Courthouse wedding?

[cosmonauts 125]

I was not a K-1, I did AOS from J-1 but our wedding was at the courthouse in San Bernardino (you can do walk-ins I think), we bought ring pops as "engagement rings", and bought simple wedding bands on Amazon for the day of.  Later on we had more elaborate celebrations for the family.

As others have said, a legal wedding is more important than anything else. USCIS is not looking for traditional anything, as every couple is different. Real bonafide relationship is more important.

Edited August 7, 2019 by tamaara

[Allaboutwaiting 2,503]

7 hours ago, mogiftney said:

Great info, thanks!

 

do you know what countries have customary big weddings? I would think maybe the UK? The average wedding in the UK costs 30,000 pounds. Do you know anyone who went through London and got married only at a courthouse?

 

not sure if this matters, but we aren’t a very traditional couple anyway. We are atheist lesbians... We didn’t get each other engagement rings. We want wedding rings, we don’t see much need for engagement rings. Seems like an unnecessary expense to us. 

I've read about one or two cases from India -here in the forum- that shared they were asked for wedding plans at the embassy.

 

There's plenty of couples from the UK that had just a courthouse ceremony. Don't worry. 

 

The common questions at the embassy are: where/when/how did you meet, how many times you've visited each other, do you know each others family; things like that.

[YecaCruz 379]

11 hours ago, mogiftney said:

So, I’m not sure if I have accurate info regarding this, but I’ve read some info on K1 visas regarding courthouse weddings but the info I found was slightly outdated, so I want to know if anybody has any input on this.

 

I read online that often times with the K1 visa, couples will wait a year or a good few months to have a big expensive ceremony due to all of the logistics and planning and traveling family members from different countries and finances that go into the visa process which is super unreliable timeframe wise, and have JUST a courthouse wedding instead within the 90 day period.

 

So my question is... could we do this? Would just a courthouse wedding within the 90 day window suffice for the time being, and then we could do a bigger ceremony once the stress from getting my fiancée into the states is over?

 

I know they want lots of proof of wedding plans and such, I just wonder if you could explain that you want to do just a courthouse wedding instead for the time being because it’s hard to plan around the K1 process? I mean, they know it’s difficult, right?

 

Thanks for your time

We got hitched at the county courthouse 2 hours after he got off the airplane! Got a few copies of the marriage cert a few days later, got his ss# 2 weeks after his arrival, added him to stuff, and began the AOS about a month later.

Did the religious wedding ceremony (or whatever you'd like to call it) 7 months later just so family and friends could come celebrate with us. He had his greencard by the time we did our September wedding celebration (see signature for details)

 

For our K1 we didn't send any proof of weddings plans as we didn't have anything set in stone. As a few have mentioned, your "intent to marry" statement suffices as wedding plans. Evidence to focus on would be you two being together within the last 2 years since that's what USCIS requires for the K1. I personally went above and beyond and sent evidence of 6 years of correspondence (Did it help? No clue. Made me confident of an approval however) in addition to seeing him within 2 years of applying via airline tickets, copies of passport stamps, and labeled pictures.

 

[CrisBR 30]

11 hours ago, mogiftney said:

So, I’m not sure if I have accurate info regarding this, but I’ve read some info on K1 visas regarding courthouse weddings but the info I found was slightly outdated, so I want to know if anybody has any input on this.

 

I read online that often times with the K1 visa, couples will wait a year or a good few months to have a big expensive ceremony due to all of the logistics and planning and traveling family members from different countries and finances that go into the visa process which is super unreliable timeframe wise, and have JUST a courthouse wedding instead within the 90 day period.

 

So my question is... could we do this? Would just a courthouse wedding within the 90 day window suffice for the time being, and then we could do a bigger ceremony once the stress from getting my fiancée into the states is over?

 

I know they want lots of proof of wedding plans and such, I just wonder if you could explain that you want to do just a courthouse wedding instead for the time being because it’s hard to plan around the K1 process? I mean, they know it’s difficult, right?

 

Thanks for your time

Hello! 

Well, my husband and I decided to have a very private and small ceremony at our house for close friends and family. 

So, we got our marriage license and had a friend, who is licensed to celebrate weddings, to perform our ceremony. 

The only things I had to go after were my dress and supplies for the party.

 

 

[yuna628 9,676]

Marriage is in the domain of the state of which you reside - therefore there is nothing wrong with marrying at a courthouse. You are not more or less married than being in a church, being outside in a field, using a venue, or marrying at your house. Provided there is an official saying the words required, and the document is signed off on and filed for with the clerk, and any other laws regarding marriage are followed for the state or county you reside. I would say most K1 couples decide to marry at a courthouse. Some do not, as there are a variety of unique ways a couple could have ceremonies that work for them. All the government cares about is that you can produce evidence of marriage after you marry. In the steps to obtain a K1, just follow the guides on this site, and it will pretty much be all that is needed to provide.

[Loren Y 2,755]

I'm at my marriage officiant class right now. Want to get married in Vegas, let me know. Can go from airport to wedding certificate in hand in under 4 hours. I just did a simple wedding, and it has been fine. Not more or less married than the couple's who drop 20k on a wedding.

