K1 and wedding preparations

[Pebbles1989 3]

I just signed up here as my fiancé and I are going through the K-1 process as well. My fiancé is American, I am Austrian. We are currently waiting for our NOA 2 and hope to receive it in early April.

I already read a lot about the K-1 process, but one thing really bothers me.

My fiancé and I want the perfect wedding with our families and beloved ones around. Not too big, but still festive and combining traditions of both countries. We are not sure how to start though.

We would LOVE to have our wedding in the fall as it is our favourite season. We thought that it might work out if we go through the process smooth. If we want to do that, we have to start planing soon as cakes, catering and flowers have to be ordered 3 to 6 months in advance.

Other possibilities if we don't have our celebration right after the approval of the visa....

1. Celebrate later: We know that there is the option to entering the USA with the K-1, getting married on papers and having a big celebration later. This would mean that we have to wait for more than a year to celebrate our wedding (as said... we want to have our wedding in fall). Somehow this is not satisfying for the both of us.

2. Vegas wedding: We know that we could have a easier wedding in Las Vegas. We would not have to make appointments right away and still could have a little celebration. Quite different and not as we want it to be though...

3. DIY wedding: We could ask our whole family to help us with baking and cooking and decorating and just make kind of a do-it-yourself thing. And celebrate at a place we know/own. Which would be kind of stressful and also not as we ant it to be. And still, a few appointments are necessary like for the pastor or whoever.

Issue going along with possibilities 2 and 3: We want our friends and family to join as well. They have to plan their trips to Oregon, get a couple of days off and so on. So even if we chose one of these possibilities, we would have to find a solution for this problem.

To sum up, we can say that all these possibilities are not satisfying and we would still love to celebrate our wedding this fall. So I was looking for advice and experiences from others. Or in general was wondering how you all handle this...

Is it that many of you don't care about the wedding ceremony and completely concentrate on the K-1 process and act spontaneous afterwards? Or are you all planing a Vegas wedding which does not require that much planning? I somehow cannot imagine that nobody has the same fears and problems with organizing the wedding.

Our idea was...

The California Service Center is pretty fast. I already talked to a couple of people who got their K-1 after 3 month or 3 1/2 months (counting from the date they sent the I-129F)... which would be amazing. Anyways...

The NOA 2 is valid for 4 months. So we thought about fixing a date after we got the NOA 2. I am ready to leave as soon as I receive my visa. We hope to receive or NOA 2 at the begin of April. It would be valid until begin of August then. The consulate in Austria told me that I should have my visa within those 4 months.. Would be perfect.

So we thought about fixing a date as soon as we have the NOA 2. Desired date would be middle to late September. As I am going to visit my fiancé in middle of April (and we could have our NOA 2 by then), we thought about meeting our pastor or marriage registrar for the ceremony, checking out locations, doing some cake tasting and going to see our desired florist. We would think about fixing an appointment if possible.

Somehow I think that this should be enough time for the whole process ... would still be 5 to 6 month time to receive the visa. On the other side we are afraid that it might not work... I guess then we could try to place the appointments on hold but it would still be kind of risky.

Would do you think about our plans?

I'd love to hear some of your experiences, plans, ideas, fears, advice - whatever.

Edited March 18, 2015 by Birgit_David_2015

[Cody and Daisy 373]

Do NOT make ANY plans until you have the visa in hand.

Just because CSC approves fast, it does not mean that your whole process will be.

Unforseen things happen, you could have a long wait between NOA2, medical, interview.

You could be placed into AP, and some people have been in that for years after having an easy process and great approval.

Do not make ANY set plans until you have the visa in your hand.

The best thing to do, which is what 99% of us do, is have a simple court house wedding once you arrive.

Plan something bigger for later on when you have your Advance parole, or green card.

Anything else is just risking it too much.

Edited March 18, 2015 by Cody and Daisy

[Mike&Lin 39]

There is an option that probably allows you to plan the wedding you really want but it requires that you spend more time apart. Once your visa is approved you typically have 6 months from the date of the medical to enter the US. You then have 90 days after entry to get married. That gives you roughly 9 months after visa approval for the wedding.

