Marry in the US or in Manila?

[AGodlyMan 0]

Hello, I am new here. I wanted to know your opinion. I am a US citizen who has a fiancee in Manila. I already completed the requirements for K1 or Fiancee Visa. I heard that after we get married, I still need to file for adjustment which cost 1k dollars more. What will be the advantage and disadvantages if we just decided to get married in Manila rather than in US? Also if you could help me to know the disadvantages and advantages of a K1 visa, that will be helpful. Thank you so much!

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

For the K-1 visa, you MUST marry in the US. Then, after marriage, you must file more papers to make the immigrant a permanent residency.

If you want to marry in Manila, you cannot use the K-1 visa. You can marry in Manila and then pursue a spousal visa if she wants to live here. (which costs about $1K too).

[Pitaya 2,577]

~Moved from K-1 Process to What Visa Do I Need Forum~

[B_J 2,752]

Hello, I am new here. I wanted to know your opinion. I am a US citizen who has a fiancee in Manila. I already completed the requirements for K1 or Fiancee Visa. I heard that after we get married, I still need to file for adjustment which cost 1k dollars more. What will be the advantage and disadvantages if we just decided to get married in Manila rather than in US? Also if you could help me to know the disadvantages and advantages of a K1 visa, that will be helpful. Thank you so much!

Not really sure what you mean when you say you completed the requirements for the fiancee visa. I'll assume that means you haven't already sent in your paperwork.

If you get married in the Phililppines you will save about a thousand dollars and she will receive her green card when she gets here. However, I think the wait on the spouse visa is longer than the fiancee visa.

For the fiancee visa, as was said earlier, you have to get married in the US plus you have to adjust status which is the extra thousand dollars. But the process is a little quicker. However, you have to wait until the adjustment of status is complete in order for her to work, assuming she wants to.

Just my opinion, but if I had to do it all over again, we would have got married in the Philippines.

Edited February 18, 2014 by B_J

[AGodlyMan 0]

Thank you for the responses. I have completed all the paper works but have not submitted to Dallas Lockbox. I am confused if I would pursue the fiancee visa or just get married there. Here is my thoughts

Fiancee Visa

Adv.

1. Quicker for her to be here

2. We can be together in 5-8 months

Disadv

1. Extra $340 to pay for the I-129f form

2. Will need to wait for adjustment before she can work

3. Expensive to get married in USA (roughly you need 10k USD)

Spouse Visa

Adv.

1. She will be a green card right away

2. She can work after having the GC

3. Cheaper to get married in Manila

Disadv

1. A bit longer to process

2. You will leave behind your wife

Hope you can provide more information. Thank you!

[Mike-eeh and Odie 193]

...

3. Expensive to get married in USA (roughly you need 10k USD)...

Depends on the kind of marriage ceremony. To get legally married via a public servant like a mayor only costs like $100-200 USD for an officiating fee and $30.00 for a marriage license.

Now if you are talking about the wedding reception, yes, that can get costly, up to $10,000 for a grand wedding to remember. That said, my wife and I, had a small wedding done by my town mayor and will do a vow renewal with a grand reception in a year or two when we save enough money together.

Edited February 18, 2014 by Mike-eeh and Odie

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Marriage is nearly free in the US.

[Tahoma 2,292]

It takes about three weeks to get married in Manila. That can be an advantage or a disadvantage depending on how much time and money you have.

An advantage of a fiancée visa is that it gives you more time before you have to sign an I-864...and more time to withdraw it too.

[Teripid 5]

We got married in the Philippines because of a few factors:

She wanted her parents and friends to be able to attend and I had a very small family in comparison. I was able to fly about 3 people over and we had a lot of mutual friends already in PHI from our time working at the same company. She'd also go crazy being unable to get a job for a long period of time. There were also a number of great spots for a honeymoon that we both had access to with a quick flight from the Philippines. We ended up hiking Mt. Pulag and spending time in Cambodia and Coron. If we'd gotten married in the US we'd have to delay that trip and look at spots that she'd be able to travel to outside the country or go somewhere more local.

It took some time, work and preparation. 3 weeks is about right for the waiting, planning and wedding. I came over for a 2 week prep visit that was mostly paperwork, pre-cana and other goodies done. While the K-1 process may be more expensive your major focus shouldn't be the few hundred cost difference. The whole process, travel and other elements are expensive enough that a few hundred is insignificant compared to the timing and other pros-cons already listed above. After that 3 weeks for wedding, honeymoon and what's now looking like it'll be almost exactly a year long wait and a lot of Skype/LINE/Viber since submitting the I-130 before she'll get to join me.

My question to you would be what are her thoughts on this? Which path makes sense for you both? Is she planning on working right away? Does she want friends and family to attend the wedding? Cost of the wedding in PHI while cheaper than many other spots but might surprise you especially in Manila at a decent venue with more Kano style catering.

[SennaBrigante 92]

We got married in Texas and only spent $75. We were husband and wife in just 15 minutes lol. I personally would do a K-1. Just preparing documents to get married in the Manila is enough to turn me off with the idea.

[Hank_ 9,174]

Hello, I am new here. I wanted to know your opinion. I am a US citizen who has a fiancee in Manila. I already completed the requirements for K1 or Fiancee Visa. I heard that after we get married, I still need to file for adjustment which cost 1k dollars more. What will be the advantage and disadvantages if we just decided to get married in Manila rather than in US? Also if you could help me to know the disadvantages and advantages of a K1 visa, that will be helpful. Thank you so much!

Big disadvantage of marrying in the Philippines at this point is that you would void your K-1 and have to start over with the IR/CR-1 spousal visa. Costs are not all that different between the two, when you add everything up.

[Zedayn 485]

3. Expensive to get married in USA (roughly you need 10k USD)

Whoa what kind of wedding are you thinking? In Iowa, it only costs $35 to have a legal ceremony. This is the cost of the marriage license, getting married at the courthouse is free.

You are not required to have an extravagant wedding that cost thousands of dollars, all you need is to be legally married.

[AGodlyMan 0]

Thank you for the advices guys. Not an extravagant wedding but just enough to celebrate it with our family and love ones.

Anyway I finally decided to pursue the K-1 Visa and submitted it today. What else should I do and how do you used the ticker and get your timeline?

[SennaBrigante 92]

Get the ticker from a ticker site and just click on your own timeline links to edit yours