 

Edited August 7, 2019 by Loren Y

[Ortolan 381]

Courthouse weddings with a party afterwards are WAY more fun (I say that because that's what we did, and it was fun!). You can dress as beautifully as you like for the courthouse wedding, bring a couple of witnesses, whatever, and go out to a nice supper afterwards, then plan a big party. Weddings cost so much; people in the US sometimes spend the equivalent of half a house on a wedding which, to me, is a complete crazy waste of money...but it's important to some, so whatever floats your McBoat. 😀

[WaterLeaf 200]

My now-husband arrived on a K1 Visa, and we got married nearby the courthouse because the area we are in doesn't have the in the courthouse wedding but some other area may do. (I heard in Las Vegas, you can do a drive through wedding!) However, do have like 2-3 weeks of wedding planning if you want to do it without issue if you are a kind of a last min choice - (if such thing is rather wanted like dresses, tux, rentals, bakery,  but you are most likely have to call for a minister/preacher/whoever to wed you all, etc.)

 

Check around your area. Just get it done with in the 90 days, preferably the 30th day (Idk what is the average day of peoples getting married after arriving) because of the AOS package that seem to be taking longer than usual for the NOA1 for now according to the AOS threads - which is what you need by the 90th day or have to step out of the US and start all over with a CR1. Not saying you have to exactly do it this way, but an idea if you kind of want to plan ahead. It's also best to get the stuff ready for AOS before marriage because the petitioner have to get some stuff ahead of time for the I-864 requirement of document. Best bet is like 3 weeks before wedding date because the IRS Transcript can take up about a week.

Do ask the courthouse to give you like 5 additional copies of the Marriage Certificate. You may need to pay, I'm not sure on which courthouse that will charge but mine didn't charge me on the day because of various misspelling and additional waiting to fix that.

There were nothing mentioning asking about wedding part much, the only thing so far was the AOS ask for wedding certificate. ROC is likely another story, but that's just about almost 2 years (Can't think of by what date at the moment) down the road and we're not that far in the process.

Edited August 7, 2019 by WaterLeaf
additional info

[Ed&Midori1031 330]

14 hours ago, mogiftney said:

So, I’m not sure if I have accurate info regarding this, but I’ve read some info on K1 visas regarding courthouse weddings but the info I found was slightly outdated, so I want to know if anybody has any input on this.

 

I read online that often times with the K1 visa, couples will wait a year or a good few months to have a big expensive ceremony due to all of the logistics and planning and traveling family members from different countries and finances that go into the visa process which is super unreliable timeframe wise, and have JUST a courthouse wedding instead within the 90 day period.

 

So my question is... could we do this? Would just a courthouse wedding within the 90 day window suffice for the time being, and then we could do a bigger ceremony once the stress from getting my fiancée into the states is over?

 

I know they want lots of proof of wedding plans and such, I just wonder if you could explain that you want to do just a courthouse wedding instead for the time being because it’s hard to plan around the K1 process? I mean, they know it’s difficult, right?

 

Thanks for your time

That's what my wife and I did for out wedding.  Just to get the legal aspect of marrying withing the 90 days of the K-1 visa, we did a court house marriage, accompanied by some family members.  As you know, if you want a major wedding ceremony, it takes time and energy, so there's absolutely nothing wrong going to a court of marriage.  Once complete, then take the time to plan out the "dream" reception you and your fiance were hoping for.  My wife and I waited 6 months after our marriage to have the reception that we wanted, and it worked out fine.  

 

The only details you will have to provide about the wedding is if the interviewing officer asks for details about the wedding.  Our interviewing officer asked my wife "So tell me about the wedding plans" 

Simple and to the point.  Good luck! 

[Ed&Midori1031 330]

1 hour ago, Ortolan said:

Courthouse weddings with a party afterwards are WAY more fun (I say that because that's what we did, and it was fun!). You can dress as beautifully as you like for the courthouse wedding, bring a couple of witnesses, whatever, and go out to a nice supper afterwards, then plan a big party. Weddings cost so much; people in the US sometimes spend the equivalent of half a house on a wedding which, to me, is a complete crazy waste of money...but it's important to some, so whatever floats your McBoat. 😀

Highly agree.  My wife's and I wedding happened on Halloween, so it was definitely a party afterwards! 

[payxibka 10,045]

Venue does not a wedding make.  Someone's backyard,  hot air balloon,  street corner,  mall, or even your kitchen.  The list of possible venues is endless.  For most locales it is the bride, groom, qualified officiant and two witnesses 

 

If I needed to, I  can marry two people in under one minute 

Edited August 7, 2019 by payxibka

[AstroCanada 206]

Even people going the CR-1 route have small or courthouse weddings.  My partner and I were living together outside the US, and when we decided we wanted to get married and immigrate, we opted for a very small wedding, so that we could file the immigration paperwork soon thereafter.  Had we planned a big ceremony (which takes a year or more), we would have ended up being apart much longer than we were.  

[Lana&Ivy 215]

We had a wedding at the Santa Barbara courthouse one week after I arrived.  It was just the two of us and it was so unexpectedly special.  We dressed up and hired a photographer who acted as our witness, and then went for pizza and ice cream on State Street.  People on the street applauded us and the day was very fun.  We are planning an exchange of vows and a reception for friends and family in October, but in our hearts, the elopement was such a personal and perfect wedding and all we needed.  We did not book our courthouse appointment until I had my K-1 visa in hand and no one asked for any evidence of wedding planning throughout the K-1 process.

[Nitas_man 3,100]

2 hours ago, payxibka said:

 

If I needed to, I  can marry two people in under one minute 

Two spouses sounds expensive

[Nitas_man 3,100]

6 hours ago, Allaboutwaiting said:

I've read about one or two cases from India -here in the forum- that shared they were asked for wedding plans at the embassy.

 

I’m positive that a quick wedding in the local courthouse is a more than adequate response.