Japan Filers Preferred! Religious ceremony prior to U.S. Entry

[Midori0625 24]

I have a plan to do shinto wedding in Japan,too.(Ours will be after US wedding tho)

 

My personal opinion for your question ....The ceremony and marriage are  separately in Japan ,I think.
Wedding ceremony here is just event even if it was religion one so I think it would be ok honestly.
The difference K-1 or CR-1 is what at which country you would file marriage certificate.

 

 

[Unlockable 7,314]

3 minutes ago, Midori0625 said:

Wedding ceremony here is just event even if it was religion one so I think it would be ok honestly.
 

But a K1 can be denied even if it is "just an event". That is the problem we are trying to explain.

[Midori0625 24]

How can other people verify they had wedding ceremony in Japan?

I know of course we need to  entering to  US as the fiance.

But I'm wondering how they can ...?(I know the biggest issue is not there.)

[David & Diana R 1,005]

19 hours ago, nakuke said:

Hi everyone. I'm referring specifically to Japan in this post. I already know the basic information about this topic and rather than that I am looking for personal anecdotes or first-person experiences with something like this especially in Japan. I have also emailed the embassy to see what their stance is. A lot of people have repeated that a religious ceremony is always an issue but it seems every example given of where it was a problem was in highly religious nations such as Muslim nations or India and the petitioners were dumb enough to either

 

1. Send photos of their ceremony in their packet/to embassy

2. Write or say they had a "wedding"

3. Tell the CO or show them photos of the ceremony

 

My fiance's family is very adamant about having a simple shinto marriage ceremony done before leaving to the U.S.; inn which immediate family and very close friends will participate. Its something that may mean the difference between estrangement and inheritance with her family. We are thinking of planning for the ceremony and having it after receipt of K-1 and a couple days prior to flying to the U.S. Then we will become legally married in the U.S. a couple days after arrival. After which the family registration will be updated in Japan (legal marriage). 

Has there been a couple on here that has done something similar in Japan? Or anywhere else? Of course we are not going to show the embassy photos of anything nor mention anything, and nothing will be on social media. No photos in baggage, no wedding ring. If asked if we are married we will say no, as we are not legally married. Any experiences?

You answered your own question: shinto marriage ceremony

[David & Diana R 1,005]

19 hours ago, nakuke said:

Why would it be invalid after the religious wedding? The requirement for a k-1 visa is to not be legally married, which we are not. In order to be legally married in Japan you need to add an entry into the family registry of the Japanese citizen which can only be done at the registration office. If religious marriage= legal marriage one should be able to apply and qualify for CR-1 after only a religious ceremony. 

 

Also, how would they "find out"? And why would it come up during AOS; our legal wedding would be in the U.S. whee we will have an actual wedding in the county court and will be issued a certificate of marriage by the state. No reason to mention a shinto ceremony.

I knew you would not be open to truthful answers.  You wanna hear what you wanna hear, so go ahead.  Get married and see where it gets you.  As far as me I am out.

[Rebecca & Kelvin 136]

What if your relatives and friends take pictures of your "wedding" and then post it on social media, e.g. facebook, and then tag you saying congrats??

 

Too risky as you can not control other people. 

[geowrian 22,337]

I've said this over and over, but I'll say it again. It's very risky to do what you are planning. Are you willing to risk being denied and having to start completely over? While I understand wanting to have the ceremony with the family abroad, this always seems like an unnecessary and potentially expensive risk vs just doing the ceremony after the US marriage and getting AP. By the time you get the K-1 you will have waited ~8-10 months to be together...I doubt another 4-6 months or so to have a ceremony will break you. Family and tradition is important (very much so in Japan), but resourceful people make things work without taking unnecessary risks.

 

20 hours ago, nakuke said:

I have also emailed the embassy to see what their stance is. A lot of people have repeated that a religious ceremony is always an issue but it seems every example given of where it was a problem was in highly religious nations such as Muslim nations or India and the petitioners were dumb enough to either...

Here's a case from Australia:

 

Quote

Of course we are not going to show the embassy photos of anything nor mention anything, and nothing will be on social media. No photos in baggage, no wedding ring. If asked if we are married we will say no, as we are not legally married. Any experiences?

I suggest asking yourself if this plan sounds like it's on the "up and up" if you need to hide all evidence of it and hope the CO doesn't ask about it or find out about it some other way. Personally, if you need to hide all traces of something, it's probably not something you should be doing.

