Party in Beneficiary Country After K1 Approval

[Loren Y 2,756]

37 minutes ago, D.Ba said:

There is certainly a grey area, mainly regarding religious ceremonies that have no legal impact. For example, in Germany, a church wedding has no legal implications, you sign nothing and you still have to go to the registrar to be legally married. Actually, the priest will not do the ceremony unless you already have your papers from the registrar.

 

So, if you have a ceremony of this kind that is not accepted by law, it could count as "too married". Of course they still have to find out about it...

That is how it it here in most of the US. You have to go get a license to get married, then the priest or whoever is authorized by the state signs off on the marriage, then it has to be recorded at the county clerks office to become legal. Guess it will have to be just a dinner and some Tiger Beers, and nothing close to looking like a ceremony of any type. I can do that, now I don't have to get dressed up or anything. Just gorge myself on some Thai food, and drink some beers. Better to be safe than sorry. Thanks for the information, and I am going to use the search box to check out some posts about people getting denied because of this. I know in Thailand it is similar to the US where you both have to appear before and after the ceremony at the Ministry or something to make it legal, but why risk it.

[Orangesapples 1,954]

An engagement party might be a good option, you can take engagement pictures and have family and friends over and then after you're married in the US and have AP, go back for a reception and wedding pictures. 

[Jeanne Adil 1,651]

8 hours ago, iop287 said:

No religious ceremony wanted, but I was sort of hoping we take could photos with fancy attire at a pretty location as wedding photos as beneficiary's country is beautiful before helping him move to the US/go through POE  

don't risk it

a lot of countries view this as wedding and  could refuse visa or send financee home from POE if for any reasons photos are seen by immigraitaon officer

anything that looks like wedding party could make them tell you to apply for CR1   / we have seen this happen to others on here

[barltok 37]

I'm glad I read this information.  I was going to take some wedding photos and have a party with friends and family in Japan.  It blows my mind that anyone could be considered "too married." That's ridiculous.

[blenheim 243]

16 minutes ago, barltok said:

 I'm glad I read this information.  I was going to take some wedding photos and have a party with friends and family in Japan.  It blows my mind that anyone could be considered "too married." That's ridiculous.

Since this topic comes up all the time on here, it would be great if USCIS listed hard requirements to follow in this situation... To my understanding, one can still have a party, but nothing that seems “wedding” like. As in no wedding outfit, no ceremony, just a going away party. Though it’d be cool to get more opinions on this, as it might seem like a fine line? Having a photo with a bunch of friends and family could possibly come across as a wedding gathering? Wonder if it’s even possible to ensure it 100% will not risk anything. I’m thinking the answer to this question is that one can’t avoid the risk. 

Edited January 14, 2018 by blenheim

[geowrian 22,338]

The issue is it's not a fine line...many people do exactly this without an issue. The CO doesn't think there's any concern of there being a real marriage or that the individuals won't actually marry within 90 days. Some people do have issues. The CO gets to use their discretion here. The only "safe" option is not to do it and not worry about what they think about it. Anything else is a risk that the individual assumes. The CO does not know the applicant personally and only has very limited information in front of them to go on.

[blenheim 243]

4 minutes ago, geowrian said:

The issue is it's not a fine line...many people do exactly this without an issue. The CO doesn't think there's any concern of there being a real marriage or that the individuals won't actually marry within 90 days. Some people do have issues. The CO gets to use their discretion here. The only "safe" option is not to do it and not worry about what they think about it. Anything else is a risk that the individual assumes. The CO does not know the applicant personally and only has very limited information in front of them to go on.

Don’t you think if people didn’t join this forum and read the many denial posts on this, they’d have no idea a small gathering would be an issue? 

[geowrian 22,338]

1 minute ago, blenheim said:

Don’t you think if people didn’t join this forum and read the many denial posts on this, they’d have no idea a small gathering would be an issue? 

Probably. And we then we see them here afterwards. There's only a small handful of denials for this that we see before somebody goes out and does it (and then gets denied). It's usually people who already did so and then ask how to handle the refusal.

[Unlockable 7,316]

30 minutes ago, blenheim said:

Since this topic comes up all the time on here, it would be great if USCIS listed hard requirements to follow in this situation... To my understanding, one can still have a party, but nothing that seems “wedding” like. As in no wedding outfit, no ceremony, just a going away party. Though it’d be cool to get more opinions on this, as it might seem like a fine line? Having a photo with a bunch of friends and family could possibly come across as a wedding gathering? Wonder if it’s even possible to ensure it 100% will not risk anything. I’m thinking the answer to this question is that one can’t avoid the risk. 

 

14 minutes ago, blenheim said:

Don’t you think if people didn’t join this forum and read the many denial posts on this, they’d have no idea a small gathering would be an issue? 

