Ceremonial wedding

[jlchile 0]

Hi,

My fiance and I are going through the K1 process, and we are both going to be in Chile until we leave for the US after the Visa is issued. We would like to have some sort of wedding celebration here for her family before the real wedding in the US. Has anybody done anything like this? The problem we are running into is that she wants it to be in the Catholic church, but they will not perform the ceremony if we do not have the official civil wedding/paperwork. From my understanding we cannot have an official wedding here with the K1. Do they really know in the US if you do? Either way if there is any risk I would not want to take it. Has anyone had such a ceremonial wedding, scecifically in the Catholic or any other Christian denomanational church?

Thanks

[Cassie 8]

They'll find out during the AOS process, when they ask for your proof of marriage.

I personally wouldn't risk it. However, I do humbly suggest having a civil wedding in the US, and when it is feasible, have the religious ceremony in Chile, when your fiance is allowed to travel/you have the finances to do so.

[pulteseller 0]

I know many thai/American couples have 'unofficial' weddings in Thailand for the benefit of the family there. Because there you don't have to register the Buddhist ceremony. If the Catholic Church is unwilling to do it 'unofficially', I wouldn't risk it. Did you talk with the local bishop and explain your situation?

[jlchile 0]

What if the wedding in Chile is after the Visa was approved? Would they still find out?

[Cassie 8]

You can't be married before entering the USA, or you will have violated the terms of the fiance visa.

[pulteseller 0]

Not like I'm an expert, but I would imagine that it would negate your K1 'fiance' visa. Again, the questions are if-when-and who could find out. Surely you would only have to worry about it cropping up later on in the AOS phase. Why risk it? But I would definitely seek an attorney's opinion before going through with it. I'm sure a consultation wouldn't be too expensive, and well worth it. You can consult an attorney here in the US for about $100, Chile can't be too far off.

[jlchile 0]

I definetly am not willing to risk it. I reallly need to find a way of having a ceremonial wedding without the legal side, which will probably mean finding any church that is willing to do it.

[deathbydalbhat 0]

We are planning on having some sort of small unregistered Hindu ceremony at a temple and a party with his friends(one of whom happens to be a Brahmin priest ) and some of his family - more of a blessing than a 'wedding', if anybody says anything then it will be an 'engagement party' - we are only walking around the fire and Kumar is putting kumkum in my hair so we'll be ready for the real thing in NYC. As far as Nepali tradition goes though, once we've done that we're married, whether it's written down or not.

[Girona40 0]

You can't be married before entering the USA, or you will have violated the terms of the fiance visa.

Just a thought, but if this is simply a ceremony for the family in Chile, can you not ask the priest to perform a "Blessing" ceremony. One where he blesses your relationship and your future together. Technically, not a marriage requiring paperwork, but a religious ceremony where God's blessing is given? I am sure that the family would understand if you explained to them that the civil requirements are that you are not "married" when you enter the US, and a blessing of your relationship is the next best thing. Maybe a full marriage ceremony in Chile to celebrate your 5th wedding anniversary, something like that.

Good Luck with everything.

G.

[fozzie 41]

You can't be married before entering the USA, or you will have violated the terms of the fiance visa.

Just a thought, but if this is simply a ceremony for the family in Chile, can you not ask the priest to perform a "Blessing" ceremony. One where he blesses your relationship and your future together. Technically, not a marriage requiring paperwork, but a religious ceremony where God's blessing is given? I am sure that the family would understand if you explained to them that the civil requirements are that you are not "married" when you enter the US, and a blessing of your relationship is the next best thing. Maybe a full marriage ceremony in Chile to celebrate your 5th wedding anniversary, something like that.

Good Luck with everything.

G.

Does the ceremonial wedding have to be done first? You could always have your civil mariage in the US then after you can travel again go back to chile for the church blessing.

[Caladan 19]

To enter on the K-1, she has to be free to marry. She's not free to marry if she's already married, even if that marriage is to you. So, no legal wedding; even a non-binding ceremony can be problematic when it comes time to adjust status, or to enter (if the officer thinks she's married, he won't let her in.)

I'm also guessing that this dilemma hasn't arisen because her family wants to throw a party, but because her family is uncomfortable with sending off their good Catholic daughter to America to live with a man she's not married to.

A couple of options that might help:

1) File for the K-1, have an engagement party with a priest doing a blessing.

2) File for the K-1, find someone to do a non-binding religious ceremony (probably not going to be Catholic.)

3) Go and have a Catholic wedding with her family, file for the K-3. It will take a bit longer, but if you haven't filed for anything yet and it would make her family happy, it might be something to consider.

[jlchile 0]

The K1 is actually almost through, we are just waiting for the interveiw, so at this point, the K3 is not an option. The main reason we want to have a ceremony here is because we don't want her family to miss out on the wedding. Could a non-binding ceremony really cause problems? How would anybody know? Anybody have any experience with this?

[Buxton babe 0]

The K1 is actually almost through, we are just waiting for the interveiw, so at this point, the K3 is not an option. The main reason we want to have a ceremony here is because we don't want her family to miss out on the wedding. Could a non-binding ceremony really cause problems? How would anybody know? Anybody have any experience with this?

Not wishing to be too hard on you, but with all the wisdom from the above posts, why are you still undecided. How would anybody know? Its the American goverment we are talking about.

Do the right thing, keep the K1 Legal.

Best wishes.

[jlchile 0]

What I'm saying is, how would anybody know we had a ceremony if it wasn't a legal wedding, and even if they did, why would it matter? Legally we would still not be married.

[deathbydalbhat 0]

The K1 is actually almost through, we are just waiting for the interveiw, so at this point, the K3 is not an option. The main reason we want to have a ceremony here is because we don't want her family to miss out on the wedding. Could a non-binding ceremony really cause problems? How would anybody know? Anybody have any experience with this?

We are in the same boat - since $$ will be very tight while K waits for his AOS and looks for a job, setting up our apt., etc. it may be years before we can afford to go to Nepal again since the tickets alone will cost $3K... Unless someone from the embassy were spying in the bushes I don't see how a low-key, small undocumented ceremony would cause a problem if we do not mention it once we are stateside, especially since the priest is a personal friend of Kumar's. With the Catholic church maybe it might be a problem keeping it low-key unless your fiance has a priest in the family - I don't know. Please PM me if you find out anything more.