Engagement Photos with K1 petition?

[SJordanS 343]

Hi VJers,

 

I’ve been reading a few posts this evening and got a little nervous. As I am waiting for my NOA2, I’ve been reading that USCIS can see formal engagement photos as being too engaged or almost married. My fiancé and I got engaged in our Orthodox Church in Jordan. I sent a few photos with my petition and its on our FB. Of course I’m wearing a simple red dress.  Not white! I included a certificate from the priest who stamped it who blessed our rings, and he wrote the date, our names and that he commenced our engagement. Will this be a problem with USCIS? I’m so confused now! All we wanted was a beautiful engagement ceremony! 

[K & R 343]

1 hour ago, SueSaed said:

Hi VJers,

 

I’ve been reading a few posts this evening and got a little nervous. As I am waiting for my NOA2, I’ve been reading that USCIS can see formal engagement photos as being too engaged or almost married. My fiancé and I got engaged in our Orthodox Church in Jordan. I sent a few photos with my petition and its on our FB. Of course I’m wearing a simple red dress.  Not white! I included a certificate from the priest who stamped it who blessed our rings, and he wrote the date, our names and that he commenced our engagement. Will this be a problem with USCIS? I’m so confused now! All we wanted was a beautiful engagement ceremony! 

The IO can take cultural norms into consideration but having photos in a church with a priest who stamped a certificate sounds an awful lot like a wedding. This is why it is highly recommended on VJ to not have an engagement ceremony at all or send pictures of engagement parties.

 

Since youve already sent off the petition you have two options.

 

1. Wait it out and see what happens. Then, if you get denied the k-1, marry and file the CR1.

 

2. Withdraw the k-1. Marry in Jordan or another country and file the CR1. 

 

What kind of certificate is it? Are you sure you’re not already married?

Edited March 5, 2019 by K & R

[SJordanS 343]

5 minutes ago, K & R said:

The IO can take cultural norms into consideration but having photos in a church with a priest who stamped a certificate sounds an awful lot like a wedding. This is why it is highly recommended on VJ to not have an engagement ceremony at all or send pictures of engagement parties.

 

Since youve already sent off the petition you have two options.

 

1. Wait it out and see what happens. Then, if you get denied the k-1, marry and file the CR1.

 

2. Withdraw the k-1. Marry in Jordan or another country and file the CR1. 

 

What kind of certificate is it? Are you sure you’re not already married?

Of  Course we are not married. It is a family engagement and a lot of Christians do it in church and sometimes at home. But a priest will never lie on behalf of anyone. It is quite common there but im not sure it USCIS knows its common. 

[Roel 7,193]

It literally sounds like a wedding. 

 

I would expect k1 to be denied. 

[SJordanS 343]

Just now, Roel said:

It literally sounds like a wedding. 

 

I would expect k1 to be denied. 

 It’s not a wedding. Nothing like a wedding. It’s quite common for engagement to take place inside the church. 

[Roel 7,193]

Just now, SueSaed said:

 It’s not a wedding. Nothing like a wedding. It’s quite common for engagement to take place inside the church. 

1. You went to the church. 

2. There was a priest. 

3. You exchanged rings. 

 

It might be common (I never heard of engagement in churches but ok) but in the eyes of the USCIS you're too married for k1. People were denied for far less than that. 

[SJordanS 343]

9 minutes ago, Roel said:

1. You went to the church. 

2. There was a priest. 

3. You exchanged rings. 

 

It might be common (I never heard of engagement in churches but ok) but in the eyes of the USCIS you're too married for k1. People were denied for far less than that. 

If you are not arab christian it would not sound common but it is. My hopes is USCIS sees our efforts in being 100% teansparent and honest. Im praying and hoping they are only fair and honest with us and as we were with them. 

[Cryssiekins 976]

1 hour ago, SueSaed said:

If you are not arab christian it would not sound common but it is. My hopes is USCIS sees our efforts in being 100% teansparent and honest. Im praying and hoping they are only fair and honest with us and as we were with them. 

You can defend it all you want, but it won’t matter.  @Roel is preparing you for the worst case scenario.  Even though not a “wedding” by your norms, it certainly sounds very formal, which is where you could run into problems.

 

I wish you luck, but just be prepared incase it does not go over favorably for you.  You will have to then marry, and re-file for a CR1. 

[NicoleS 189]

Engagement photos (as our quite popular in the US) are fine, but they are different then you explain (no ceremony or ring exchange, just us in nice outfits, in a place important to us, with a photographer). We included 5-6 engagement photos in our i129f package and got approved with no issues. We also had a collage of our engagement photos printed on postcards to announce our engagement that we sent out to family and friends. We included one of those postcards in our i129f, too. In US culture, engagement photos should not be an exchange of rings, or a ceremony in the church. That is seen as a wedding, whether you made it legal or not. In US culture, you look  married.

 

An exchange of rings or ceremony or anything in the church is probably seen as a wedding in the eyes of USCIS, but good luck with that.

 

Here's a pic of one of our engagement photos that we included

Edited March 5, 2019 by NicoleM

[Crazy Cat 42,406]

2 hours ago, SueSaed said:

If you are not arab christian it would not sound common but it is. My hopes is USCIS sees our efforts in being 100% teansparent and honest. Im praying and hoping they are only fair and honest with us and as we were with them. 

