Utah County Proxy (Zoom) wedding

[top_secret 2,414]

10 hours ago, Jimmyzr1 said:

What is the approximate cost for all involved with getting the webwed, zoom wedding, also if anyone knows the costs involved with the Philippine embassy in the US getting the 9a paperwork to travel to the Philippines? I’m not vaccinated, so also am wondering if I would be allowed in the Philippines for a few weeks again. I lived there for 3 years up until February 2021, then left for the US. Thanks for the help.

 

WebWed the online officiant service seems a bit exorbitant in their pricing.  Far better to just go strait through Utah county.

 

1: Get marriage license.
https://www.utahcounty.gov/Dept/clerkaud/PassMarr/Marriage.asp
$70

 

2: Get married.
https://www.utahcounty.gov/Dept/clerkaud/PassMarr/MarrCeremony.asp

$35

 

3: Order Apostilled copy of Marriage Certificate for use with Philippine government.  (Apostille not needed for USCIS)
https://www.utahcounty.gov/Dept/clerkaud/PassMarr/CertCopy.asp

$45

 

So $150 total to do it on Utah counties web site.

 

OR.... You can get webwedmobile to officiate and fill the Utah County forms for $899 plus $425 for the apostilled marriage certificate (seems a bit pricy).
https://webwedmobile.com/ufaqs/how-much-do-you-charge/

So.... $1,324 if you do it on webwedmobile's web site instead of Utah county's web site.  (the $150 Utah County option seems better to me)

 

4: File Report of Marriage with the Philippine consulate in San Francisco.
https://pcgsanfrancisco.org/civil-registry/
$25

 

5:  Get Philippines 9a visa
https://pcgsanfrancisco.org/visa/

$30

[John & Rose 7,239]

Just now, top_secret said:

 

WebWed the online officiant service seems a bit exorbitant in their pricing.  Far better to just go strait through Utah county.

 

1: Get marriage license.
https://www.utahcounty.gov/Dept/clerkaud/PassMarr/Marriage.asp
$70

 

2: Get married.
https://www.utahcounty.gov/Dept/clerkaud/PassMarr/MarrCeremony.asp

$35

 

3: Order Apostilled copy of Marriage Certificate for use with Philippine government.  (Apostille not needed for USCIS)
https://www.utahcounty.gov/Dept/clerkaud/PassMarr/CertCopy.asp

$45

 

So $150 total to do it on Utah counties web site.

 

OR.... You can get webwedmobile to officiate and fill the Utah County forms for $899 plus $425 for the apostilled marriage certificate (seems a bit pricy).
https://webwedmobile.com/ufaqs/how-much-do-you-charge/

So.... $1,324 if you do it on webwedmobile's web site instead of Utah county's web site.  (the $150 Utah County option seems better to me)

 

4: File Report of Marriage with the Philippine consulate in San Francisco.
https://pcgsanfrancisco.org/civil-registry/
$25

 

5:  Get Philippines 9a visa
https://pcgsanfrancisco.org/visa/

$30

Last I heard the San Francisco Consulate doesn’t require apostille. I’ve seen a few get approved with the certified marriage certificate that you get via email after the wedding. Webwed is a joke but they are making a huge profit from people who don’t do the research. 

[Jimmyzr1 36]

6 hours ago, top_secret said:

 

WebWed the online officiant service seems a bit exorbitant in their pricing.  Far better to just go strait through Utah county.

 

1: Get marriage license.
https://www.utahcounty.gov/Dept/clerkaud/PassMarr/Marriage.asp
$70

 

2: Get married.
https://www.utahcounty.gov/Dept/clerkaud/PassMarr/MarrCeremony.asp

$35

 

3: Order Apostilled copy of Marriage Certificate for use with Philippine government.  (Apostille not needed for USCIS)
https://www.utahcounty.gov/Dept/clerkaud/PassMarr/CertCopy.asp

$45

 

So $150 total to do it on Utah counties web site.

 

OR.... You can get webwedmobile to officiate and fill the Utah County forms for $899 plus $425 for the apostilled marriage certificate (seems a bit pricy).
https://webwedmobile.com/ufaqs/how-much-do-you-charge/

So.... $1,324 if you do it on webwedmobile's web site instead of Utah county's web site.  (the $150 Utah County option seems better to me)

 

4: File Report of Marriage with the Philippine consulate in San Francisco.
https://pcgsanfrancisco.org/civil-registry/
$25

 

5:  Get Philippines 9a visa
https://pcgsanfrancisco.org/visa/

$30

Wow, thank you so much for your advice, I really appreciate it!

[Jimmyzr1 36]

Concerning the zoom wedding in Utah and ROM for Philippine consulate, girlfriend was previously married, husband died, her name on passport ID and regular ID has both her maiden name and married name. ROM says to use maiden name only in reporting to the consulate. For the marriage, we have it set up using both names, is this correct or should we just use her maiden name for both the wedding and ROM? I’m not sure if Utah would accept the partial name on her ID.

