Getting married in Canada, but moving to US immediately afterwards?

[raven52 233]

OP, you are just asking for a potential amount of problems, troubles, with this "wedding" in Canada.

I do not care if your father is a "voodoo witch doctor" you cannot have anything that comes even close to a wedding ceremony!!!

You are just asking for trouble, as the USCIS has their ways of finding out these things, I just do not understand, you go through the "dreadful K-1 visa process, and then you want to ""complicate" the true means of the K-1 visa.

The K-1 visa is meant to bring a bride to the ""USA""" for a marriage within 90 days of entry. IT IS NOT meant for two ceremony's, in two separate countries!

Another thing, is as the MODS. on this site have said many times,..,.,'you will not like this'.,.,.,., ''""NEVER, ever plan anything.,.,.,.,.,,nothing, until you have a visa in your passport""" you have made huge plans, 'What IF something happens that delays things, like medical, interview, AP, so many things can happen!

Example, I went to Cebu, Philippines Jan., 23, 2013 to pick up my fiance, who had not finished her medical, interview, I did not get her to P.O.E Atlanta, until, April 24, 2013!!!

Stuff Happens!

Good Luck, with your dates, but your "two ceremonies" is taking a 'HUGE' chance!

[guitarlifter 2]

Ok, so I have a new question. My fiancée and I spoke with a person at the border from the US, and he said that a K3 Visa would be what I want (see first post for my situation) and that I could immediately begin applying for it (of course with the I-130 and I-129F first). Is that true? Would that be the fastest way of getting my fiancée into the states?

[Hypnos 6,576]

K-3s are tantamount to obsolete. You have something like a 0.3% chance of receiving one if you apply.

They were designed for when I-130s took much longer to process (think ~2 - 3 years); now that the processing times are (generally) much shorter, the need for K-3s has diminished substantially.

When the NVC receive an I-129F (K-3) for someone that has an already-pending or approved I-130, they usually administratively close the I-129F and you proceed solely on the I-130 (IR-1 / CR-1) path.

[Boiler 45,532]

K3 is for spouses.

And is not usually quicker than a CR1 anyway. Normally it is closed and you just get the CR1.

[canadian_wife 1,822]

Sorry - the K3 is for married people. Since you are not married, you do not qualify for this visa

Good luck

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

The best solution may be to go to the court house or whatever and get married like tomorrow, file for the CR1, then have your big wedding when you want. You can still visit freely, and you should have a visa a few months after the big event. You don't get to pick how immigration laws work to your advantage, Some couplpes have to wait years to be together and can't visit.

[guitarlifter 2]

Ok, so I have sat down with my fiancée, and we have gone over our options over and over, and what we're leaning towards is this: we're wanting to still have a religious ceremony that is not legally binding or recognized in Canada (which is where we will be having the ceremony).

I called visa services, and they said that having a religious, non-legally binding ceremony that is not recognized as a marriage in Canada before entering the US with a K1 Visa to then get legally married (with the license and everything) in the US is allowable. We're planning on being upfront with everything with the USCIS, and we're going to bring as much documentation as possible to prove that (1) our wedding ceremony was NOT a legal marriage, nor is it recognized in Canada as a marriage and (2) we are planning on getting married in the US.

To do this, we plan on having my father do the wedding ceremony, but we are going to purposely not get him licensed to wed us in British Columbia so that he has no legal power to marry us there. Also, we're going to probably get a video of him stating who he is, that he officiated the ceremony, and that he has no legal power in the province of British Columbia (or anywhere in Canada for that matter) to legally wed a couple (maybe with an accompanying letter as well). We'd also probably provide a picture and/or short video of him officiating a part of the wedding to prove that he was the one doing it. And then we'd also get a court date for getting legally married in the US set up in advance before going to any K1 interview or crossing the border, and we would bring documentation proving that we have that date set up. I will bring the printed out laws (straight from official websites) concerning marriage in BC and Canada that relate to my situation and lay out a very clear showing that we did not have a legally binding marriage and are still "free to marry."

