Hello :)

[tyene 5]

Hello,

I'm Tyene and I'm writing from Poland. My fiance is an US citizen from NJ. We are together since January 2013 and got engaged recently. Planning to get married in US in August 2016. We are devout Catholic and we will attempt doing what other people deem as unreasonable - plan a religious ceremony before filing for K1 visa. Our plan is to start panning the wedding now and fine for K1 visa in 2015, get it and get married properly in the US. It requires a lot of estimates and luck on our side. Right now we're planning our wedding with the parish and finding venue. Visa stuff are left for the next year, but I'm here to educate and familiarize myself with everything (although I'm pretty much well prepared).

It's going to be a nightmare of a process, but so worth it in the end.

[thatangela 134]

It isn't "deemed unreasonable." It's against the immigration rules. You cannot get married before applying for a K-1 visa.

Period.

[Caryh 5,206]

If you knew how many people came in here crying because either the visa won't be available by the date or will expire before the date their wedding plans are for, you would not be attempting this. Some people will get their visa within a couple months of applying, and others will end up taking over a year. You can not control this! If you want to get married proper in the church, plan it after the visa is obtained and get a quick marriage by a judge when you get your visa. Many do it this way. If you want to plan a fixed marriage date, get married in Poland and then apply for the CR-1 visa.

Edited October 29, 2014 by Caryh

[tyene 5]

It isn't "deemed unreasonable." It's against the immigration rules. You cannot get married before applying for a K-1 visa.

Period.

You did not read my post correctly. It's not about getting married before applying for K-1 visa. It's about planning the wedding before filing for the visa. It's analogous to buying the tickets for the trip before filing for tourist visa. People advise against it, because you might not get a visa or you might estimate your timeline wrongly.

[tyene 5]

If you knew how many people came in here crying because either the visa won't be available by the date or will expire before the date their wedding plans are for, you would not be attempting this. Some people will get their visa within a couple months of applying, and others will end up taking over a year. You can not control this! If you want to get married proper in the church, plan it after the visa is obtained and get a quick marriage by a judge when you get your visa. Many do it this way. If you want to plan a fixed marriage date, get married in Poland and then apply for the CR-1 visa.

I know of Polish people doing it. I have not heard of people not getting a visa or getting it too late from my country, so I will try attempting this. I'll start worrying if it doesn't work. Marrying in Poland is not an option for us. In the worst case scenario we will postpone Church wedding in the same parish, but I think we have more than a high chance of doing it correctly. We do not plan expensive lavish party, but it is against our values to live without sacramental marriage.

[tyene 5]

Besides, I came here to say hello, not for unsolicited advice. We are both aware that our plan might not work. However, we estimated that it most likely will. It will also show our Church our willingness to live and build our life in accordance with all the rules. I am sure that it will be much easier to postpone the wedding or to get church dispensation for earlier civil marriage if we intend and assume to do everything as it should be in the first place. We will be all of our pre-cana classes and consultations done. We are, I repeat, we are both fully aware of both legal and other requirements and the possibility that something might get wrong. We however are optimistic with assumption. The fact that visa is valid for 6 months from getting it/medical before you leave your native country and then for 90 days when you enter USA gives certain time frame that makes it possible to work with it. We intend to file everything in a way that if it did err, it would rather err to receive it earlier, and I would leave for USA earlier, we dould get dispensation from the Church, get married in court and then had a proper wedding not so long after.

So please, don't try to discourage me or suggest that I had not research this through. Thank you so much

[cappucino boy 29]

Hello,

I'm Tyene and I'm writing from Poland. My fiance is an US citizen from NJ. We are together since January 2013 and got engaged recently. Planning to get married in US in August 2016. We are devout Catholic and we will attempt doing what other people deem as unreasonable - plan a religious ceremony before filing for K1 visa. Our plan is to start panning the wedding now and fine for K1 visa in 2015, get it and get married properly in the US. It requires a lot of estimates and luck on our side. Right now we're planning our wedding with the parish and finding venue. Visa stuff are left for the next year, but I'm here to educate and familiarize myself with everything (although I'm pretty much well prepared).

It's going to be a nightmare of a process, but so worth it in the end.