My thing is people tend to take things too far. A small gathering is not the issue. The issue is when people say things like, "What if we have a wedding ceremony, but don't register it?". People want everything to be exactly like a real wedding because maybe the beneficiary's parents or family can't travel to the US. Yet they don't want the CO to see it as a wedding. They want to have their cake and eat it too. Pun intended.

 

Look at the thread below where the OP  had an "engagement party" but was dressed in wedding attire, had a priest present, and even exchanged rings. Give people the option to have such ceremonies and they would simply keep pushing the envelope.

 

Ergo, best not to do it at all.

 

 

Edited January 14, 2018 by NuestraUnion

[blenheim 243]

8 minutes ago, NuestraUnion said:

 

My thing is people tend to take things too far. A small gathering is not the issue. The issue is when people say things like, "What if we have a wedding ceremony, but don't register it?". People want everything to be exactly like a real wedding because maybe the beneficiary's parents or family can't travel to the US. Yet they don't want the CO to see it as a wedding. They want to have their cake and eat it too. Pun intended.

 

Look at the thread below where the OP  had an "engagement party" but was dressed in wedding attire, had a priest present, and even exchanged rings. Give people the option to have such ceremonies and they would simply keep pushing the envelope.

 

Ergo, best not to do it at all.

 

 

No wonder why that application was perceived as too married, sounds exactly like they got married. Maybe the USCIS should put this requirement on this topic on the i-129f to avoid these denials. They sound heartbreaking and totally innocent? Something to the extent of “Do not have any ceremony or gathering before K1 entry that could be perceived to be a wedding.”

Edited January 14, 2018 by blenheim

[JFH 12,191]

6 hours ago, blenheim said:

Don’t you think if people didn’t join this forum and read the many denial posts on this, they’d have no idea a small gathering would be an issue? 

Oh I don't I think that's a problem. Remember that one half of the couple is from the country in question and would have a good understanding of what is considered a wedding and what isn't. I don't think they can claim to not know. This happens mainly in sub-Saharan Africa where weddings involve certain traditions such as "knocking", eating certain foods, giving certain gifts, performing certain dances that are usually reserved for wedding celebrations, and other things that are only done at weddings. It presents a huge grey area for consular officers as to whether someone who wore the traditional colors and clothing for a wedding (equivalent of a big white dress in the west), ate foods that are only eaten at weddings (like a wedding cake, for example), took part in traditions and rituals that are only performed at weddings (equivalent of exchanged rings, etc) is actually married or not. Rather than go through all the fine details of such an event to determine whether it was actually a legal wedding or not they err on the side of caution.

 

Think about it - if a friend in the USA posted pictures on Facebook of her in a big white dress, her boyfriend in a suit, family members in very smart outfits, cutting and eating a wedding cake and exchanging rings...you'd think she had just got married. They would have a hard time convincing people they did all that but didn't get married. It's the same for other cultures and their traditions. 

[NicoAndNelle 127]

My husband and I got married here in US in December but back in September (yes beforey K1 Interview) when he visited me we did a "wedding shoot". It was just him and myself (I insisted this be done because my friend is a photographer hence free pics and suitable weather for our choice of wedding attire). We did not post ANY pics till we got married here officially in US. I did not present anything about it whatsoever at K1 interview because there was no need to  so I was not asked anything about it. There was no way for anything to be misconstrued in anyway. 

If you have a party after you have been approved I don't see how it can cause issues unless you present pics at POE which I don't see the need for. What am I not getting???

[Unlockable 7,316]

2 hours ago, NicoAndNelle said:

My husband and I got married here in US in December but back in September (yes beforey K1 Interview) when he visited me we did a "wedding shoot". It was just him and myself (I insisted this be done because my friend is a photographer hence free pics and suitable weather for our choice of wedding attire). We did not post ANY pics till we got married here officially in US. I did not present anything about it whatsoever at K1 interview because there was no need to  so I was not asked anything about it. There was no way for anything to be misconstrued in anyway. 

If you have a party after you have been approved I don't see how it can cause issues unless you present pics at POE which I don't see the need for. What am I not getting???

To answer your question, you don’t have to literally hand the evidence to the CO for them to find out. There have cases where certain pics showed up on social media that the CO discovered. There was even a case where an investigated went to the neighborhood of the beneficiary and asked about the couple and some told them him that they were already married.

 

But the biggest issue, like I meantioned earlier, is that people will want to do more. You make have just wanted wedding pictures. But someone else wants all of their family present because they have a 90-something year old Nana who wants to her in a wedding dress (this really happened. There is a thread on VJ about it). Then they want to make everything like a real wedding because the beneficiary’s family cant get visitor visas to come to the US for the real wedding.

 

We can tell people that they can do small things but there will always but some who want to do more. For every case like yours where it was something simple like a small photo shoot, there is a case where someone throws a huge wedding ceremony. It’s almost human nature to take things further. This is why we advice not to do anything at all.