not legal wedding ceremony prior to K1 approval

[Crazy Cat 42,597]

I agree with those who say do NOT :

 

1.  Mention the the words "fake wedding" to the CO.

2.  Show ANY pictures of the party.

3.  Post pictures of the party on social media.

4.  Lie to the CO.

 

There have been plenty of similar cases here on VJ which have resulted in denials.

Edited May 26, 2018 by missileman

[O&GForever 387]

I would be very cautious what you share, say and present at the interview. I can tell you first hand that it can cause problems. My husband and I were denied a K1 based on 1 photos from and engagement party they interpretted as a traditional marriage. There was no officiant, no vows exchanged, no rings given, just a party with family.  I then had to return to his country, get married and start all over with the CR1. I know I am not alone in this. Depending on which country you are dealing with the same thing could happen to you. 

Edited May 26, 2018 by O&GForever

[Mystery12345 1]

4 minutes ago, O&GForever said:

I would be very cautious what you share, say and present at the interview. I can tell you first hand that it can cause problems. My husband and I were denied a K1 based on 1 photos from and engagement party they interpretted as a traditional marriage. I thn had to return to his country, get married and start all over with the CR1. I know I am not alone in this. Depending on which country you are dealing with the same thing could happen to you. 

Wow this is truly crazy that people get denied because of a party of love to show everyone what the party we wanted 

 

we never lied to our friends or family we told everyone the truth so now I’m worried 

[debbiedoo 2,339]

just dont mention it and dont send pictures, im sure it will be fine.

 

i dont understand having a fake wedding to prove your love for one another. There is NO DOUBT in anyones mind between Pauls side of the border and mine, that we are one unit and a package deal and our worlds revolve around the other. While I cant wait to get married to my best friend.... a ceremony does not a relationship make.

 

But whats done is done and you had a good time and thats all nice and everything.

 

Dont mention one single word about it.

[aratamorne 165]

12 hours ago, Mystery12345 said:

it was just we would have lost a lot of money if we didn’t have the party.

It was asked before but you did not answer, why would you have lost a lot of money?  Was this a planned wedding but then decided to change to K-1 so you both just had a party?  A white dress and a suit are not required for a party.

 

12 hours ago, Mystery12345 said:

Nope a photographers friend did it for us it was great 

The photographer's friend did what?  Did you exchange some sort of vows?  Do you know if he is a legal offciant?

 

Lastly, when you sent the 129F, did you include pictures of your "Declaration of Love" party?

[kemm360 144]

1 hour ago, aratamorne said:

It was asked before but you did not answer, why would you have lost a lot of money?  Was this a planned wedding but then decided to change to K-1 so you both just had a party?  A white dress and a suit are not required for a party.

 

The photographer's friend did what?  Did you exchange some sort of vows?  Do you know if he is a legal offciant?

 

Lastly, when you sent the 129F, did you include pictures of your "Declaration of Love" party?

Then that is a problem there and the question will definitely be asked by the CO. 

 

Wish you best of luck man!

Edited May 26, 2018 by kemm360

[JFH 12,191]

1 hour ago, aratamorne said:

It was asked before but you did not answer, why would you have lost a lot of money?  Was this a planned wedding but then decided to change to K-1 so you both just had a party?  A white dress and a suit are not required for a party.

 

 

A few questions were asked that were not answered. I asked how they can prove that they are not married. 

 

Regarding the party, I'm wondering if they put a deposit on a wedding venue, catering etc that was non-refundable because they thought they would get the K-1 quicker than they did. I have seen that here a lot - people send the I-129F and start planning a wedding before they have the visa in hand (even before they have NOA2) because they don't realise how long it will take. So, because then had already paid for it, they decided to use the venue and other services for a "party".

 

I'm guessing the party has some cultural significance. I'm wondering how this is going to fly at the London embassy because "declaration of love" parties are not a regular occurrence among Brits. Even white weddings are a dying breed. 

Edited May 26, 2018 by JFH

[usmsbow 802]

2 hours ago, Mystery12345 said:

Wow this is truly crazy that people get denied because of a party of love to show everyone what the party we wanted 

 

we never lied to our friends or family we told everyone the truth so now I’m worried 

 

The good news is you're from the UK. The other poster's spouse is from Ghana, a country that has a lot of cases of fraud and applicants get a ton of scrutiny. Apples and oranges. You should be OK. 

 

My wife brought pictures of our engagement party to her K-1 interview. No problems at all. She wasn't dressed in white though, and it was clearly not a wedding, so I'm not suggesting you bring any evidence of the party to your interview.... 

