not taking more risks, no way.

[goodlucklife 44]

As far as not knowing what to do now... I think you do know ;-) If you can live with the very real chance that your Visa will not be completed, and thus

miss your wedding date, then do it.

If not, well, then don't set a date.

You are from Canada though, not Cambodia... so why not actually do the wedding ceremony on the 31 of August here in the States (or Canada). If the paperwork is done by then, then make it official.

If not, then wait on the marriage certificate. Go through the ceremony so you can have your guest, loved ones, etc., and then do a courthouse wedding to make it

legal?

Natasha and I are taking this route. This summer I will be in Ukraine. We are doing a Ukrainian wedding with her family and friends present. We will go through all the motions,

but we are not going to make it legal. This way she can get "married' in her country, have a great memory from it. When she gets to the states, we will do a simple courthouse

wedding and sign all the papers, etc.

No no no.... When you get married in the states you must get a license, blood test..etc... I would not risk getting married before your 129-f is approved and you visa is giving to you after your interview. REMEMBER They are doing backgrounds checks on you during this process. They could find out though official town records that you appied for a marriage license. SO ....not worth it.

I originally wanted a july wedding. But after seeing the average wait times here , there is a good chance my fiance in Italy will have the interview in August ( about 8 1/2 month after noa1.. so...there goes my dream of a July wedding! But just imagine how wonderful it will be during your wedding day when EVERYTHING in is place, your visa is approved and you can marry honestly and ready to start your new life here.

Good luck ( we all need it!)

Angelina

[N-o-l-a 7,167]

I would say wait on the wedding. Get married civilly within 90 days of US entry on the K1 and after you've got your visa in hand plan the wedding you want.

[afoyoswa 178]

As you can see from our timeline, our NOA1 date was Feb. 23, and he arrived in the U.S. on Nov. 20, so almost exactly 9 months start to finish. We actually got our NOA2 in August, but there were unanticipated delays at the embassy, and we ended up having to reschedule the Nov. 3 wedding date we had started (after the NOA2) to plan for. We had set up the venue, photographer, etc. with a backup date so it didn't cost us anything, but it WAS a huge let-down.

In the end, we planned and carried off a fun, beautiful, perfect wedding in about 7 weeks (with only the venue and officiant having been booked before that period, and only preliminary research done for everything else). The guests all knew the situation and were flexible, and everyone who really mattered ended up being able to come.

So, I would really hesitate to go full steam ahead planning an August wedding, unless you're planning for a built-in backup date several months later like we did. The estimates mean exactly nothing at this stage, as the processing centers speed up and slow down erratically and unpredictably, so you won't have a good idea what to expect for several months yet (the estimates are a little bit like a weather forecast for 2 weeks from now: anything could happen).

Edited January 29, 2013 by afoyoswa