Tyene,

Having gone through the experience of a K1 visa with my Polish wife, I's say that if you use the VJ journey time line based on European visas you might be able to make your window as long as it's after the potential date when the visa is issued. What city are going through? Warsaw? They have a good reputation. What you can do to help the process to ensure it moves properly is to make sure you have all your paperwork in order, (Read the K1 Guide, then read it again) and the make sure it's complete and precise. I kept copies of everything and made copies of everything I sent. I did all my wife's paperwork for her K1, AOS, ROC and just recently her citizenship paperwork. We didn't have one hiccup at all. (check my timeline, I kept it up to date)

I think being detail orientated really helped me. If you two don't have any special needs or circumstances then you shouldn't have any problems. I know that your fiance is the one doing the paperwork make sure she knows about this site and that they two of you work together on the paperwork. Long story short I think what you are attempting is doable but in the end you will have to be flexible planning both a wedding and a visa. Good luck.

[JIJourney 96]

welcome

[TBoneTX 45,299]

Good luck.

[tyene 5]

Tyene,

Having gone through the experience of a K1 visa with my Polish wife, I's say that if you use the VJ journey time line based on European visas you might be able to make your window as long as it's after the potential date when the visa is issued. What city are going through? Warsaw? They have a good reputation. What you can do to help the process to ensure it moves properly is to make sure you have all your paperwork in order, (Read the K1 Guide, then read it again) and the make sure it's complete and precise. I kept copies of everything and made copies of everything I sent. I did all my wife's paperwork for her K1, AOS, ROC and just recently her citizenship paperwork. We didn't have one hiccup at all. (check my timeline, I kept it up to date)

I think being detail orientated really helped me. If you two don't have any special needs or circumstances then you shouldn't have any problems. I know that your fiance is the one doing the paperwork make sure she knows about this site and that they two of you work together on the paperwork. Long story short I think what you are attempting is doable but in the end you will have to be flexible planning both a wedding and a visa. Good luck.

Thank you, yes, my embassy is in Warsaw. I agree with you - I think it's doable and even if something is wrong, it's still better for us to fix than to not plan anything at all. We talked about it a lot yesterday with my fiance and he agrees. Oh yes, I will definitely make sure my paperwork is in order. My plan assumes we do everything correctly. I will be personally supervising my fiance with all the papers. Thank you for showing me your timeline - it's pretty quick. At first I planned to file for K1 visa one year before the wedding date, but most people advise for it to be rather 10-11 months before. I know that certain dates are flexible. Most people are rushing for the interview etc, but you can not rush and take 2 months to schedule it etc (I know a girl that did it because she had to finish her studies). So there is a room, a small room, I admit, but still, for certain time manipulation. Most people also leave immediately after they have visa in hand, but this doesn't have to be the case. We definitely will be flexible to - Church etc will be informed about possible time frame that might got messed up.

We don't have any special circumstances, I never did anything wrong (like overstaying my visa or anything like it). Everything clear, beautiful and as bona fide as you can dream off. We see each other 3-4 times a year (including me spending 1 or 2 months there during summer time) and since our first day I, as a control freak, collected all the evidence of our relationship (all boarding passes, museum tickets, everything we do together). So as long and we do not make stupid mistakes when it comes to paperwork (and I'm not planning to allow it) we should be fine.

Btw I'm a woman, my fiance is a guy in our relationship

Than you once again for help!

[cappucino boy 29]

Thank you, yes, my embassy is in Warsaw. I agree with you - I think it's doable and even if something is wrong, it's still better for us to fix than to not plan anything at all. We talked about it a lot yesterday with my fiance and he agrees. Oh yes, I will definitely make sure my paperwork is in order. My plan assumes we do everything correctly. I will be personally supervising my fiance with all the papers. Thank you for showing me your timeline - it's pretty quick. At first I planned to file for K1 visa one year before the wedding date, but most people advise for it to be rather 10-11 months before. I know that certain dates are flexible. Most people are rushing for the interview etc, but you can not rush and take 2 months to schedule it etc (I know a girl that did it because she had to finish her studies). So there is a room, a small room, I admit, but still, for certain time manipulation. Most people also leave immediately after they have visa in hand, but this doesn't have to be the case. We definitely will be flexible to - Church etc will be informed about possible time frame that might got messed up.

We don't have any special circumstances, I never did anything wrong (like overstaying my visa or anything like it). Everything clear, beautiful and as bona fide as you can dream off. We see each other 3-4 times a year (including me spending 1 or 2 months there during summer time) and since our first day I, as a control freak, collected all the evidence of our relationship (all boarding passes, museum tickets, everything we do together). So as long and we do not make stupid mistakes when it comes to paperwork (and I'm not planning to allow it) we should be fine.

Btw I'm a woman, my fiance is a guy in our relationship

Than you once again for help!

