Do we need to have a wedding within 90 days or is a legal marriage sufficient?

[Ortolan 381]

You don't have to have a "wedding," just a legal ceremony, maybe at the courthouse. Be sure to get multiple copies of your marriage license; you'll be happy you have them later. Easiest time to get them is right after the ceremony at the courthouse.

[lizascissors 66]

The marriage certificate is evidence of the wedding.

Obviously the marriage certificate is evidence, I'm not stupid. But if you want to avoid RFE's, photos help.

Also, it's nice to have pictures to commemorate the date.

[d3adc0d3 186]

Hey there guys,

As the topic title suggests, I am curious to know if the USCIS wants to see plans ready for an actual marriage upon arrival of my fiance? I would assume no however I have seen a couple sources on the internet saying yes, I need to have a wedding planned.

Can anyone shed some light on the validity of this?

Thanks again!

~Kevin

For a K1 Visa Petition USCIS needs you both to sign a letter of intent to marry, you will need to provide the originals. In regards to whether they need to see wedding plans, for the petition itself: No. they don't want to see wedding plans. For the interview at the consulate, some consulates may require it, but it depends on the country; I don't believe Colombia is one of those though (typically high fraud countries want to see it).

It is required that you become officially married within 90 days of him/her entering the USA which does indeed mean that you have to have a marriage ceremony, however, that does not mean it has to be a big wedding.

My fiance is from Argentina and they cared very little for wedding plans, we informed them that we were having a civil/courthouse type wedding with my children and my mother present to fulfill the requirement within 90 days of him entering the US. We also informed them that we were planning a bigger unofficial wedding for friends and family to attend the following year, as it is neigh on impossible to make any plans and book any vendors within that 90 day limit.

My fiance got his K1 visa and is currently at our home waiting for me to return from work. Our wedding is going to be at a state park in about 2 weeks, with the wedding officiant, my mother, my children, and him present. My mother is a photographer and will be taking photos of the ceremony and whatnot for us. It is to be a very quick "do you?" type ceremony, lasting not more than an hour. Next July we will have a small (but larger) wedding ceremony with invitations, cake, DJ, wedding party, etc. His parents will be invited and we will celebrate our wedding anniversary on that date (but the same year as on the wedding certificate).

When you adjust his/her status, they will want to see the wedding certificate (with the wedding date with 90 days of entry), which is required to be signed and witnessed by the wedding officiant (that is a justice of the peace, priest or other person who is licensed to officiate weddings). Wedding pictures help as well, and any receipts on reservations, where you booked it, etc.

Edited September 4, 2014 by d3adc0d3

[Elizabeth+Fred 35]

Hey there guys,

As the topic title suggests, I am curious to know if the USCIS wants to see plans ready for an actual marriage upon arrival of my fiance? I would assume no however I have seen a couple sources on the internet saying yes, I need to have a wedding planned.

Can anyone shed some light on the validity of this?

Thanks again!

~Kevin

Kevin,

The K-1 visa requires a *marriage* within 90 days. This might be a minister at the steps of the gate at which you arrive (with the cabin crew as witnesses ;-), or a small family meeting with a person who can perform the legal marriage, or a quick trip to a courthouse, up to and including a major Brangeline-type event. Whatever you and your wallet(s) want/support ;-)

So, no, you do not have to have a wedding planned, but you DO have to make arrangements to get a *marriage* performed within those 90 days after arriving- see above for options. The latter option might be a bit out of reach, but hey..

--fred

[kehills 217]

So no actual wedding. Gotcha.

Thanks Girl From Celebes!

Incorrect. You are having a wedding. You can call it "getting legaled" if you want, or a courthouse marriage, but when you're talking to USCIS and anyone else, when it comes to getting VISAs, adjusting, etc, you got married. You had a wedding. They are one and the same. There is no separation of the two when it comes to the immigration folks, which is why some people get in trouble by "having a wedding" before they have a legal marriage ceremony.

