Catholic ceremony before k-1 interview

[Rociomtz 19]

I am planning to fill out the paper work for the k-1 visa next month. We have a religious(catholic) ceremony planned for August of this year in Mexico and we want to have the legal one here in the United States after. I talked to a lawyer and he stated that a religious wedding would not hinder the visa process because it is not legal, he said that it would actually help because we would have pictures.Catholic weddings are not legal weddings in Mexico or in the United States. I was wondering if anyone has had a similar experience and what the outcome was ? 

[Liam2021 583]

My advise: dont do anything like that if you do K1. I see many members on this group just do a small ceremony and got denied at the interview. So,it a big no and  you can do it after married.

Edited April 24, 2018 by H&T

[Loren Y 2,755]

I would be very cautious of any ceremony that may look even close to a wedding legal or not. Do a search on here for "Too Married" for K1 visa and you will see the horror stories of losing out on the K1 because a photo got leaked to social media, or they actually told the CO yes we had a ceremony, and that was the end of the K1, proceed to CR1 do not pass go do not collect 200 dollars. Actually you will lose about 535 you paid for the K1. I'm sure you will see some other people back me up on this, and you may get a few that say sure, no problems, but I wouldn't risk it. Not when it takes so long to do anything with immigration, and the money involved.

Edited April 24, 2018 by Loren Y

[Ontarkie 14,229]

Many have been  denied for doing just that. If you hired that lawyer I would fire him. 

[Unlockable 7,314]

Here are a couple of threads of members here who had there visas denied because of such ceremonies

 

Basically, your lawyer is wrong. If people can get denied simply for having a ceremony like you want, do you want to even risk it?

 

Btw, there are plenty more threads of people who have been denied for that reason. You can do a simple search for it.

 

[Lemonslice 4,859]

If your parents, friends, family and community consider you married.... then, the immigration officer might think the same.   

[geowrian 22,337]

This is very risky, and your lawyer not making you aware of that risk is borderline malpractice IMO. There's a few cases noted above of people being denied for similar ceremonies, but believe me there's far more if you use the search function here.

Technically it's allowed so long as it's not a legal marriage. But if a CO gets wind of it, you may be forced to start all over with a CR-1 visa instead (after getting legally married). It's a huge risk.

[Sunnyland 639]

OP. I would not do that catholic ceremony at all. You are in the process of K1 fiancee visa. If you do anything remotely to a wedding ceremony, you are at risk of losing that visa and have to start all over again.

In my country (Argentina) if you do a catholic ceremony at a church, then consider yourself married. Usually you do the church ceremony after the civil (courthouse) ceremony.

Finish the K1 visa, have your fiancee travel to US, marry and then apply for AOS (with EAD+AP included) and then when your fiancee has the AP in hand can travel to mexico and do the catholic ceremony. 

By the way, your lawyer may be telling you this so when your visa K1 is denied, then you will have to pay him again to start the process ALL over again under spouse visa and you know what? More $$$ for that lawyer! 

 

Why would you do a wedding ceremony in Mexico BEFORE getting your K1 approval? K1 visa is to get married in US, not abroad.

[JuniorMints 66]

What is the point of having this marriage ceremony now?  Why can't it be done after you have the K1 visa in hand?   Any kind of religious  ceremony, even if it's not 'official' or 'legal' that makes a couple 'religiously married' is just a word game,  you will be considered MARRIED to the Consulate and you will no longer be eligible for the K1 visa...........Not Worth It. 

Edited April 24, 2018 by JuniorMints

[Rociomtz 19]

I can’t really cancel the religious wedding  at this point a lot of time and money has been invested already. I just wanted some opinions to see what route we should take. We were planning on doing both religious and legal marriage in Mexico and then go from there but then I got advised to try the k-1 visa instead. 

[TBoneTX 45,324]

If you want a chance at the K-1 visa, cancel the ceremony.

If you proceed with the ceremony, do the religious and legal marriage in Mexico and file the I-130 for the CR-1 visa.

The CR-1 is superior to the K-1, and your having the religious marriage will help your prospects, not harm them.

Edited to add:  Bluntly put, your lawyer is an idiot.

Edited April 24, 2018 by TBoneTX

[TBoneTX 45,324]

Thread is moved from the K-1 Process forum to the "What Visa Do I Need" forum.

[Going through 5,671]

5 hours ago, Rociomtz said:

I can’t really cancel the religious wedding  at this point a lot of time and money has been invested already. I just wanted some opinions to see what route we should take. We were planning on doing both religious and legal marriage in Mexico and then go from there but then I got advised to try the k-1 visa instead. 

If you go ahead with this plan, be prepared to invest even more time and money when you end up having to do the CR-1 visa after your K-1 is denied.

[Unlockable 7,314]

8 hours ago, Rociomtz said:

I can’t really cancel the religious wedding  at this point a lot of time and money has been invested already. I just wanted some opinions to see what route we should take. We were planning on doing both religious and legal marriage in Mexico and then go from there but then I got advised to try the k-1 visa instead. 

Interesting statement. If you read some of the cases on here people have invested time and money into this type of ceremony as well as the visa process, only to have to start all over. Imagine waiting almost a year to get a K1 visa only to get denied. Then you would have to get married and file for a spousal visa, which is currently taking 12 - 14 months.

 

It really is not worth the risk. Saying you can't is not accurate. If going through with your plans meant a 100% denial, you would cancel in a heartbeat and accept the loss of time and money. It is your decision and you simply chose not to cancel.

 

Here are a couple more cases of people being denied K1's because of ceremonies...

 

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

  Even if they made the mistake of granting the K1,  at any later time did it come out that you married before the K1 all immigration rights can be rescinded.  So in theory you could be doing ROC  and show up with picture from the wedding and not only be denied ROC but have the underlying green card e declared void.