[trublubu2 62]

Hi there and welcome.

The prevailing wisdom around here is don't buy or plan anything MAJOR, NON-REFUNDABLE, EXPIRATION DATE-BOUND, etc until the beneficiary fiance(e) gets their K-1 visa in hand.

I sent my I-129 in and got acknowledged on 7 Jan, and have accepted that he won't get here until maybe November. Yes, I'm with the TSC; however, since I've been studying examples on VJ, I know that even if I were CSC, I'd wait to make my plans once I knew the K-1 visa was complete & being shipped out.

[JohnR! 5,495]

Unfortunately there is no way to time you K-1 in order to have things fall in line for all the preparations. There are two aspects to your marriage. There the legal component which says you must be married within 90 days of your arrival in the US and then there is the family affair. My suggestion is that your decouple them - pun intended.

Get the clock started only once you have your visa and your passport on you and not a moment before. Once you land get to Vegas or Lake Tahoe, get legally married and get started with your AOS. As you do that, pick a date, hopefully in the fall, and get started with the preparations for the family affair. Although you will not be able to marry again later there is nothing that should prevent you from having a wedding celebration with your family, white dress and all those things you want. If you're religious, get a minister to do a blessing ceremony. If you're not, ask a friend or relative to officiate the ceremony for you. In that manner you can have your [wedding] cake and eat it too...

Congrats and good luck!

[baron555 934]

My fiancé and I want the perfect wedding with our families and beloved ones around. Not too big, but still festive and combining traditions of both countries. We are not sure how to start though.

Usually this is not possible within the world of the K-1 visa and immigration to the US>

We would LOVE to have our wedding in the fall as it is our favourite season.

Might be possible.

we have to start planing soon as cakes, catering and flowers have to be ordered 3 to 6 months in advance.

This is where the immigration requirements and your wishes diverge.

Other possibilities if we don't have our celebration right after the approval of the visa....

1. Celebrate later: We know that there is the option to entering the USA with the K-1, getting married on papers and having a big celebration later.

This is what most people do.

This would mean that we have to wait for more than a year to celebrate our wedding (as said... we want to have our wedding in fall). Somehow this is not satisfying for the both of us.

Cancel the K-1 and get married this fall and then file for a CR-1 Spousal Visa. What is more important, being together or the super marriage?

2. Vegas wedding: We know that we could have a easier wedding in Las Vegas. We would not have to make appointments right away and still could have a little celebration. Quite different and not as we want it to be though...

Weddings with the County Judge are pretty quick also.

3. DIY wedding: We could ask our whole family to help us with baking and cooking and decorating and just make kind of a do-it-yourself thing. And celebrate at a place we know/own. Which would be kind of stressful and also not as we ant it to be. And still, a few appointments are necessary like for the pastor or whoever.

It's only money.

Issue going along with possibilities 2 and 3: We want our friends and family to join as well. They have to plan their trips to Oregon, get a couple of days off and so on. So even if we chose one of these possibilities, we would have to find a solution for this problem.

It's only money.

To sum up, we can say that all these possibilities are not satisfying and we would still love to celebrate our wedding this fall. So I was looking for advice and experiences from others. Or in general was wondering how you all handle this...

The K-1 is valid for use to enter the US within 6 months from date of the medical. Obtain the K-1 and have the beneficiary remain in their country until the Fall. Use the Spring and Summer to plan the big celebration, enter the US and within 90 days of that entry, get married.

Is it that many of you don't care about the wedding ceremony and completely concentrate on the K-1 process

Only speaking for us, getting together and beginning our new lives together was THE most important part. We could care less about spending tons of money on a big celebration that after it is over, you have nothing remaining nor did we really care about what any family or friends thought about the lack of that big celebration. We only cared about our lives and continue to place that first and foremost.

and act spontaneous afterwards? Or are you all planing a Vegas wedding which does not require that much planning? I somehow cannot imagine that nobody has the same fears and problems with organizing the wedding.

