Going back for Official ceremony on K-1 Visa.

[Jordan J 3]

Hello Everyone,
 

Greetings to all, first I want to thank-you all for contributing your time and effort to this wonderful online
community by sharing your knowledge and experience, which has made this entire process of obtaining
VISA's easy for all.

I have applied for K-1 Visa, as my fiancé is from Morocco. My VISA is approved!! And I am in my last stages
of getting an interview for her. My question is about, after getting married officially in USA (as intended/promised).
Can I visit back to Morocco and marry her (official marriage) to make her parents happy. I know I have to adjust the
status from a fiancé visa to a permanent resident. But will the US immigration allow me to go back and get married
in Morocco, as my fiancé's old fashioned parents are really hoping to see their daughter getting married in traditional
style. K-1 fiancé VISA is a single entry at POE. But can this be adjusted based on the situation and my request to USCIS.
I don't want to re-apply or leave her there.

Anyone who had this experience or can shed some light on this matter would be really helpful.

[Michelle13 39]

A K1 visa is valid for one entry into the USA.  Once your fiancé arrives, she must wait until she files for AOS//EAD//AP

 

Your fiancé will not be able to leave until the EAD//AOS //AP is approved. 

Edited September 28, 2017 by Michelle13

[Ontarkie 14,443]

Nvm I read it wrong. 

 

get married file AOS and get AP

Edited September 28, 2017 by Ontarkie

[Crazy Cat 42,215]

1.  Your visa is NOT approved until after the interview and any required administrative processing is complete.

2.  Your spouse(after US wedding) can leave the US ONLY AFTER having an approved Advance Parole.  This would allow her to re-enter the US after the Morocco wedding . Any departure from the US before approval can be seen as abandonment of her status.

3.  Once your fiance enters the US via the K-1, it can not be used again.....

 

I think you need to do some more reading about the complete process.

Edited September 28, 2017 by missileman

[Mattagba 141]

20 minutes ago, Jordan J said:

Hello Everyone,
 

Greetings to all, first I want to thank-you all for contributing your time and effort to this wonderful online
community by sharing your knowledge and experience, which has made this entire process of obtaining
VISA's easy for all.

I have applied for K-1 Visa, as my fiancé is from Morocco. My VISA is approved!! And I am in my last stages
of getting an interview for her. My question is about, after getting married officially in USA (as intended/promised).
Can I visit back to Morocco and marry her (official marriage) to make her parents happy. I know I have to adjust the
status from a fiancé visa to a permanent resident. But will the US immigration allow me to go back and get married
in Morocco, as my fiancé's old fashioned parents are really hoping to see their daughter getting married in traditional
style. K-1 fiancé VISA is a single entry at POE. But can this be adjusted based on the situation and my request to USCIS.
I don't want to re-apply or leave her there.

Anyone who had this experience or can shed some light on this matter would be really helpful.

I am in the same situation. All you have to do is bring her here. get married in a courthouse and after the EAD/AOS process, you can then go back to Morocco to do the traditional marriage. Thats the best option and that is what I am doing.

[RJandHamid 1,133]

Just to be clear, the visa is not approved until the approval is given at the interview and honestly because it's Morocco, I wouldn't consider it officially approved until the visa is in her hand. 

 

By 'traditional style', do you mean a religious ceremony/wedding?

 

After you are both in the US and get married (in the US), she can apply for AOS/Advanced Parole to travel outside of the US. Once the AP is approved, you can go to Morocco and have an unofficial/traditional ceremony. This is what my husband and I are doing, we plan on going back to Morocco to have a party for his family hopefully in December 2018 (though our AP and or Green card will hopefully be ready way before then!)

[Jordan J 3]

@RJandHamid
Yes, I understand the VISA is not approved yet. To be more concise I should have stated as my
petition to VISA has been approved. But to answer your question, yes a traditional wedding after
court marriage in Morocco. I was being told the traditional wedding performed by the individuals
need to see marriage certificate and all other documents issued/approved by the Morocco
government before they chant the scriptures. So technically I'm getting married twice, in two
different courts. The Morocco wedding is strictly to satisfy my fiancés parents.

