Should I bring this up at the interview?

[Jashley820 0]

In many threads discussing the AOS interview, people discuss bringing wedding pics, etc, to validate the relationship.

I need advice regarding whether or not I can do that...let me explain.

We applied for a K1 in March 2006 and planned a "Social Ceremony" for July 2006. Most of our family is located in Canada and wouldn't be able to come to the U.S. for a big wedding, and after getting the K1 I wouldn't be able to go back to Canada for a wedding. So, we decided to have the social ceremony with a big reception prior to getting the K1, but NO LEGAL paperwork was signed AT ALL.

We got the K1 in March 2007 and we got legally married at city hall on April 7th. It was just the two of us and the mayor took a couple of pictures of us outside city hall, but nothing major. We may have another reception here in Cincinnati, but it's unlikely.

So, it seems pretty important to show wedding pics & other evidence at the interview. Do I show them pictures from the social ceremony where nothing was legal (even though it looks like a full wedding- I am wearing a dress, I have bridesmaids, etc but NO marriage license), or do I leave that completely out of the discussion and just say that we were civilly married and we may have a celebration once the paperwork is finished?

If you could give me some advice that would be great! I am not sure if the officer would frown upon what we did (although we did nothing wrong).

[together2love 0]

Well, because you didn't really do anything illegal I would have to say that if they don't ask, don't bother telling. Your 'wedding' for their purposes would be the court house one, so you would say that just you 2 were present and show the few pics that you have. This is actually how you got married, so that is what they are usually concerned with.

Good luck, you should be fine.

[LaL 418]

why wou.d you bring this up? I am sure they have heard this before, but ANY iota of confusion could wind up really badly. you didnt get married in Canada - you had a party. Also I was not asked for wedding photographs. Your marriage certificate is proof of marriage - not photos.

[lisaf 0]

We had exactly the same kind of wedding and while it seems we will not have an interview at this stage, we will eventually .Surely you've had cards and emails sent from friends and family congratulating you on your day???? I made sure to tuck all mine away in a safe place. I would think that the acknowledgement of your big day by those nearest and dearest to you from miles away are valid evidence.

oh DUH sorry just realized that you are talking about a ceremony in Canada! i read it all wrong!

Edited April 26, 2007 by lisaf

[rebeccajo 14]

You wore a wedding dress and other people wore bridal clothing at a party held before your entered the US?

Apparently it was important to you to have some sort of party that looked and seemed like a wedding. If you did a very good job of creating that atmosphere, one can only assume that any person looking at those photos would also believe it to be a wedding.

[Emancipation 2]

We had a "party" in Canada as well and I saved pictures only of our Open House for the interview ( i was in nice clothing but not the white dress) - did both a church Blessing and an Open House - Blessing was more formal. But I DID save the cards and wedding wellwishes that I recieved that weren't "Blessing specific" (didn't reference "the day")- does that make sense?

We only have a couple of pictures from our legal ceremony here in the US - we did videotape the whole thing though. We're just going to say we had an Open House in Canada before we left and since it was the winter none of my family could travel, and hubby's family was going through health problems. Our "witnesses" ended up in a scheduling mess and couldn't come either. I'm not too worried about it - we were both married before, and in our 30's so a big fancy smancy wedding really wasn't the priority for us.

Our JOP also offered to write a letter for us, and signed a copy of the ceremony that he did for us. I dunno if that would help, but pretty sure it's not going to be a big deal. One or two pictures of the ceremony I figure is MORE than enough.. You'll need more pictures of your time after the wedding anyway right? So we have loads of those - us with his kids, us with his nieces etc etc. Those would tell the officer more IMO about our continuous relationship. There's not really much to debate when you have a marraige licence.

Edited April 26, 2007 by Emancipation

[Aniomaman 0]

[mybackpages 0]

Are you concerned because you think the post AOS evidence of a bonafinde relationship is weak? I wouldn't worry about using the Canadian party photos and concentrate on post K-1 entry evidence- photos, accounts etc.

[Ngoc-Anh 1]

Legally you were not married by having a wedding reception. But as some of the Members state already....

they might be confuse and will give you a hard time. So I would recommend to stick with the "don't ask, don't tell policy"

to avoid confusions!!

Good luck!

[Jashley820 0]

Are you concerned because you think the post AOS evidence of a bonafinde relationship is weak? I wouldn't worry about using the Canadian party photos and concentrate on post K-1 entry evidence- photos, accounts etc.

Thanks guys for the tips/advice. I think we'll be fine because we have so much to show besides the social ceremony pics- I kept every e-mail, plane ticket and picture from before we got our K1, and we're having a blast "documenting" our marriage thus far. It seems from your advice, we'll be fine.

Thanks again!

Edited April 26, 2007 by Jashley820

[John & Annie 0]

IMHO

I think it is important to show that your family and friends were involved and support the relationship. To me this provides legitimacy and supports the "bona fide relationship".

You can class the "party" however you want. We called it a betrothal service, the fact remains that you were legally married in the US, per the terms of the K1.

I think trying to downplay family and friends involvement could potentially hurt a case. Celebrate the fact that people in other countries were happy to see you together and support the relationship.

[Emancipation 2]

True enough.. I guess my question would be if all the pics of you in Canada celebrating with your family and friends are in a white wedding dress and you were on a FIANCEE visa upon entry.. how do you explain that one?

[Nanusia & Lukaszek 0]

I agree with some of the above posters. Don't divulge into the details of the party in Canada. All it's going to do, is confuse, they will ask more questions and become skeptical, and you definitely don't want that.

Stick with what happened when you were already in the US on the K-1.

I would also say, NOT to bring any pics of the party in Canada, the whole white dress thing, and bridesmaids might seem like a wedding held in Canada.

[Kez/JWolf 6]

The evidence you are being asked to provide is from the date you were legaly married.... so if the event happened before that date it is not evidence of your marriage is it.... only take evidence from after your legal wedding.. they are not interested in the boxes of evidence you may have kept from your K1 period...

Good Luck

Kez

[Jashley820 0]

True enough.. I guess my question would be if all the pics of you in Canada celebrating with your family and friends are in a white wedding dress and you were on a FIANCEE visa upon entry.. how do you explain that one?

The line is pretty clear....we didn't issue a marriage license or sign any paperwork so we weren't married. Bottom line. It was a religious ceremony with no reference to being married, and then a party afterward! Our family was pretty upset when they found out that after we got the K1 we couldn't come back to Canada to get married, so everyone was really excited to show their support and love for us with the celebration. Most people do the civil wedding then the celebration afterward...for us, it was better to do the celebration first then the civil wedding.

We got married in April, and since they're concerned with the validity of the marriage and co-habitation, I'll focus on what's happened from April '07 and onward.

Thanks again for the advice!

Edited April 26, 2007 by Jashley820