marrying in non-mainland USA territories on K1

[petefromoz 0]

Hi from down under Australia...Planning to marry early in 2008, my US fiancee and I are thinking of a non-mainland USA territory for the wedding - maybe an Hawaiian Island or US territry in Carribean!

Who has done? Any advice welcome

have a great day

petefromoz

[YuAndDan 153]

Hawaii is a STATE, and is considered as a point of entry to the USA, the islands in the Caribbean are territories, and may or may not activate your visa, and marrying there can cause you some problems when entering the mainland "Married" on a Fiance(e) visa.

If you do want to marry in a nice tropical paradise with out problems then Hawaii is the place to do it. And convenient, it is along a flight path from Australia.

[deathbydalbhat 0]

Marrying in Hawaii won't cause you any more problems than marrying in the lower 48 - so go ahead!

I grew up there BTW, so can give advice as to places to visit, etc.

[Dan J 277]

As said before, you will be ok getting married in Hawaii.

Getting married in a US territory however could cause you problems getting into the country. You probably want to avoid this since its a little gray as to whether or not you are actually in the country in a territory.

Getting married in a non-us territory is fine as long as the marriage remains unofficial (With a civil wedding in the states). You can not enter the country married on a K-1 visa.

[kitkat1 5]

thinking of a non-mainland USA territory for the wedding

You might want to consider St. Johns in the US Virgin Islands

[payxibka 10,047]

or St Thomas or Puerto Rico as well

[JanaknJanet 0]

Marrying in Hawaii won't cause you any more problems than marrying in the lower 48 - so go ahead!

I grew up there BTW, so can give advice as to places to visit, etc.

I too lived in Hawaii for 10 yrs+ .. Waianae ..

Anyhow... Hawaii is a fantastic place to marry... so many places to choose.. very easy to hire a Minister.. meet you on the beach.. and have as simple wedding on the sand you wish.. or.. of course.. many beautiful other places to host simple to extravagant of a function that you choose..

best of luck on what you choose.

[John and Nora 0]

Hi all, I have a question that is kinda related. I didnt' want to start a new thread because I am sure the answer is here somewhere.... I just can't find it!!

I met a wonderful woman in Argentina. We only have online relationship so far. I am going to meet her in April. I asked her to marry me in Dec 06. We have decided to go with the K-1 visa.

My question is: Since we probably will not get back to Argentina once her visa is approved we want to marry there when I go to see her this April. Will this mess up the process if we do? Pre-thanks for any info... John

[msu17 0]

If the marriage is not legal in Argentina and is only (hate to say the words, but please dont be offended!) for "show" ie religous reasons or for fam then I am pretty sure you can (please do more research on this though!). However if that is considered legal in Argentina, you can't get a K1 and would have to do the K3. Anything legally recognized in Argentina will mess you up. Not sure what to search under but I know there are other similar questions that have been asked before. Brouse around and see what you can find. Good luck on finally getting to be with your SO!!! Hope everything is as wonderful as can be!!!

[Nikita2Charles 32]

From the poster question

never mentioning about Getting married in Hawaii on the way to the us,

basically once you are here and your K1 is activated you can get married anywhere in the US mainland and territories,

WARNING: the problem comes down to your connecting flight

So if you are going to hawaii per example MAKE SURE your flight is not going to stop let say in Vancouver (canada or another countries that's not US or us territories, the same goes for the carribean, Like you can get marry in the US virgin Island, but have to make sure your flight doesn't have a stop over in Bahamas or something like that. beside that

Congrats and Good luck on your wedding

[Moonie 0]

I would like to marry in Hawaii also, all just depends on funds..

[SoL. 0]

Congrats and good luck with your wedding!

I think Puerto Rico could qualify as a POE because there have been other VJers that had it as their POE. We follow the same procedure for the visas as the US.

But maybe Hawaii is the best option because it's actually a state, Puerto Rico is a Commonwealth of the US. And getting paperwork from any government agency on PR is a royal pain....

[HAL 9000 96]

PR is great... its my real home, great locations, its cheaper than HI, and the residents don't freak out with the coquí at night. Just count on spending about 2-3 weeks prepping the paperwork. With the weather in Chicago now, this is not necessarily a bad thing. But with an NOA2 in February it looks like the weather won't be an issue in the lower 48 since we still have some waiting to do...

Public agencies are a pain, but so too pretty much everywhere else you have to line up when time is short.