We got married at the County Judge and then had a family dinner later. No one refused to attend and everyone wished us the most happiness.

Our idea was...

The California Service Center is pretty fast. I already talked to a couple of people who got their K-1 after 3 month or 3 1/2 months (counting from the date they sent the I-129F)... which would be amazing. Anyways...

The NOA 2 is valid for 4 months.

No, that date is meaningless in the K-1 process. The NOA2 never expires once NVC and then the Embassy have the case. Don't even use that time frame for anything. NVC and the Embassy will take as long as they need.

So we thought about fixing a date after we got the NOA 2.

DO NOT DO THIS. NEVER EVER NEVER plan anything until the VISA is IN HAND. Period.

I am ready to leave as soon as I receive my visa. We hope to receive or NOA 2 at the begin of April. It would be valid until begin of August then. The consulate in Austria told me that I should have my visa within those 4 months.. Would be perfect.

So we thought about fixing a date as soon as we have the NOA 2. Desired date would be middle to late September. As I am going to visit my fiancé in middle of April (and we could have our NOA 2 by then), we thought about meeting our pastor or marriage registrar for the ceremony, checking out locations, doing some cake tasting and going to see our desired florist. We would think about fixing an appointment if possible.

Somehow I think that this should be enough time for the whole process ... would still be 5 to 6 month time to receive the visa. On the other side we are afraid that it might not work... I guess then we could try to place the appointments on hold but it would still be kind of risky.

Would do you think about our plans?

Bad idea.

I'd love to hear some of your experiences, plans, ideas, fears, advice - whatever.

[trublubu2 62]

wow, i forgot to add what my plans are, but didn't realize i only had 5 minutes to edit my post, lol

okay, so our plans are to have a small, inexpensive wedding within the 90-day allotted time either by justice of the peace or with a friend/co-worker who is a pastor. then once the ap stuff is approved, we can go and have the big wedding/vow renewal/reception in the caribbean with our families and friends.

Hi there and welcome.

The prevailing wisdom around here is don't buy or plan anything MAJOR, NON-REFUNDABLE, EXPIRATION DATE-BOUND, etc until the beneficiary fiance(e) gets their K-1 visa in hand.

I sent my I-129 in and got acknowledged on 7 Jan, and have accepted that he won't get here until maybe November. Yes, I'm with the TSC; however, since I've been studying examples on VJ, I know that even if I were CSC, I'd wait to make my plans once I knew the K-1 visa was complete & being shipped out.

Edited March 18, 2015 by trublubu2

[Pebbles1989 3]

First of all, thanks for all the messages

Don't misunderstand me - we are still thinking about the whole thing. So it's not that we are really going to plan anything. Right now we are just getting some information together and do some "research" - so no worries.

I guess, so far, I only talked to two couples who planned everything. One started planning after they sent their I-129F - which was kind of crazy. The other one after the NOA 2. And for both couple all went out pretty good. So I guess... it might work out or not. Nobody knows.

@ Baron: Saying that the 4 months date is meaningless in the K-1 process confuses me quite a bit. That's what the embassy told me yesterday. They told me that the NOA 2 is valid for 4 months (starting with the receipt date), so usually people have their process done after these 4 months... That's what the US embassy in Vienna told me yesterday afternoon.

I told the lady on the phone that I read a couple of different things on the internet. Some people say it's valid for 6 months, others say it does not expire, others say it is valid for 3 month and will get extended... But she said that their information is the only right one.

So I am really not sure about that.. Somehow it seems like everyone has different information.

[VOL 425]

Vegas is easy, Fun, and geared for weddings, and pretty darn cheap for hotels/airline fees.

If your fiancé want to have a bachelor party, then I can't think of a more fun place in USA for him......

[Pebbles1989 3]

Trublubu,

your plans sound pretty good!

