Odd question

[Halp 0]

so bit of an odd question, one that i bet i know the answer on, but im still hoping that i can be wrong. 

 

i know the K1 visa is meant for your fiancee to be able to come to the US and let you get married here, but recently a couple things changed for us that we were wondering if we could do a 2 part marriage, 1 in Brazil and 1 here in the US.

 

My fiancee is from brazil and their family would not be coming to the wedding in the USA for a number of reasons, despite much wanting to be able to be at the wedding, but at the end of the day, due to several factors, they literally can not be here in the US and see the wedding.

 

our religion has a 2 part wedding though, basically one part is the legal and lawful marriage done by man, then we do a "religious" wedding breaking it down very simply. in the US with religious freedom and freedom to marry, we can do both parts together if we want in 1 ceremony, and we would just sign some legal documents for the legal lawful part. however, due to a couple recent changes, we do have an option to do them at different times now

 

so would we be able to do a legal lawful civil marriage in Brazil, and still use the K1 visa to be able to do the religious wedding part up here in the US? we have already begun the process and our form I129-F  was recently approved and we are moving along (huge thanks to everyone on this website for helping answer lots of questions!), and obviously if we were to try for the K2 marriage visa, there would be a long wait between the marriage in brazil and being able to do the religious part up here, so what i was really hoping for was for us to be allowed to do the civil marriage down there, then use the K1 visa for the other marriage (religious) in the US directly afterwards.

 

i know it is unlikely, and i did try calling the USCIS/national visa center for answers, but after several frustrating attempts of going through a phone tree and not finding a customer service agent option anywhere, i just kept being redirected to the website. 

 

another question, would anyone even know if i was to do the civil marriage in brazil after the visa was approved? the plan was always for me to go down and escort my Fiancee back to the US after a small celebration with their family down there, but if we were to just get married down there, would they even have a way to know? (not gonna do that, last thing i want is to risk being denied US entry or getting my fiancee deported after going through all this)

[Ben&Zian 4,398]

3 minutes ago, Halp said:

so bit of an odd question, one that i bet i know the answer on, but im still hoping that i can be wrong. 

 

i know the K1 visa is meant for your fiancee to be able to come to the US and let you get married here, but recently a couple things changed for us that we were wondering if we could do a 2 part marriage, 1 in Brazil and 1 here in the US.

 

My fiancee is from brazil and their family would not be coming to the wedding in the USA for a number of reasons, despite much wanting to be able to be at the wedding, but at the end of the day, due to several factors, they literally can not be here in the US and see the wedding.

 

our religion has a 2 part wedding though, basically one part is the legal and lawful marriage done by man, then we do a "religious" wedding breaking it down very simply. in the US with religious freedom and freedom to marry, we can do both parts together if we want in 1 ceremony, and we would just sign some legal documents for the legal lawful part. however, due to a couple recent changes, we do have an option to do them at different times now

 

so would we be able to do a legal lawful civil marriage in Brazil, and still use the K1 visa to be able to do the religious wedding part up here in the US? we have already begun the process and our form I129-F  was recently approved and we are moving along (huge thanks to everyone on this website for helping answer lots of questions!), and obviously if we were to try for the K2 marriage visa, there would be a long wait between the marriage in brazil and being able to do the religious part up here, so what i was really hoping for was for us to be allowed to do the civil marriage down there, then use the K1 visa for the other marriage (religious) in the US directly afterwards.

 

i know it is unlikely, and i did try calling the USCIS/national visa center for answers, but after several frustrating attempts of going through a phone tree and not finding a customer service agent option anywhere, i just kept being redirected to the website. 

 

another question, would anyone even know if i was to do the civil marriage in brazil after the visa was approved? the plan was always for me to go down and escort my Fiancee back to the US after a small celebration with their family down there, but if we were to just get married down there, would they even have a way to know? (not gonna do that, last thing i want is to risk being denied US entry or getting my fiancee deported after going through all this)

 

No. Your best option is either marry there fully in Brazil and file for CR-1 (spousal visa), or get the K-1, come to the US, marry, then travel back to Brazil afterwards for the religious ceremony. DO NOT do any sort of ceremony before getting the K-1 as it has resulted in many many denials. You are seen essentially as "too married" for the K-1. Do not jeopardize anything or try playing games when it comes to immigration because it will come back to bite you. 

Edited May 6, 2019 by Ben&Zian

[Celie 793]

1 minute ago, Halp said:

so bit of an odd question, one that i bet i know the answer on, but im still hoping that i can be wrong. 