Also, since this is Canada, a neighboring country to the US that is very well-connected with it, wouldn't it be easy to prove that we aren't married by them doing a search in a marriage database of some sort? It's not like we're from Nepal, Nigeria, or some other far away, drastically different country where it might be hard to find out whether or not we're married. We are also NEXUS members and have never hidden anything from either country.

This seems to be the only way we can get to be with one another without having to wait after marriage, and we believe that the risk is low since, in Canada, a Christian, non-Catholic wedding ceremony, especially when done by someone who is not ordained in BC (or anywhere in Canada) and without a marriage license, is not a legally-recognized wedding in Canada.

If anyone has any new information that they can/would like to bring to the situation, I'd like to hear it. I am aware that they "can" reject me, but Canada's marriage laws are very similar to the US' laws concerning marriage and should be easy to navigate as long as I lay out everything very clearly with proof.

[Boiler 45,532]

Why mention the Party at all?

[Ontarkie 14,227]

You need to be very careful with your father. He could already be legally allowed to perform weddings in Canada, my friend's uncle was.

If you are doing anything that even looks like a wedding they CAN deny it. So if you are 100% sure wait 200% sure your father will not be legally allowed to perform a wedding. And you go ahead with it, do not even mention it. DO not post pictures on FB do not refer to each other has husband and wife do not wear wedding rings. Nothing at all.

When I crossed the border the officer inside processing my papers tried to trip me up and asked about my Husband, I corrected him right away and told him we were not married yet so he was my fiance. That guy could of voided my visa right then and there if I screwed up.

Oh and anyone who performs a wedding must by law report that marriage. So license or not it would be registered. And yes they have a database where it can be looked up.

[lost_at_sea 995]

To do this, we plan on having my father do the wedding ceremony,

You should really stop using the word wedding for something that isn't a wedding, if only for the practice. You're having a party in Canada.

Edited March 26, 2015 by lost_at_sea

[Lemonslice 4,853]

Ok, so I have sat down with my fiancée, and we have gone over our options over and over, and what we're leaning towards is this: we're wanting to still have a religious ceremony that is not legally binding or recognized in Canada (which is where we will be having the ceremony).

I called visa services, and they said that having a religious, non-legally binding ceremony that is not recognized as a marriage in Canada before entering the US with a K1 Visa to then get legally married (with the license and everything) in the US is allowable. [Who did you call exactly? USCIS is known as the misinformation line - unless you have a written confirmation that they are going to interpret it like that at the Consulate or the border, I would not risk "getting married-but-not-really-by-your-maybe-already-legal-officiant-father]

We're planning on being upfront with everything with the USCIS, and we're going to bring as much documentation as possible to prove that (1) our wedding ceremony was NOT a legal marriage, nor is it recognized in Canada as a marriage and (2) we are planning on getting married in the US. [being truthful is nice, I am not sure you are going to get the expected result though - saying you are married, presenting yourself as married, and providing evidence of marriage... you might end up being "too" married for the K1, but not enough for the CR1]

To do this, we plan on having my father do the wedding ceremony, but we are going to purposely not get him licensed to wed us in British Columbia so that he has no legal power to marry us there. Also, we're going to probably get a video of him stating who he is, that he officiated the ceremony, and that he has no legal power in the province of British Columbia (or anywhere in Canada for that matter) to legally wed a couple (maybe with an accompanying letter as well). We'd also probably provide a picture and/or short video of him officiating a part of the wedding to prove that he was the one doing it. And then we'd also get a court date for getting legally married in the US set up in advance before going to any K1 interview or crossing the border, and we would bring documentation proving that we have that date set up. I will bring the printed out laws (straight from official websites) concerning marriage in BC and Canada that relate to my situation and lay out a very clear showing that we did not have a legally binding marriage and are still "free to marry."

Also, since this is Canada, a neighboring country to the US that is very well-connected with it, wouldn't it be easy to prove that we aren't married by them doing a search in a marriage database of some sort? It's not like we're from Nepal, Nigeria, or some other far away, drastically different country where it might be hard to find out whether or not we're married. We are also NEXUS members and have never hidden anything from either country.