[John & Rose 7,239]

On 12/14/2021 at 9:52 PM, Jimmyzr1 said:

Concerning the zoom wedding in Utah and ROM for Philippine consulate, girlfriend was previously married, husband died, her name on passport ID and regular ID has both her maiden name and married name. ROM says to use maiden name only in reporting to the consulate. For the marriage, we have it set up using both names, is this correct or should we just use her maiden name for both the wedding and ROM? I’m not sure if Utah would accept the partial name on her ID.

Use the name on the birth certificate when filling most forms.  They usually specify current name or name at birth.  The US and Utah dont care about middle names like they do in the Philippines.  Our middle names are given and that was one of my biggest challenges when I got married in Manila, but that is another story.  We used the birth certificate name for filling out the information except where it asked for current name.  We filed the I-130 for my step son's wife a few days ago.  I will update on their journey as needed. ROM is next.  We are just waiting on Passports for the mother and child.

[Jimmyzr1 36]

5 hours ago, John & Rose said:

Use the name on the birth certificate when filling most forms.  They usually specify current name or name at birth.  The US and Utah dont care about middle names like they do in the Philippines.  Our middle names are given and that was one of my biggest challenges when I got married in Manila, but that is another story.  We used the birth certificate name for filling out the information except where it asked for current name.  We filed the I-130 for my step son's wife a few days ago.  I will update on their journey as needed. ROM is next.  We are just waiting on Passports for the mother and child.

Here’s how her name is listed of her passport and Philippine ID:  

Mary Grace (maiden name) (widowed name). My problem is that Utah left out her maiden name and only added MARY Grace (widowed name). I was thinking of having it changed to show all of the names listed above, including both maiden and widowed names, since that is what’s on ID’s. Do you think that would be a problem with ROM, since it asks me to list in maiden name. I was going to tell Utah to put both, then only put maiden for ROM. What do you think? Thanks 

[my_gf_wants_cr1 13]

@John & Rose

Me (US citizen) and my GF (non-citizen) of 5 years do not live in the USA, and we don't want to get married in our country (religious reasons), but we are looking into Utah online wedding because its the least amount of bureaucracy for her path to CR-1.
I am not Philippine, but I do wonder - I understand USCIS looks at Utah online wedding as immigration relevant if couple has evidence of post-marriage meetup.

Does it matter what is the stance of the country in which we live in?

E.g let's assume this country does not look at the Utah wedding as legit in that country - does it matter to USCIS?

[John & Rose 7,239]

1 minute ago, my_gf_wants_cr1 said:

@John & Rose

Me (US citizen) and my GF (non-citizen) of 5 years do not live in the USA, and we don't want to get married in our country (religious reasons), but we are looking into Utah online wedding because its the least amount of bureaucracy for her path to CR-1.
I am not Philippine, but I do wonder - I understand USCIS looks at Utah online wedding as immigration relevant if couple has evidence of post-marriage meetup.

Does it matter what is the stance of the country in which we live in?

E.g let's assume this country does not look at the Utah wedding as legit in that country - does it matter to USCIS?

It doesn't matter what country the beneficiary is in.  You will have to physically meet after the wedding to legally file the spousal visa.  If you cannot meet, you can get married online and continue with the K-1.  Do not meet before the interview and you can complete the K-1 even after online marriage.  It is a little tricky but you are not "officially" married until you consummate the marriage in the eyes of immigration.  Once the K-1 is approved, the beneficiary can enter the US where your marriage will be officially recognized.  

[my_gf_wants_cr1 13]

2 minutes ago, John & Rose said:

It doesn't matter what country the beneficiary is in.  You will have to physically meet after the wedding to legally file the spousal visa.  If you cannot meet, you can get married online and continue with the K-1.  Do not meet before the interview and you can complete the K-1 even after online marriage.  It is a little tricky but you are not "officially" married until you consummate the marriage in the eyes of immigration.  Once the K-1 is approved, the beneficiary can enter the US where your marriage will be officially recognized.  

Thanks. Taking into account what you said - we live together and have been in the past 4 years, plan on actually being side by side physically during the Zoom ceremony, so I assume proving consummation is not an issue?

What I am worried about is USCIS saying "Sure, you showed evidence of meeting after marrying, but in your country of origin where you actually live now the marriage is illegal, therefore the I-130 application is denied".

[John & Rose 7,239]

15 minutes ago, my_gf_wants_cr1 said:

Thanks. Taking into account what you said - we live together and have been in the past 4 years, plan on actually being side by side physically during the Zoom ceremony, so I assume proving consummation is not an issue?

What I am worried about is USCIS saying "Sure, you showed evidence of meeting after marrying, but in your country of origin where you actually live now the marriage is illegal, therefore the I-130 application is denied".