It's not that we want something big or super expensive. As said, we both do not want something huge. For us it's the most important thing to be together. For me it's not important at all. I do not care about the wedding ceremony or a big reception. Not at all. But my fiancé does. He wants us to have the perfect wedding as this is very important to him. And I respect his wish.

Still I do not want something expensive or huge. We thought about a wedding at his aunts farm. It's huge and has many different locations we wanted to check out. But we would not have to fix anything for that. The ceremony would be held by a friend, so we would not have to fix that as well. Still would have to tell him what we want. We would have to think about mainly food and flowers. Both can be canceled by 2 weeks before the "fixed" date. If you cancel a week before you'll mainly lose a 100$ deposit. So we would risk to loose 200$ if it does not work out. Or we could think about an indoor winter wedding which would allow us more time to think about it.

[Pebbles1989 3]

Vegas is easy, Fun, and geared for weddings, and pretty darn cheap for hotels/airline fees.

If your fiancé want to have a bachelor party, then I can't think of a more fun place in USA for him......

My fiancé is American and he does not like Vegas at all. He would never want to getting married in Vegas. Never. Please don't consider this as an affront. This is just not our thing..

[Wooderz 314]

My fiancé is American and he does not like Vegas at all. He would never want to getting married in Vegas. Never. Please don't consider this as an affront. This is just not our thing..

What? You're the one that suggested it as an option...

[Pebbles1989 3]

Well, it is a possible way to get married. But as said, not the way we want to go. It's possible, that's all.

[baron555 934]

I guess, so far, I only talked to two couples who planned everything. One started planning after they sent their I-129F - which was kind of crazy. The other one after the NOA 2. And for both couple all went out pretty good. So I guess... it might work out or not. Nobody knows.

It's a gamble. We have seen where the beneficiary gets stuck in post interview AP.

@ Baron: Saying that the 4 months date is meaningless in the K-1 process confuses me quite a bit. That's what the embassy told me yesterday. They told me that the NOA 2 is valid for 4 months (starting with the receipt date), so usually people have their process done after these 4 months... That's what the US embassy in Vienna told me yesterday afternoon.

Yes they try to abide by that time frame but if they can not then the case is just automatically extended. There is nothing for you to do. The time frame is meaningless to you.

I told the lady on the phone that I read a couple of different things on the internet. Some people say it's valid for 6 months, others say it does not expire, others say it is valid for 3 month and will get extended... But she said that their information is the only right one.

The K-1 has a validity of 6 months, usually from the date of the medical.

[yuna628 9,676]

I just signed up here as my fiancé and I are going through the K-1 process as well. My fiancé is American, I am Austrian. We are currently waiting for our NOA 2 and hope to receive it in early April.

I already read a lot about the K-1 process, but one thing really bothers me.

My fiancé and I want the perfect wedding with our families and beloved ones around. Not too big, but still festive and combining traditions of both countries. We are not sure how to start though.

We would LOVE to have our wedding in the fall as it is our favourite season. We thought that it might work out if we go through the process smooth. If we want to do that, we have to start planing soon as cakes, catering and flowers have to be ordered 3 to 6 months in advance.

Other possibilities if we don't have our celebration right after the approval of the visa....

1. Celebrate later: We know that there is the option to entering the USA with the K-1, getting married on papers and having a big celebration later. This would mean that we have to wait for more than a year to celebrate our wedding (as said... we want to have our wedding in fall). Somehow this is not satisfying for the both of us.

2. Vegas wedding: We know that we could have a easier wedding in Las Vegas. We would not have to make appointments right away and still could have a little celebration. Quite different and not as we want it to be though...

3. DIY wedding: We could ask our whole family to help us with baking and cooking and decorating and just make kind of a do-it-yourself thing. And celebrate at a place we know/own. Which would be kind of stressful and also not as we ant it to be. And still, a few appointments are necessary like for the pastor or whoever.

Issue going along with possibilities 2 and 3: We want our friends and family to join as well. They have to plan their trips to Oregon, get a couple of days off and so on. So even if we chose one of these possibilities, we would have to find a solution for this problem.