[KayDeeCee 4,896]

Obviously the marriage certificate is evidence, I'm not stupid. But if you want to avoid RFE's, photos help.

Also, it's nice to have pictures to commemorate the date.

Wedding photos are not required to be sent with the I-485, so they will not help you avoid an RFE. You only need to send in a copy of your marriage certificate. No other evidence or proof of marriage is needed when initially filing for AOS from a K-1.

Photos are nice to have personally, yes.

[MUXAGIRL 69]

OP,

A legal ceremony will totally do. Many people on this forum have done only legal ceremonies, instead of a religious one, and they did fine, myself included.

Even if you don't plan a big fat wedding, because let's face it, after so much head ache going through immigration, you probably don't want to jump into the whole brouhaha of selecting placemats and napkin holders for one hundred of your closest pals, you still should be able to do a nice legal ceremony.

Even if you get married in courthouse, you can get lot of friends with you, all dressed up nicely and take lots of pictures there. Then throw an informal but nice party afterwards and take more pictures and have fun. After that you are free to spend quality time with your love you have been waiting so long for.

Although USCIS officers like looking at pretty wedding pictures, you can give them pretty without doing months of preparation if you are not ready for big wedding due to time constraint.

[bendaj 0]

My question Is do you have to travel with your fiancée?!?! We were approved and he was going to make the solo trip as I have been to the Dominican 4 times already this year.

[Zedayn 485]

Your fiancé can travel alone to the POE.

[Ketsuban 1,034]

I'm doing a CR-1 visa, but still want to chime in with the kind of wedding we had.

We literally drove down to Columbus OH, went into a walk-in chapel with three witnesses (two of my husband's relatives and a friend of his from work) and got married for 65 bucks. Then we went to the bar next door and had a shot of whisky each before driving home.

Weddings don't need a lot of planning.

[GrayL 47]

It is recommended that you legally marry AND file within 90-days, but it is only REQUIRED that you get married within 90-days as people have already quoted. You do not need to file for AOS within 90 days, there is no timeline however being out-of-status can cause issues so it's recommended to file as soon as you can.

Although I don't know about anyone else, but I felt anxious until my AOS application was sent in. I would say most people file before or close to the end of the 90 days, but I have read stories where people have successfully adjusted after YEARS.

You can visit your courthouse and get legally married. The requirement is to be married, not to have a fancy wedding, how you get married will not effect your application validity.

Good Luck!

Edited September 4, 2014 by GrayL

[Mollie09 1,543]

Well, a wedding is a "marriage ceremony", so you need to have a wedding to be married.

If you're talking about separating the wedding and the party, that's definitely possible.

[GrayL 47]

Well, a wedding is a "marriage ceremony", so you need to have a wedding to be married.

If you're talking about separating the wedding and the party, that's definitely possible.

Sorry, but that is not true, there is simply no mention of a 'wedding', you just have to be married. A wedding/ceremony is not applicable here.

And to answer other statements, yes you do need to provide 'Evidence of a Bona fide Relationship', and yes photos of you getting married can be evidence of that, but that is one potential event on a long laundry list of evidence you could provide to satisfy them. You MUST provide your marriage certificate, that is evidence that you are married, which is obviously mandatory!

Good Luck!

Edited September 4, 2014 by GrayL

[BabyFaceWife 11]

Don't spend money on a wedding if that's not what you want. Getting married at the court or JP gives you the same marriage certificate that anyone who has a big wedding has which is what you need for AOS! Save your $ for the AOS packet You can invite people and take pictures at the court and there's your proof.

[NikLR 13,232]

Guys you are arguing over the word wedding. A wedding can be a simple JP courthouse deal or a big thing with 500 people and their dogs. Really, the word is not important. When you get married, that is a wedding. But no for the k1 you do not need a a big wedding, even a Vegas elopement is fine as long as you're legally wed