 

 

 

 

[Mystery12345 1]

Yes we planned the party to be the celebration after our official wedding but we didn’t get the noa2 in time so would have lost money on food venue entertainment etc so went ahead with what we had planned just told everyone what was going on to make sure everyone knew what exactly was going on and we played the part of the king and queen celebrating the love for one another and promised stuff to each other and we wasn’t pronounced man and wife but king and queen

 

for Perot of not getting married is easy as there is no legal paperwork to state otherwise and we can get letters from the person who stood up with us saying that fact and paperwork from the guests saying that they knew what was going on if we needed that but it wasn’t a legal wedding as you need to go register that and have an official person do it and stuff

 

we didn’t send in any pictures of the ceremony of love as it was after we sent in all the paperwork 

 

to me for it to be an official wedding you need someone to file the paperwork and to get married which we did neither so if they deny us it be our own faults for wanting something special to celebrate our love how we wanted it

[Crazy Cat 42,597]

29 minutes ago, Mystery12345 said:

we didn’t send in any pictures of the ceremony of love as it was after we sent in all the paperwork 

Good......I would NOT show these to the CO during the interview either. 

 

31 minutes ago, Mystery12345 said:

for Perot of not getting married is easy as there is no legal paperwork to state otherwise and we can get letters from the person who stood up with us saying that fact and paperwork from the guests saying that they knew what was going on

The absence of marriage paperwork does not prove you are not married.  Affidavits from your friends and family will have very little, if any, effect.  Your best plan is to avoid mentioning this party at all.

It matters NOT what YOU think is an official marriage.  It matters what the CO at the interview thinks....

 

If you want to avoid the risk, just don't mention the party.

[geowrian 22,338]

18 minutes ago, Mystery12345 said:

for Perot of not getting married is easy as there is no legal paperwork to state otherwise and we can get letters from the person who stood up with us saying that fact and paperwork from the guests saying that they knew what was going on if we needed that but it wasn’t a legal wedding as you need to go register that and have an official person do it and stuff

Lack of legal paperwork provided on your part is not evidence that an event did not occur (otherwise one could just not provide the paperwork and say it doesn't exist). There is no central repository of who is married or not in the US...one can show proof that they did marry by getting a copy of the marriage certificate registered in their county/state, but one cannot show that they did not marry...only that there's no record of a marriage in that county/state.

 

Just playing devil's advocate here, but:

1) Unless the IO or CO searches every recorder's records in the US, there is no way to show that you didn't get married in an area outside where you live.

2) Affidavits do not prove or disprove a wedding.

3) In many circumstances, the officiant submits the paperwork to the court to record the marriage. The officiant could have forgotten to do so, lost it or damaged it, had it lost in the mail, etc. The marriage is still legal, but just not recorded.

 

But yes, at this point just don't mention it and hope they don't ask. You'll probably be fine. The above is just info on why they are unlikely to change their mind once they already have doubts if you are already married or not.

[ibnfawzi 46]

15 hours ago, Dee elle said:

Just keep the photos off your social media just as a precaution. 

Me and my fiancee also had a party. We panicked afterwards in hindsight and scrubbed our social media accounts and asked our friends to do the same. 

[yuna628 9,747]

1 hour ago, Mystery12345 said:

Yes we planned the party to be the celebration after our official wedding but we didn’t get the noa2 in time so would have lost money on food venue entertainment etc so went ahead with what we had planned just told everyone what was going on to make sure everyone knew what exactly was going on and we played the part of the king and queen celebrating the love for one another and promised stuff to each other and we wasn’t pronounced man and wife but king and queen

 

for Perot of not getting married is easy as there is no legal paperwork to state otherwise and we can get letters from the person who stood up with us saying that fact and paperwork from the guests saying that they knew what was going on if we needed that but it wasn’t a legal wedding as you need to go register that and have an official person do it and stuff

 

we didn’t send in any pictures of the ceremony of love as it was after we sent in all the paperwork 

 

to me for it to be an official wedding you need someone to file the paperwork and to get married which we did neither so if they deny us it be our own faults for wanting something special to celebrate our love how we wanted it

None of this proves anything. A person writing a letter can be someone saying anything. And there is no official repository of marriage licenses in the US, you either provide the USCIS with a license or you don't. There's no way they can officially check anything you say is true. Unfortunately if you openly admit this, they would certainly deny, as they will consider you technically married.... as in not enough married to be official, but too married for them to be comfortable. Some people hold 'religious' type ceremonies or elaborate 'engagement' parties that are not 'legal' but are still too official to pass.

[O&GForever 387]

Yes, the Ghana and the UK embassy are vastly different. (I also didn't know which embassy the OP was dealing with as it doesn't show up in their profile.) My point in posting...as stated...is to be very careful in what the OP share, say and present at the interview. Some may think it could be good evidence and while they don't see it to be an issue or that they are married, the CO could. No matter what embassy you're dealing with if the CO thinks you are married and applying for K1 visa, it won't end well. Its not just the Ghana embassy. I have seen it happen at many other embassies, including those considered easy, lower fraud embassies. 

[Mystery12345 1]

Honestly I think all are valid points but still feel we did nothing wrong and we are not married in the eyes of the law and feel if they did deny us on it we would appeal and get the local government involved to help with the case if that be an option

 

i think in the guides both on here and the official website they need to be more clear on what can be done and can’t