If you are so confident, then why ask others here?  If there is an issue of being too married for a K-1 (which has happened to numerous others here on VJ), the problem will likely arise at the consulate interview stage.  USCIS is the easy part.  

 

I'll have to admit that it certainly sounds like a wedding, but only the CO's opinion really matters.....good luck.

[Unlockable 7,315]

2 hours ago, SueSaed said:

Of  Course we are not married. It is a family engagement and a lot of Christians do it in church and sometimes at home. But a priest will never lie on behalf of anyone. It is quite common there but im not sure it USCIS knows its common. 

 

2 hours ago, SueSaed said:

 It’s not a wedding. Nothing like a wedding. It’s quite common for engagement to take place inside the church. 

 

2 hours ago, SueSaed said:

If you are not arab christian it would not sound common but it is. My hopes is USCIS sees our efforts in being 100% teansparent and honest. Im praying and hoping they are only fair and honest with us and as we were with them. 

@SueSaed

 

The above responses is the mistake you are making. You are trying to argue points instead of trying to put yourself in the shoes of an interviewing officer. The reason you are on here is because you have read stories on such ceremonies like yours have backfired for other members. It will NOT be up to you to decide if you are eligible for a fiance visa. The IO officer will likely not even entertain your statements about what is considered married or not. He or she will simply deny your case and tell you to apply for a spousal visa. Your situation is common and there are plenty of threads on here to show how people have been denied a K1 regardless of what they perceived as cultural norms.

 

You are posting what you hope will happen, but what is your back up plan in case your hopes aren't granted? You can approach this in several ways, arguing the point that you are not married, which will likely fall on deaf ears. Or prepare for the worse and come up with a back up plan in case of a denial.

 

My personal advice is to hold on to the hopes you have but have a well established back up plan to marry and file for spousal visa just in case you get denied.

 

Best of luck to you.

[K & R 343]

3 hours ago, SueSaed said:

Of  Course we are not married. It is a family engagement and a lot of Christians do it in church and sometimes at home. But a priest will never lie on behalf of anyone. It is quite common there but im not sure it USCIS knows its common. 

My biggest concern for you is that the IO is going to see the priest, certificate, church, and ring exchange and not be 100% confident that it is not a wedding. All of those factors could be tough to overcome. You should definitely consider a back up plan and it might be worth your wild to cancel the k-1, officially marry, and file the CR1. I don’t see this ending well for the k-1 at the consulate stage 😕 especially since other VJ members have been denied for much less. 

[Dashinka 24,831]

1 hour ago, Unlockable said:

 

 

@SueSaed

 

The above responses is the mistake you are making. You are trying to argue points instead of trying to put yourself in the shoes of an interviewing officer. The reason you are on here is because you have read stories on such ceremonies like yours have backfired for other members. It will NOT be up to you to decide if you are eligible for a fiance visa. The IO officer will likely not even entertain your statements about what is considered married or not. He or she will simply deny your case and tell you to apply for a spousal visa. Your situation is common and there are plenty of threads on here to show how people have been denied a K1 regardless of what they perceived as cultural norms.

 

You are posting what you hope will happen, but what is your back up plan in case your hopes aren't granted? You can approach this in several ways, arguing the point that you are not married, which will likely fall on deaf ears. Or prepare for the worse and come up with a back up plan in case of a denial.

 

My personal advice is to hold on to the hopes you have but have a well established back up plan to marry and file for spousal visa just in case you get denied.

 

Best of luck to you.

Perfect response, and I completely agree.  The OP can really only hope for the best and prepare for the worst instead of trying to justify something they have no control over.

 

To the OP, good luck!

[Limey 551]

5 hours ago, Roel said:

1. You went to the church. 

2. There was a priest. 

3. You exchanged rings. 

 

It might be common (I never heard of engagement in churches but ok) but in the eyes of the USCIS you're too married for k1. People were denied for far less than that. 

You left out
 

4. A certificate was signed.

I agree that its difficult to think of something that looks more like a wedding than this ceremony.

Also the mention of blessing the "rings" (plural). In the US its uncommon for both parties to receive a ring during the engagement. I'd be amazed if this wasn't rejected based on being too married for the k1, have seen other cases here of rejections for far less.

[SJordanS 343]

5 minutes ago, Limey said:

You left out
 

4. A certificate was signed.

I agree that its difficult to think of something that looks more like a wedding than this ceremony.

Also the mention of blessing the "rings" (plural). In the US its uncommon for both parties to receive a ring during the engagement. I'd be amazed if this wasn't rejected based on being too married for the k1, have seen other cases here of rejections for far less.

 I did present all of this to our immigration attorney. He did mention to put it in my letter. It was explained in my letter of how we met why we chose our engagement this way. So I didn’t go at this alone. I do appreciate everyone’s feedback here and wish I came here first before sitting down with my immigration attorney. Because of course we want to hear firsthand from others that had this experience.   I guess I just have to hope for the best and wait and see what happens. Of course the back up plan is to go out there and get married. Appreciate all the help you from everyone.