Get married within 90 days, no available appointments

[Etherial 277]

I came over on a K1 visa on Dec 1st, with a K1 and I will be out of status on Feb 28th

We called our local court on Dec 3rd, there are no available appointments until March!

So I will be out of status.

 

We asked the court to notify us of any cancellations, but no luck so far.

 

What alternatives do we have?

An officiant that costs $300 or if we get married after 90 days and file i-130 concurrently, that will cost $535 extra.

 

 

[SalishSea 17,819]

8 minutes ago, Etherial said:

I came over on a K1 visa on Dec 1st, with a K1 and I will be out of status on Feb 28th

We called our local court on Dec 3rd, there are no available appointments until March!

So I will be out of status.

 

We asked the court to notify us of any cancellations, but no luck so far.

 

What alternatives do we have?

An officiant that costs $300 or if we get married after 90 days and file i-130 concurrently, that will cost $535 extra.

 

 

Can you get to Vegas ?   There is a VisaJourney member who performs free weddings in Vegas for fellow members.

[Lemonslice 4,836]

Just now, SalishSea said:

Can you get to Vegas ?   There is a VisaJourney member who performs free weddings in Vegas for fellow members.

Might even be able to find availability closer.  Next county, next large city, find a friend who gets registered as a celebrant...

[Etherial 277]

7 minutes ago, SalishSea said:

Can you get to Vegas ?   There is a VisaJourney member who performs free weddings in Vegas for fellow members.

That would cost us more to just hire an officiant. Thanks for the info though

5 minutes ago, Lemonslice said:

Might even be able to find availability closer.  Next county, next large city, find a friend who gets registered as a celebrant...

The last option could work, we already have our marriage license in our county.

[W199 333]

1 hour ago, Etherial said:

I came over on a K1 visa on Dec 1st, with a K1 and I will be out of status on Feb 28th

We called our local court on Dec 3rd, there are no available appointments until March!

So I will be out of status.

 

We asked the court to notify us of any cancellations, but no luck so far.

 

What alternatives do we have?

An officiant that costs $300 or if we get married after 90 days and file i-130 concurrently, that will cost $535 extra.

 

 

Why didn't you just pay the $300 for an officiant and get married by Dec 31? You would have saved thousands of dollars by being able

to file joint taxes together. $300 is nothing compared to the cost for the AOS and everything else you will need. And this all delays getting your employment authorization which is going to be a few thousands at least in lost wages.

 

So the lost savings from joint taxes and employment is huge compared to $300

Edited February 6 by W199

[Boiler 45,467]

Delay in being able to work blows any of these numbers away.

[W199 333]

8 minutes ago, Boiler said:

Delay in being able to work blows any of these numbers away.

The tax savings for filing jointly for me was $30K alone (it was a good year)

Edited February 6 by W199

[powerpuff 6,697]

8 hours ago, Lemonslice said:

Might even be able to find availability closer

Agree with this. It’s worth doing some research. When we were looking, there was a lot of variance in time in different counties nearby.

 

If that doesn’t work then I’d just pay $300. It’s not that bad and it’s a great price for not being out of status. Plus, no delay in filing AOS and EAD. 

[Redro 4,611]

9 hours ago, Etherial said:

That would cost us more to just hire an officiant. Thanks for the info though

The last option could work, we already have our marriage license in our county.

Get married ASAP. 

Pay an officiant. Ask a friend or family member to become an officiant so they can marry you...

When does the marriage license expire? I believe in Ohio it has a 60 day validity? 

Edited February 6 by Redro

[JeanneAdil 6,492]

If u can't find a clerk in Ohio, you are almost on the PA border   its a 3 day wait to marry there but worth the extra for a new license , etc so u don't go out of status

[Boiler 45,467]

A license in Colorado is $30

[PuraLocura 0]

Check out notaries, they can also  marry you, and cannot charge over a certain amount, varies by state.

[yuna628 9,671]

You'll need to either A) pay for an officiant or B) go to another county or state 

Getting married is an important part of this process, and you should be prepared to budget those factors in beforehand. If you have not, then you will have to find the money from somewhere if you want this to work. There are small venue and even drivethru wedding ceremonies in Akron, Ohio that is certainly cheaper than what you've been quoted and there are officiants in Warren that are cheaper too. If you already have the license from Warren, then you'll need to find something that works there.

Edited February 6 by yuna628

[carmel34 3,622]

Utah online marriage via Zoom is fast.  https://www.utahcounty.gov/Dept/Clerk/Marriage/ceremony.html

[Thrillhouse 193]

3 hours ago, PuraLocura said:

Check out notaries, they can also  marry you, and cannot charge over a certain amount, varies by state.

 

Indeed. Notaries can only perform marriages in Florida, Maine, Nevada, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Montana. And even then, notaries cannot marry couples who are from another state and can’t leave their state to perform a wedding.

 

Source: Am notary.