 

i know the K1 visa is meant for your fiancee to be able to come to the US and let you get married here, but recently a couple things changed for us that we were wondering if we could do a 2 part marriage, 1 in Brazil and 1 here in the US.

 

My fiancee is from brazil and their family would not be coming to the wedding in the USA for a number of reasons, despite much wanting to be able to be at the wedding, but at the end of the day, due to several factors, they literally can not be here in the US and see the wedding.

 

our religion has a 2 part wedding though, basically one part is the legal and lawful marriage done by man, then we do a "religious" wedding breaking it down very simply. in the US with religious freedom and freedom to marry, we can do both parts together if we want in 1 ceremony, and we would just sign some legal documents for the legal lawful part. however, due to a couple recent changes, we do have an option to do them at different times now

 

so would we be able to do a legal lawful civil marriage in Brazil, and still use the K1 visa to be able to do the religious wedding part up here in the US? we have already begun the process and our form I129-F  was recently approved and we are moving along (huge thanks to everyone on this website for helping answer lots of questions!), and obviously if we were to try for the K2 marriage visa, there would be a long wait between the marriage in brazil and being able to do the religious part up here, so what i was really hoping for was for us to be allowed to do the civil marriage down there, then use the K1 visa for the other marriage (religious) in the US directly afterwards.

 

i know it is unlikely, and i did try calling the USCIS/national visa center for answers, but after several frustrating attempts of going through a phone tree and not finding a customer service agent option anywhere, i just kept being redirected to the website. 

 

another question, would anyone even know if i was to do the civil marriage in brazil after the visa was approved? the plan was always for me to go down and escort my Fiancee back to the US after a small celebration with their family down there, but if we were to just get married down there, would they even have a way to know? (not gonna do that, last thing i want is to risk being denied US entry or getting my fiancee deported after going through all this)

Unfortunately, no. The K1 visa is strictly to do your legal marriage here in the US. At the moment you marry legally, you disqualify for this visa and have to pursue a spouse visa instead.

 

My advice would be to hold off on all that, get your k1 visa since you've already applied, wait for AP to travel, then you can do a religious ceremony there or at least a wedding reception so her/his family can be part of it.

[Roel 7,192]

Short and simple. If you have any kind of marriage outside of the US, you are not eligible for K1 Visa. 

[nguoivietnam2019 67]

I did my K-1 a few years ago and I did have a wedding without legalizing the marriage (no registration with government). I sent wedding photos  but we did include a note on cover letter that my ex and I were not legalized marriage according to the Vietnam law.  My ex got her visa approved but...it was a stupid thing to do and my ex and I just got lucky as we heard more and more stories of people got rejected.

 

So either do K-1 without any type of wedding ceremony or CR-1 outside of US with a wedding.

 

 

Edited May 6, 2019 by nguoivietnam2019

[Unlockable 7,314]

12 minutes ago, Halp said:

so would we be able to do a legal lawful civil marriage in Brazil, and still use the K1 visa to be able to do the religious wedding part up here in the US?

Nope. Absolutely not. In fact, there are many threads on here where people have only had a religious ceremony and were denied a K1 because of it.

 

If having her family be at the wedding is a big issue, simply get married in Brazil. Or, do the K1, get married in the US, then return to Brazil later and have a second wedding there with her family attending.

 

Quote

another question, would anyone even know if i was to do the civil marriage in brazil after the visa was approved?

The problem with this is, even if USCIS doesn't catch it before the issuance of the visa or green card, it will always be grounds for revocation. This is because you will have to make a sworn statement that the both of you are free to marry to the US government before the K1 is issued. So if you have a civil wedding in Brazil and get a K1, it will mean you were given the visa and ultimately the green card under false pretenses. Even if the US government finds out 10 years down the line and you fiance is now a US citizen, she can be charged with misrepresentation. 

Edited May 6, 2019 by Unlockable

[payxibka 10,045]

The alien must be still be  single at the port of entry

[Boiler 45,553]

Sounds like the CR1 not the K1 is the one for you, has lots of advantages anyway.

[Halp 0]

ok thanks everyone for responding. i was guessing that this was going to be the case, but since i would still be getting married here in the US as well, thought that i may as well just ask. thanks for all the help though! i will just stick with the K1 visa since the process is already moving along

[Ryan H 3,812]

Moved from Progress Reports to Process & Procedures.