Hi Tyree

Sorry about my mistake, I didn't realize that you were a woman. I will be more observant next time. You sound an a lot like me. I'm kind of a control freak too, everything has its place and everything in its place. It drives my Polish wife to drink :0), vodka! Where are you in Poland? My wife is from a little (to us here in the US) village of Sandomierz, Poland near Cracow. We have been together about 5 year's here in the US. So you are taking over filing all the documents and the wedding preparation? Wow a big job and I guess that you are working at a job too. Good for you, we got married in a civil ceremony because of the tight time line for the K1. That's a good reason to do what you are doing, I wish that we could've done it that way. My wife wanted a real wedding and we started planning it but she found out how difficult it would be to get all the family and friends from around the world the US. So she decided it would be better to travel around instead. We have traveled a lot. We haven't been back to Poland in a while because we went to Hawaii instead. We are planning to go in the early spring~May when its warmer. Well good luck on everything its nice go get to know another Polish - US couple, there is not too many of them.

PS. Your English is VERY good! Wow, I wish my polish was that good.

Bernie

Edited October 30, 2014 by cappucino boy

[Pitaya 2,577]

Good luck.

[tyene 5]

Hi Tyree

Sorry about my mistake, I didn't realize that you were a woman. I will be more observant next time. You sound an a lot like me. I'm kind of a control freak too, everything has its place and everything in its place. It drives my Polish wife to drink :0), vodka! Where are you in Poland? My wife is from a little (to us here in the US) village of Sandomierz, Poland near Cracow. We have been together about 5 year's here in the US. So you are taking over filing all the documents and the wedding preparation? Wow a big job and I guess that you are working at a job too. Good for you, we got married in a civil ceremony because of the tight time line for the K1. That's a good reason to do what you are doing, I wish that we could've done it that way. My wife wanted a real wedding and we started planning it but she found out how difficult it would be to get all the family and friends from around the world the US. So she decided it would be better to travel around instead. We have traveled a lot. We haven't been back to Poland in a while because we went to Hawaii instead. We are planning to go in the early spring~May when its warmer. Well good luck on everything its nice go get to know another Polish - US couple, there is not too many of them.

PS. Your English is VERY good! Wow, I wish my polish was that good.

Bernie

Hahahaha, thank you for complimenting my English. It should have been a lot better, to be honest. But I manage. I live in Warsaw and I was born here too. I'm a student mainly (I'm almost 24 now, my fiance is almost 26 so we're pretty young I guess) and I don't have a day job, rather temporary jobs. I've been with my fiance since Jan 2013 (that's when we met in person). We did not meet through dating site, it was another website connected to bioethical issues where we exchanged views. Few months later he found me on fb and we chatted more casually. And then he invited me (or I invited myself) and I bought the tickets, got a visa and visited USA. When it comes to wedding preparation my fiance will do most of the actual work, I just search for things. He will do most of the talking with parish etc. He's great but as a control freak I just want to supervise him when it comes to sending papers etc. Fortunately I will spend some part of my summer of 2015 in USA and we'll get the paperwork done there together before my return to Poland. We are religious so we really care about Church ceremony. And I've figured out that even if something goes wrong with our timeline, our Parish will be there to help, we'll be done with all the religious requirement (pre-marital counseling, pre-Cana classes etc) so they will be willing to fix us another date if need be. But I do feel confident it will work. My parents and best friends will definitely fly to USA for the wedding, but yeah, some of my more distant family and friends will miss it. That's what it is, unfortunately. There are always sacrifices when it comes to those long-distance relationships.

Few days ago (my fiancé left Poland just 4 days ago, we got engaged in Cracow less than two weeks ago) I forced my man to start his Pinterest account and we use that to "pin" all the stuff like wedding invitations ideas etc there. We skype everyday and I know we'll be okay with planning everything. We have a help of his family too. They kind of adore me and are very willing to help with the organization (but not too willing, fortunately, if you know what I mean). I've already found a venue when you rent a venue but get your own caterers so I've figured we could book the venue first and get caterers when we'll know whether we'll fit into the timeline or not. We do not want very lavish official wedding party. Just something small and garden party like. A lot of do-it-yourself things. I will make sure that it's not too expensive and not too much hassle with canceling if need be.

We love traveling too. When I'm in USA he's working, so we only have 2 days a week off, but we've seen some things. I'm laughing that I'm making him more cultured by dragging him to all the art museums etc. But I love American entertainment too and the lack of snobbism there. And the fact that people are so totally unashamed of who they are. By education I'm into culture so I'm never truly bored or discouraged for too long. In Poland we always try to do stuff outside Warsaw - I showed him beautiful Masurian lakes, we visited Cracow (and got engaged there), we visited Teutonic castle in Malbork and Wadowice, the place where John Paul II was born. I'm always taking advantage of the fact that we have really cheap flights in Europe (Wizzair, Ryanair) and once we went to Budapest for 3 days. I love doing things like that and instead of hotels, I'm into renting flats and just travel more "wildly", without the guide. I guess my inner control freak makes me want to be the guide of everything. I'm good at this, though. Even in USA I'm the one the googles what places we can see etc.