This seems to be the only way we can get to be with one another without having to wait after marriage, and we believe that the risk is low since, in Canada, a Christian, non-Catholic wedding ceremony, especially when done by someone who is not ordained in BC (or anywhere in Canada) and without a marriage license, is not a legally-recognized wedding in Canada. [The Lutheran Church of Canada does officiate weddings that are recognized... not sure what are their thoughts on "pretend" wedding ceremonies - easy to reach them and ask - same goes for the BC Registry https://www.vs.gov.bc.ca/marriage/ - I am not sure why you keep saying "non-Catholic" - you know... wedding ceremonies of different faiths are celebrated in Canada - and recognized]

If anyone has any new information that they can/would like to bring to the situation, I'd like to hear it. I am aware that they "can" reject me, but Canada's marriage laws are very similar to the US' laws concerning marriage and should be easy to navigate as long as I lay out everything very clearly with proof.

I would be very careful with your plans and personally, not risk having a wedding ceremony while a k-1 is in process/approved. To each their own - I just don't see the point of putting so much efforts to dance around the rules, for a "maybe". Why not get married in court now? Most Canadians have no problem visiting back and forth, you can have any kind of party you want in December... and then live together once you get the visa.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

Also USCIS will not look at videos or other electronic media. They are strictly prohibited for loading any file on to their computer.

[guitarlifter 2]

Ok, so I called vital statistics of BC (who deal with marriage licenses in BC), and the woman there told me that (1) a license must be signed in order for the marriage to be legal and recognized by BC, and (2) the person performing the wedding must be licensed under BC to do so, which my father isn't because you specifically have to go do that. She said that a religious ceremony would not be a legal wedding. In fact, she has had people do a religious ceremony without the license, and it wasn't a legal wedding. There were a couple other scenarios that she gave me where people did something wrong and, although they had a religious ceremony, their marriage wasn't legal. So she was certain that my father could come in, do the ceremony, and it wouldn't be a legal wedding and allowable.

She did recommend not mentioning the religious ceremony though, and she made a good point. She said that it wouldn't be hiding anything because we didn't get married and can still legitimately claim that we are both single, so what's the point? We're not lying at all, and it's not like they're going to ask if we had a religious ceremony or got wed so long as we don't bring pictures of the wedding, wear our wedding rings, or anything of that nature. It's our own personal business. So now I am leaning toward not mentioning it. Whenever we cross the border now, we are probably going to mention that our wedding date has changed to a later date because it actually will have been changed since we are now getting married in late December/early January in the US. I wouldn't want the border questioning us about being married because they see that date.

[Cathi 5,755]

Ok, so I called vital statistics of BC (who deal with marriage licenses in BC), and the woman there told me that (1) a license must be signed in order for the marriage to be legal and recognized by BC, and (2) the person performing the wedding must be licensed under BC to do so, which my father isn't because you specifically have to go do that. She said that a religious ceremony would not be a legal wedding. In fact, she has had people do a religious ceremony without the license, and it wasn't a legal wedding. There were a couple other scenarios that she gave me where people did something wrong and, although they had a religious ceremony, their marriage wasn't legal. So she was certain that my father could come in, do the ceremony, and it wouldn't be a legal wedding and allowable.

She did recommend not mentioning the religious ceremony though, and she made a good point. She said that it wouldn't be hiding anything because we didn't get married and can still legitimately claim that we are both single, so what's the point? We're not lying at all, and it's not like they're going to ask if we had a religious ceremony or got wed so long as we don't bring pictures of the wedding, wear our wedding rings, or anything of that nature. It's our own personal business. So now I am leaning toward not mentioning it. Whenever we cross the border now, we are probably going to mention that our wedding date has changed to a later date because it actually will have been changed since we are now getting married in late December/early January in the US. I wouldn't want the border questioning us about being married because they see that date.

But you have mentioned it over and over in a public forum, a forum that we know the USCIS checks.