We had a somewhat similar situation when we submitted our petition for a K1 visa in 2021. Prior to this, we had a similar “union” ceremony in my wife’s country. Athough I’m a lawyer, I don’t practice immigration law, so I consulted with a U.S. immigration attorney prior to submitting the K1. He advised me to file the K1 and then, after waiting about 16 months, USCIS approved the petition.
Then, a few months later at the interview, the CO denied the visa. He said that we need to submit a petition for a spousal visa since they recognized our relationship as a marriage. We then did the Utah County Zoom ceremony, got a marriage certificate and filed the IR-1. We’ve now been waiting 9 months, so far and are both extremely frustrated and running out of patience. As you can see, it’s not worth the risk and since you recently submitted your K1, you haven’t wasted that much time. Also, as others mentioned here, there are many benefits to an IR-1 so, in my opinion, it makes much more sense for you to do the Utah marriage and submit an IR-1 petition.