I am totally envious of your Hawaiian trip, it's one of my dream destinations.

When it comes to Polish-American couples I don't know a lot of them, but I definitely see Polish minority in the NJ area. Polish parishes, Polish masses, Polish surnames etc.

How's your wife doing in the USA? Is she liking it? I already know there's a lot I love about USA but also a lot that bothers me. But well, I'm ready to plan my future there.

Thank you so much!!!

Good luck.

Good luck.

welcome

Thank you so much!!!

[Gosia & Tito 199]

Hello,

I'm Tyene and I'm writing from Poland. My fiance is an US citizen from NJ. We are together since January 2013 and got engaged recently. Planning to get married in US in August 2016. We are devout Catholic and we will attempt doing what other people deem as unreasonable - plan a religious ceremony before filing for K1 visa. Our plan is to start panning the wedding now and fine for K1 visa in 2015, get it and get married properly in the US. It requires a lot of estimates and luck on our side. Right now we're planning our wedding with the parish and finding venue. Visa stuff are left for the next year, but I'm here to educate and familiarize myself with everything (although I'm pretty much well prepared).

It's going to be a nightmare of a process, but so worth it in the end.

It's quite "simple" (or relative simple, is best said) for Polish citizens. Depending on your particular Parish, you might want to approach them about the time you get the I-129 approval state side. After that, it goes to NVC to get a visa number and then to Warszawa, much easier to estimate at that point.

You also want to observe the various processing times on the various service centers, it goes up and down and when you have the luxury of time, you can help make things faster.

Estimates of processing time vary from 4-5 months to about 1 year and there is no rhyme or reason usually, other than what service center you got your petition; but once the initial stage is approved, there is a better outlook.

It is possible to delay the entry into the US after visa is issue, but not past the visa stamped date.

I think it is possible what you are trying to do, with some planning and no need for luck.

Best, if the process time fails, you can always marry in a court and do the Church later.

If there is no particular Parish selected, I'd check with various around to see who is more flexible for the kind of process you are doing. If there is a specific one, then check how far in advance and the level of compromise in dates thay have, pre marriage counseling, etc.

Not sure if yo would know, but you can marry in any state; and there might be more flexibility in say NY than NJ.

Another tip maybe helpful, the oldest Polish church in the US is in TX, Panna Maria about 4 hours from Houston. It has been repaired, but I think is posibly one of the most beautiful. Wife and I have been a few times over. Or maybe the oldest continously used Polish church in the US, also in TX: Bandera

[tyene 5]

It's quite "simple" (or relative simple, is best said) for Polish citizens. Depending on your particular Parish, you might want to approach them about the time you get the I-129 approval state side. After that, it goes to NVC to get a visa number and then to Warszawa, much easier to estimate at that point.

You also want to observe the various processing times on the various service centers, it goes up and down and when you have the luxury of time, you can help make things faster.

Estimates of processing time vary from 4-5 months to about 1 year and there is no rhyme or reason usually, other than what service center you got your petition; but once the initial stage is approved, there is a better outlook.

It is possible to delay the entry into the US after visa is issue, but not past the visa stamped date.

I think it is possible what you are trying to do, with some planning and no need for luck.

Best, if the process time fails, you can always marry in a court and do the Church later.

If there is no particular Parish selected, I'd check with various around to see who is more flexible for the kind of process you are doing. If there is a specific one, then check how far in advance and the level of compromise in dates thay have, pre marriage counseling, etc.

Not sure if yo would know, but you can marry in any state; and there might be more flexibility in say NY than NJ.

Another tip maybe helpful, the oldest Polish church in the US is in TX, Panna Maria about 4 hours from Houston. It has been repaired, but I think is posibly one of the most beautiful. Wife and I have been a few times over. Or maybe the oldest continously used Polish church in the US, also in TX: Bandera

Thank you so much for info. We're dealing with Church now, my fiance has a meeting on Saturday there and we'll talk about all the requirement, pre-marital counseling etc and we'll set a date. We'll also talk about the possible B plan and eventual flexibility on Church's site. Everything seems to be moving in the right direction though. The only thing I need to figure out is how long in advance to file before our wedding date. I think 12-13 months.

Thank you for Church recommendations but we're marrying in NJ. I found and old, beautiful AND Polish Church though