But thanks for suggesting, I will do as you all have suggested the same. I hope this official court
marriage in Morocco will not create any additional issues later on, any thoughts on this please.

I am following the guidelines listed on the embassy website, which outlines on how to get married
in Morocco
(see attached).

 

-Thanks

[RJandHamid 1,133]

So you you are trying to have 2 legal weddings? Perhaps the CR1 (spousal) visa would have been a better option for you. You could have gotten married in Morocco and then applied for the visa to bring her to the US. 

 

You cannot do both a legal wedding in the United States and have a court wedding in Morocco. The first item on the list of required documents you posted is eligibility to marry. If you are already legally married in the US (by her coming here on a K1 visa, of which the purpose is to get married), then both you and her are not eligible to marry in a Moroccan court because you are already married. 

 

My understanding of a traditional religious marriage in Morocco is that is is rather unofficial as far as the government goes. You just need the required number of witnesses and an individual to perform the ceremony. 

Edited September 28, 2017 by RJandHamid

[Jordan J 3]

Yes agreed, but we fell in love instantly, but we still needed to know a bit each other to make ourselves
comfortable with each other. So I met her couple of times last year and this year, to solidify the relationship.
Most importantly, I needed to have her parents accept me, even though she loved me dearly. Her mom in a
snap instantly liked me, along with all her sisters and brothers. But father is a tough cookie, even though he
likes me.

So getting married and then filing was probably a better choice, we think about this now and bang our heads.
But what's done-is-done. Yes! I also see the first item under requirements, I would not be able to marry her
again. The only option I have left is to just have just traditional wedding and avoid court. I am not sure, if it's
easy to find the individual like you had mentioned, who is willing to do the ceremony without the court papers.

Her father can be difficult to convince sometimes, so I hope I don't have to re-file the entire paperwork, just for
this one-piece of paper.

-Thanks

[RJandHamid 1,133]

It's good to see that you visited her often and took your time to get to know her and her family. That should be a big help to her at her interview! 

 

My husband (who is Moroccan) also recently came to the US through the K1 fiance visa. Before we got married, we discussed having a religious ceremony, and he said it would be very simple to have a religious leader come to the house and 'marry' us. We actually decided not to do this however, because we didn't want to risk being seen as 'already married' in the eyes of the consulate (they have been known to deny visas because of this). If you are planning on having the traditional ceremony, my advice is to have her come to the US first, get married here, then once she is granted advanced parole and can leave the US, go back to Morocco and have the ceremony with her parents. You could even bring your marriage certificate from the US if you wanted to if you feel like you need to prove the marriage. This would be your safest option. 

 

My husband arrived here in July 2017. We got married in August and filed for adjustment of status and advanced parole a few weeks ago. We are hoping he will have his advanced parole approved around end of December 2017 or early January 2018. Once he has that, we plan on going back to Morocco to party with his family and friends. Just wanted to give you a general timeline of when to expect AP. 

Edited September 28, 2017 by RJandHamid

[Jordan J 3]

@RJandHamid
Thank you for sharing this wealth of information with me and disclosing your dates. This is exactly,
what I had in mind, and will stick to it. I will nicely frame my marriage certificate and give it to her
dad so that he can look at it everyday, to convince himself the wedding in fact took place in US.

I also agree with you, on NOT getting married or having any form of wedding prior to her arrival in

US. So I guess it's just waiting time now. We will wait for the interview and hopefully she walks out
with VISA after interview.

Also Congrats on your Wedding!

[RJandHamid 1,133]

@Jordan J I wish your fiancée good luck on her interview, and that you will be together forever soon. 

Edited September 28, 2017 by RJandHamid

[Jordan J 3]

@RJandHamid
Thanks !! A lot.

[John & Rose 7,239]

Nevermind...I should read the entire thread before responding!

Edited September 28, 2017 by John & Rose

[Jeanne Adil 1,651]

If you tried what u want to go and marry before she comes to the US, u would have to start all over again and apply CR1

only thing u can do (if she is approved at interview) is for her to come and marry here

then proceed as others have said above

incha allah all go good