You are all good to go.  The US recognizes the online marriage and your should be easier than most since you will be together.  Do you have a US address that you can use for their paperwork?  I'm not sure if they will send the marriage certificate to a foreign address but they also email a certified certificate.  The actual marriage was online for us and they don't know where people call in from.  We had probably 20 people on the Zoom to witness the wedding and they were literally all over the world.  The brides father is a Seaman and he joined from his ship somewhere out in the Pacific Ocean.  What country are you in?  Feel free to PM me so you dont lose your place in the Philippine forum as this conversation can help them a lot.

[Will&Christine 52]

9 hours ago, John & Rose said:

It doesn't matter what country the beneficiary is in.  You will have to physically meet after the wedding to legally file the spousal visa.  If you cannot meet, you can get married online and continue with the K-1.  Do not meet before the interview and you can complete the K-1 even after online marriage.  It is a little tricky but you are not "officially" married until you consummate the marriage in the eyes of immigration.  Once the K-1 is approved, the beneficiary can enter the US where your marriage will be officially recognized.  

Wait, are you saying marrying online doesn't void K1 application if we don't meet in person after marriage? Not until after interview and attaining K1 visa? So if we marry online then I get 9a visa to go meet her after interview and K1 visa is still good?

[John & Rose 7,239]

11 minutes ago, Will&Christine said:

Wait, are you saying marrying online doesn't void K1 application if we don't meet in person after marriage? Not until after interview and attaining K1 visa? So if we marry online then I get 9a visa to go meet her after interview and K1 visa is still good?

As bizarre as that sounds this is exactly how the State Department sees it. 
 

That situation is actually written into the embassy guidelines, so they have seen it before and enough to write into their processes. It even goes on to say that as long as your proxy or online  marriage is legal, you (a K1 ) do not have to marry once you enter the US since you are legally married, so the date of your marriage will be the date of the legal proxy marriage.  I am sure this will confuse USCIS during the AOS process so be ready to explain it to them!

 

9 FAM 102.8-1(D)  Proxy Marriages 

(CT:VISA-1272;   05-03-2021)

A marriage where one or both parties was not present (proxy marriage) is not valid unless the marriage was consummated.  

(1)  Consummated:  For the purpose of issuing a visa to a “spouse,” a proxy marriage that has been subsequently consummated is deemed to have been valid as of the date of the proxy ceremony.  A proxy marriage consummated prior to the proxy ceremony cannot be considered a valid marriage for visa adjudication purposes unless it has been consummated subsequently.

(2)  Unconsummated:  A proxy marriage that has not been subsequently consummated does not create or confer the status of “spouse” pursuant to INA 101(a)(35).  For IV cases, a party to an unconsummated proxy marriage may be processed as a nonimmigrant fiancé(e).  A proxy marriage celebrated in a jurisdiction recognizing such marriage is generally considered to be valid; thus, an actual marriage in the United States is not necessary if the applicant is admitted to the United States under INA provisions other than as a spouse.  (See 9 FAM 502.7-3(B) for additional information on fiancé classifications.)  

Edited December 21, 2021 by John & Rose

[Adventine 3,196]

Would that not create the situation "Too married for a K1 but not married enough for a CR1" that is often talked about on the forums? Seems risky to me.

 

[John & Rose 7,239]

9 minutes ago, Adventine said:

Would that not create the situation "Too married for a K1 but not married enough for a CR1" that is often talked about on the forums? Seems risky to me.

 

That is what I originally thought but I know of one successful couple who cancelled a spousal that they filed before consummation and did the K-1. I have been following them and while I didn’t expect them to make it through so easily (no actual challenges at all) they just received their K-1 visa.  Here are the State Department guidelines. 
 

9 FAM 102.8-1(D)  Proxy Marriages 

(CT:VISA-1272;   05-03-2021)

A marriage where one or both parties was not present (proxy marriage) is not valid unless the marriage was consummated.  

(1)  Consummated:  For the purpose of issuing a visa to a “spouse,” a proxy marriage that has been subsequently consummated is deemed to have been valid as of the date of the proxy ceremony.  A proxy marriage consummated prior to the proxy ceremony cannot be considered a valid marriage for visa adjudication purposes unless it has been consummated subsequently.

(2)  Unconsummated:  A proxy marriage that has not been subsequently consummated does not create or confer the status of “spouse” pursuant to INA 101(a)(35).  For IV cases, a party to an unconsummated proxy marriage may be processed as a nonimmigrant fiancé(e).  A proxy marriage celebrated in a jurisdiction recognizing such marriage is generally considered to be valid; thus, an actual marriage in the United States is not necessary if the applicant is admitted to the United States under INA provisions other than as a spouse.  (See 9 FAM 502.7-3(B) for additional information on fiancé classifications.)  

Edited December 21, 2021 by John & Rose

[Adventine 3,196]

@John & Rose interesting. Has USCIS also approved their AOS, then? My concern is that Dept of State and USCIS are two separate entities and they may not arrive at the same conclusion. USCIS, upon learning of the marriage date during the AOS process, could possibly deny the AOS because the couple got married before they arrived in the States. At least that is how I can see things going wrong.