Edited May 2, 2018 by geowrian

[CEE53147 559]

You have been given the privilege of sponsoring immigration for your future spouse and you intend to display contempt for the US by not following the rules. 

[LEISEROM 32]

Although it was 30 years ago someone suggested we do some sort of marriage in Brazil before she left for US on K1. Although I am not an attorney I knew this was not a good idea. Sure enough when they did the AOS interviews they asked this exact question. Like I told them I can read the forms(remember no internet then). We got married at JP court and then registered marriage at Brazilian Consulate to get passport in new name. We followed the rules to a T and no issues. Like I said we can have a big party next time there but no preliminary marriages.

[Loren Y 2,755]

I hope when you emailed them it was from a internet cafe, you paid cash, and used one hell of an ip address blocker. Any emails to any US government entity is logged on their servers with incoming IP address and internet provider. They would know who you are before they opened the email. For an example of the information they will get, go to what's my IP dot com I believe it is, and watch how much information comes up when you click the what's my IP button. And this is only half of what they get probably. Hopefully you have a good VPN running on your computer if you emailed from your home. 

[britishandusa 446]

45 minutes ago, Loren Y said:

I hope when you emailed them it was from a internet cafe, you paid cash, and used one hell of an ip address blocker. Any emails to any US government entity is logged on their servers with incoming IP address and internet provider. They would know who you are before they opened the email. For an example of the information they will get, go to what's my IP dot com I believe it is, and watch how much information comes up when you click the what's my IP button. And this is only half of what they get probably. Hopefully you have a good VPN running on your computer if you emailed from your home. 

I was literally going to say the same but I’m glad someone said it first! Who cares if it’s a “different email,” they run background checks with FBI and more. A simple IP address is even easier to trace and they can easily figure out who’s trying to bypass the law. People just don’t listen 😂

 

[nakuke 13]

54 minutes ago, britishandusa said:

I was literally going to say the same but I’m glad someone said it first! Who cares if it’s a “different email,” they run background checks with FBI and more. A simple IP address is even easier to trace and they can easily figure out who’s trying to bypass the law. People just don’t listen 😂

 

lol I think you're getting a little bit Jason Bourne with all this.

Anyways, after talking it over and analyzing everything we do agree its a big risk. Best to wait until after U.S. marriage and do the ceremony after. 

The only concern we have is that AOS applications are taking about 12-18 months or *more* to process and that's an awfully long time to wait before the ceremony especially if we put down a deposit on things such as the venue and shrine. I think she should plan the ceremony in Japan and leave things sort of set for when we return after our legal marriage in the US. 

So I have a semi-related question; how likely is it to receive advance parole to do this ceremony and is it likely there would be any problems upon return? I know leaving US while waiting for a green card is a big non no without permission but does the Advance parole sort of guarantee you're okay? I think if its easy to receive advance parole we can apply for it as soon as we apply for AOS and use it to have our ceremony in Japan as the family wants.

[randomstairs 303]

Why don't you simply tell us exactly the answer you wanna hear? 

[geowrian 22,337]

14 minutes ago, nakuke said:

The only concern we have is that AOS applications are taking about 12-18 months or *more* to process and that's an awfully long time to wait before the ceremony especially if we put down a deposit on things such as the venue and shrine. I think she should plan the ceremony in Japan and leave things sort of set for when we return after our legal marriage in the US. 

You can get legally married shortly upon arrival in the US, then apply for AOS + AP + EAD. AP is taking ~4-6 months on average...not quick by any means, but is a lot better than the 12-18+ months AOS is taking at many offices.

 

Quote

So I have a semi-related question; how likely is it to receive advance parole to do this ceremony and is it likely there would be any problems upon return? I know leaving US while waiting for a green card is a big non no without permission but does the Advance parole sort of guarantee you're okay? I think if its easy to receive advance parole we can apply for it as soon as we apply for AOS and use it to have our ceremony in Japan as the family wants.

Obtaining and using AP based upon a pending AOS application is very likely. There are risks involved anytime you exit the country and want to re-enter (until you're a USC), but unless AOS is outright denied while abroad, using it to re-enter is a small risk. Obtaining AP is basically a sure thing so long as you file the forms properly.

Edited May 2, 2018 by geowrian

[Going through 5,671]

Just curious----what did the embassy say in response (if you got a response yet) to your question about having a religious ceremony before filing the K1?