CR-1 Visa - no photos of wedding ceremony...red flag?

[bel044 49]

Hi.  My partner (Japanese) and I (American) are currently preparing our CR-1 petition and gathering evidence of our relationship and marriage.  We have been together for 2.5 years.  We met in Japan when I worked/lived there for 3 years and got married before I returned to the USA.  We have lots of evidence of our relationship, including:  passport stamps, flight itineraries, chat logs with each other, chat logs between me and his father, chat logs between him and my family, Air BnB receipts, car rental receipt, love letters/cards, 3 affidavits from friends, screenshots showing he is an authorized user on my credit card account, bank statement/voided check showing joint ownership of my account, and tons of pictures from our relationship.  The only problem is...we didn't take any pictures of our wedding ceremony.  To be honest, we want to keep our marriage to ourselves (we only have told a handful of people so far) so we can have a ceremony at a later date in the USA (after the CR-1 is approved) where all of our friends and family can join.  To us, that is when our married lives will truly feel like it is starting since we'll actually be able to live together and start our lives together.  Because of that, we viewed our marriage in Japan as more of a formality, if that makes sense.  In Japan, all you have to do is turn in the required paperwork to City Hall and BAM that's it...no "ceremony" required.  Therefore, we didn't take any pictures of the "ceremony" in Japan (literally us just sitting in City Hall waiting for them to process our paperwork).  Should we be concerned about not having photos?  Do you think it will raise any red flags to USCIS officials?  Thanks!

[Russ&Caro 1,549]

Wedding pictures aren't required. The marriage certificate is the only piece of evidence you need associated with your wedding. Do you have other non-wedding pictures of you together that you can submit as evidence?

[bel044 49]

Yes, we have tons of pictures that we plan to add to the application.

[arellah 125]

I got married and none of my family was present, and we didn't take any pictures either. I had no problems as of yet. I included many pictures, skype logs, plane tickets etc ... Not everyone that gets married who are from the same country have big weddings either - to each their own.  I'm sure you'll be just fine, just make sure you include everything you can in your application!

[lierre 224]

2 hours ago, bel044 said:

Hi.  My partner (Japanese) and I (American) are currently preparing our CR-1 petition and gathering evidence of our relationship and marriage.  We have been together for 2.5 years.  We met in Japan when I worked/lived there for 3 years and got married before I returned to the USA.  We have lots of evidence of our relationship, including:  passport stamps, flight itineraries, chat logs with each other, chat logs between me and his father, chat logs between him and my family, Air BnB receipts, car rental receipt, love letters/cards, 3 affidavits from friends, screenshots showing he is an authorized user on my credit card account, bank statement/voided check showing joint ownership of my account, and tons of pictures from our relationship.  The only problem is...we didn't take any pictures of our wedding ceremony.  To be honest, we want to keep our marriage to ourselves (we only have told a handful of people so far) so we can have a ceremony at a later date in the USA (after the CR-1 is approved) where all of our friends and family can join.  To us, that is when our married lives will truly feel like it is starting since we'll actually be able to live together and start our lives together.  Because of that, we viewed our marriage in Japan as more of a formality, if that makes sense.  In Japan, all you have to do is turn in the required paperwork to City Hall and BAM that's it...no "ceremony" required.  Therefore, we didn't take any pictures of the "ceremony" in Japan (literally us just sitting in City Hall waiting for them to process our paperwork).  Should we be concerned about not having photos?  Do you think it will raise any red flags to USCIS officials?  Thanks!

 

Your spouse is likely applying whilst in Japan. Is that correct? If yes, that shouldn’t be a problem. I’m pretty sure they’re supposed to know local custom. As long as you have a marriage certificate from Japan, that should be fine.

Edited October 23, 2018 by ivyyy