Getting Ceremonially Married while waiting for K1?

[JoshuaLndmd 1]

Hi all,

 

My fiancée (Colombia) and I (USA) are considering getting married ceremonially and setting a date in August, 2024. Has anyone tried this and will this affect our ongoing K1 visa petition? Should we consider doing this in the US on her tourist visa and then come back to Colombia while we wait for approval if we haven't received it by then or would it be better to simply do it in Colombia and finish the legal aspect in the US upon approval?

 

Thanks everyone!

[a89syd9a 10]

USCIS uses the "place of celebration" rule to determine whether a marriage is valid for immigration purposes. If you get anything that is legally considered a marriage at the place where it happens, then you are very likely to have your I-129F denied if there is any record about it. To be eligible for K1, you have to prove 3 eligibility factors, one of which is: you and beneficiary are legally able and eligible to marry within 90 days of beneficiary's arrival to US. By having an existing marriage, you and beneficiary would not be eligible in this regard in most cases.

 

You may be able to present some novel legal argument to counter that but I'm not sure it's worth all the risk and hassle.

 

In summary, if you want an easy approval then don't do it. If you want to get married, just get legally married and apply for CR1.

Edited September 25, 2023 by a89syd9a

[JoshuaLndmd 1]

Thank you so much for your quick response on this! So even if we have a ceremony with no marriage license signing and no legal documentation you would think that it might still be risky if the government can somehow find a record of our ceremony? Would they go as far as look for a record of such ceremony with no legal documents supporting that event?

[a89syd9a 10]

28 minutes ago, JoshuaLndmd said:

Thank you so much for your quick response on this! So even if we have a ceremony with no marriage license signing and no legal documentation you would think that it might still be risky if the government can somehow find a record of our ceremony? Would they go as far as look for a record of such ceremony with no legal documents supporting that event?

 

Yes they will check for records that may exist but were not provided, that's their job to investigate and determine eligibility.

[JoshuaLndmd 1]

Much appreciated 

[JeanneAdil 6,413]

so. why not marry and apply for spouse visa

it takes about the same timeframe to get to interview

 

[JoshuaLndmd 1]

We got engaged recently and our family (that we want present at our wedding) comes from three different countries which is why our timeline to get married is for next year to plan ahead, the timeline for the spousal visa would thus take a lot more time than simply waiting for our current k1 petition to be approved.

[SalishSea 17,744]

2 hours ago, JoshuaLndmd said:

Hi all,

 

My fiancée (Colombia) and I (USA) are considering getting married ceremonially and setting a date in August, 2024. Has anyone tried this and will this affect our ongoing K1 visa petition? Should we consider doing this in the US on her tourist visa and then come back to Colombia while we wait for approval if we haven't received it by then or would it be better to simply do it in Colombia and finish the legal aspect in the US upon approval?

 

Thanks everyone!

Great way to fast track a visa denial.   Just don’t do it.

[SalishSea 17,744]

50 minutes ago, JoshuaLndmd said:

We got engaged recently and our family (that we want present at our wedding) comes from three different countries which is why our timeline to get married is for next year to plan ahead, the timeline for the spousal visa would thus take a lot more time than simply waiting for our current k1 petition to be approved.

Sounds like you have not done any  research at all.   Do you realize that the processing time just for the I-129F is currently 16.5 months?   If you go that route, you’re not getting married  until 2024 at the earliest.   
 

VisaJourney is FULL of people who have had engagement ceremonies/tribal/unofficial weddings and then were denied the K-1, and had to start over with a CR-1.   If it appears you’re “too married” for a K-1, it will be denied.   And the consulate doesn’t need to go looking for any sort of legal documentation.   They can outright deny you if it looks like you may have had a ceremony.
 

You should really have a thorough read of the immigration process.   Doing things wrong can cost time, money, and can cause denials.

[Redro 4,611]

1 hour ago, JoshuaLndmd said:

We got engaged recently and our family (that we want present at our wedding) comes from three different countries which is why our timeline to get married is for next year to plan ahead, the timeline for the spousal visa would thus take a lot more time than simply waiting for our current k1 petition to be approved.

But, your family wouldn’t be coming to your “real” wedding they would be coming to the ceremonial wedding… what is the difference between getting paper married to start the immigration process and having a big ceremony in 2024 for the family VS. big ceremony in 2024 and paper marriage after the K1 is issued? 
 

[JoshuaLndmd 1]

No need to get upset SalishSea, I appreciate your concern but I've done my fair share of reading. I was simply asking because I couldn't find any stories like you say VisaJourney is full of, please feel free to share links to some if you can find any, I couldn't myself.

 

Best

[JoshuaLndmd 1]

@Redro We value the "ceremonial" wedding more than the paper/legal aspect which is why we would consider the ceremony (without the legal necessarily) to be our "real" wedding. Just to be clear we would want to do the paper/legal aspect upon approval of the K1 and a small ceremony with family on a set date that might potentially fall before the approval date.  But I understand that any record of a ceremony might affect our visa process.

[Sam Burns 153]

1 hour ago, JoshuaLndmd said:

No need to get upset SalishSea, I appreciate your concern but I've done my fair share of reading. I was simply asking because I couldn't find any stories like you say VisaJourney is full of, please feel free to share links to some if you can find any, I couldn't myself.

 

Best

I literally typed this into the search bar here and got many hits all with the same advice: do not do any sort of ceremony and apply for a K1

 

https://www.visajourney.com/sitesearch/?cx=partner-pub-3407508467788263%3A9725800110&cof=FORID%3A10&ie=UTF-8&q=K1+wedding+ceremony&sa=Search

[MissLadyRea 206]

1 hour ago, JoshuaLndmd said:

No need to get upset SalishSea, I appreciate your concern but I've done my fair share of reading. I was simply asking because I couldn't find any stories like you say VisaJourney is full of, please feel free to share links to some if you can find any, I couldn't myself.

 

Best

People get denied for it all the time, here's just one.

 

[EM_Vandaveer 2,408]

If you want to risk visa denial, then go ahead. It'd make so much more sense to get LEGALLY married ASAP & file for a spousal visa, while waiting for that you can plan your big party/celebration at leisure...