Can this photo with a beige dress complicate things for us?

[braziliangirl 0]

My fiancé and I mentioned in our letter of intent to get married that we did a photo shoot on July 21st , my fiancé is even using jeans and just a bottom shirt and that on the 26th he decided to propose to me. There are also photos of us and the proposal. See the photos attached, we only sent this photo. Could this give the consulate the wrong impression?

Edited September 6 by aryane ingrid

[smilingstone 216]

Are you referencing the image taken on the steps (2nd row, left)? 

 

My personal impression is that it looks very ceremonial and formal in that setting, and the dress resembles a wedding dress.

 

From my experience working in the wedding industry, what men wear doesn't really matter as many weddings now have a more casual dress code even for grooms. Many grooms are opposed to formal suits entirely. But the bride still looks typically bridal. 

 

Just my opinion, others may disagree. 

[braziliangirl 0]

8 minutes ago, smilingstone said:

Are you referencing the image taken on the steps (2nd row, left)? 

 

My personal impression is that it looks very ceremonial and formal in that setting, and the dress resembles a wedding dress.

 

From my experience working in the wedding industry, what men wear doesn't really matter as many weddings now have a more casual dress code even for grooms. Many grooms are opposed to formal suits entirely. But the bride still looks typically bridal. 

 

Just my opinion, others may disagree. 

In Brazil we only wear white for brides. The photo was taken in a museum and there is a statue behind us. I'm really nervous about this one photo.

[apnzz 268]

2 hours ago, aryane ingrid said:

In Brazil we only wear white for brides. The photo was taken in a museum and there is a statue behind us. I'm really nervous about this one photo.

Just because you're nervous about it, why do you just not include it?

I agree with the comment before, it looks very formal and ceremonial. There are many countries etc that use different colors for weddings and related ceremonies/celebrations and it just does give that vibe in that photograph. To me, without context it literally looks like a couples' wedding ceremony photographs.

 

Just because a stereotype associating with wedding dresses is that they're white, doesn't mean it has to be true in all cases. Many people choose other colors and types of dresses for their wedding. So personally I wouldn't include that picture at all, especially if I already was worried about it. Better safe than sorry. Just my opinion.

[braziliangirl 0]

34 minutes ago, apnzz said:

Just because you're nervous about it, why do you just not include it?

I agree with the comment before, it looks very formal and ceremonial. There are many countries etc that use different colors for weddings and related ceremonies/celebrations and it just does give that vibe in that photograph. To me, without context it literally looks like a couples' wedding ceremony photographs.

 

Just because a stereotype associating with wedding dresses is that they're white, doesn't mean it has to be true in all cases. Many people choose other colors and types of dresses for their wedding. So personally I wouldn't include that picture at all, especially if I already was worried about it. Better safe than sorry. Just my opinion.

I didn't know this photo could be a problem, just after seeing some things here I got worried. the letter makes it clear how we know each other and in the background you can see a statue. my fiancé is wearing jeans and a formal t-shirt. I will wait and see what they will tell me on noa2.

[apnzz 268]

2 hours ago, aryane ingrid said:

I didn't know this photo could be a problem, just after seeing some things here I got worried.

Ah, I see.

 

All you can do is wait and see then.

 

It's down to the officer who processes your case, whilst we can all give advice, there's nothing that can be done if you've already filed and included this but to wait and see the decision they make.

 

 If people here perceive it as formal and ceremonial then it's not far fetched for a USCIS case adjudicator to perceive similar to that. 

 

I hope it works out for you!

Edited September 6 by apnzz

[powerpuff 6,744]

*** Thread moved from Progress Reports to Process & Procedures ***

[Crazy Cat 41,984]

3 hours ago, aryane ingrid said:

I didn't know this photo could be a problem, just after seeing some things here I got worried. the letter makes it clear how we know each other and in the background you can see a statue. my fiancé is wearing jeans and a formal t-shirt. I will wait and see what they will tell me on noa2.

Personally, I don't expect a problem.  The photo doesn't look a wedding to me. It looks to be just a photo-shoot.  I don't recall your country as having been an issue with "too married for a K-1" in the past.  All problems of this kind are normally handled by the Consulate Officer at the interview.  I wouldn't worry about it.

Edited September 6 by Crazy Cat

[h02ejmajja 57]

It doesnt look like a wedding photo to me either - I think it should be fine, and, like you said, your fiancé is wearing jeans and a white t-shirt - so try not to overthink (easier said than done I know!)

[Crazy Cat 41,984]

1 minute ago, h02ejmajja said:

It doesnt look like a wedding photo to me either - I think it should be fine, and, like you said, your fiancé is wearing jeans and a white t-shirt - so try not to overthink (easier said than done I know!)

It is very easy to drive yourself crazy with the "what if" game.  I think we have all played that "game". 

[OldUser 6,980]

I have a comment about captions: I used full names including last names "John Smith" instead just of "John" etc.

 

I also did not use "I / we" and used full names talking about myself and my spouse in third person.

 

Not sure if it matters.

 

E.g. on photo with proposal where there were just two of us I wrote:

 

"01/01/2015, Time Square, New York, NY. Proposal. Left to right: John Smith, Anna Brown".

 

It was pretty much as if a private detective wrote those captions 😃 Factual, short, full names, date, location, occasion.

 

 

Edited September 6 by OldUser

[OldUser 6,980]

Also the hands photo is very beautiful but somewhat irrelevant as it doesn't show face. Pictures clearly showing faces are preferred as far as I understand.

[smilingstone 216]

38 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

It is very easy to drive yourself crazy with the "what if" game.  I think we have all played that "game". 

 

Oh yes! Perfectly guilty of doing this myself. Once the application is out of your hands, that's the moment that you go back and decide to pick everything apart.  

 

OP, I didn't intend for my comment to cause any further worry, but you asked for opinions and I shared mine. But ultimately, what's done is done. 

 

I do hope that USCIS don't think anything of it and you have a smooth process. There is an element of being unable to prove a negative - you aren't married, so how can an image prompt a request to prove this? How would you even prove this?

 

Worst case scenario, you end up with an RFE which requests some further explanation of the photograph and reiteration that you are legally free and willing to marry your USC, but I do genuinely doubt that this one image would result in a denial.

 

Please keep us updated on your progress.  

[braziliangirl 0]

2 hours ago, Crazy Cat said:

Personally, I don't expect a problem.  The photo doesn't look a wedding to me. It looks to be just a photo-shoot.  I don't recall your country as having been an issue with "too married for a K-1" in the past.  All problems of this kind are normally handled by the Consulate Officer at the interview.  I wouldn't worry about it.

I've never seen any case in Brazil with a problem with this either. But the countries I've seen have it are mostly Ghana, Morocco and that kind of country. There was the case of Australia, but their case was a bit too much, there was an actual engagement ceremony and what do you imagine the officer might ask during the interview? I'm going to take my full birth certificate to the interview in case they ask if I'm single.

[beloved_dingo 1,979]

I don't see an issue with the photo in question. Taking engagement photos is a common thing to do. There are certain consulates where formal looking photos can be an issue, but that is because of cultural norms and expectations that play into it. I don't think that's the case here.