To sum up, we can say that all these possibilities are not satisfying and we would still love to celebrate our wedding this fall. So I was looking for advice and experiences from others. Or in general was wondering how you all handle this...

Is it that many of you don't care about the wedding ceremony and completely concentrate on the K-1 process and act spontaneous afterwards? Or are you all planing a Vegas wedding which does not require that much planning? I somehow cannot imagine that nobody has the same fears and problems with organizing the wedding.

Our idea was...

The California Service Center is pretty fast. I already talked to a couple of people who got their K-1 after 3 month or 3 1/2 months (counting from the date they sent the I-129F)... which would be amazing. Anyways...

The NOA 2 is valid for 4 months. So we thought about fixing a date after we got the NOA 2. I am ready to leave as soon as I receive my visa. We hope to receive or NOA 2 at the begin of April. It would be valid until begin of August then. The consulate in Austria told me that I should have my visa within those 4 months.. Would be perfect.

So we thought about fixing a date as soon as we have the NOA 2. Desired date would be middle to late September. As I am going to visit my fiancé in middle of April (and we could have our NOA 2 by then), we thought about meeting our pastor or marriage registrar for the ceremony, checking out locations, doing some cake tasting and going to see our desired florist. We would think about fixing an appointment if possible.

Somehow I think that this should be enough time for the whole process ... would still be 5 to 6 month time to receive the visa. On the other side we are afraid that it might not work... I guess then we could try to place the appointments on hold but it would still be kind of risky.

Would do you think about our plans?

I'd love to hear some of your experiences, plans, ideas, fears, advice - whatever.

Okay, you've got some options, and here's why.

Once your application is approved and is eventually punted over to the consulate and you complete your medical, have your interview, and get your visa in hand *THEN* book your dates. They specifically advise you not to make any hard plan until that time, because any number of things could go wrong or be delayed.

Now you might say but isn't that planning on short notice? Well sort of, but the thing is you have six months from the date of your medical to enter on the visa. Six months is plenty of time to plan something out lavish or sensible. Of course most of us, want to hoof it over to America as soon as possible, and that's understandable, but it does give you plenty of time to delay and plan if that is what is desired. Don't pay attention to how long the NOA2 is valid for, because that is not the critical important date (which can be extended by the consulate in some cases).

Here is what I did in regard to wedding planning so far. Last year I went around and comparison shopped out venues in regards to cost and what they wanted vs what we had in mind, comparison shopped wedding license counties (because some states and counties really restrict what/where you can marry), looked for the dress and planned out how we wanted the wedding to look, bought the dress/all accessories and explained the situation to the alterations department that were willing to work with me in regards to fitting. Sent my fiancé a colour swatch so that he/family/friends can match accordingly. Now for us, our venue is at a restaurant. The ceremony is outdoors. We explained our situation to the coordinator that offered the suggestion under our budget of nixing a lavish reception (which they could offer us) in favour of a sit down dinner and cake cutting. They provide all chairs and stuff for us on site. This eliminates difficult planning requiring tents, caterers, and all sorts of extra nonsense.

So literally all we have to do is book a date and coordinate that date with the minister, photographer, (in addition to buying cake and flowers) and transportation all of which are usually generally understanding if you explain the situation. Of course there will always be a problem with restrictive popular locations and placing deposits..

The second idea that most people choose, is to marry at a courthouse and then hold a 'big do' later on.

If you are at CSC, then yes barring any complications you'll probably have your NOA2 soon, and a fall wedding most likely (again barring any complications which CAN and do happen) may work out for you. But my suggestion is certainly not to book a single thing until you have that visa in hand.

We are not a religious couple, but we do intend to book the services of an officiant. Most will be understanding and don't require lengthy meetings, some will meet you over Skype, and some venues offer their own pastor. So while there's nothing wrong with checking out stuff when you visit, I'd say start checking things out online now and narrow down choices, even make backup venue plans. The bottom line is being together is the most important thing and satisfying the legal requirement of marriage before all else.