Cancelling K1 and doing CR1

[Kastrs 723]

Are you Muslim? Or Christian? I am clueless about Egyptian marriage laws, but I know in Indonesia for Muslims it is not possible to have a ceremony and not be official but for all other religions, one has to go to a certain government ministry to become legally married. The ceremony itself cannot be a legal marriage.

yes, but it only matters if his intended is also Muslim, if she is christian, this does not matter

It is permissible for a Muslim man to marry any woman of the book, but a Muslim woman must marry a Muslim man.

[Kastrs 723]

I'm a Christian. I am not sure of the exact laws.

Can someone from Egypt let me know if i do the CR1 and make her apply for a B1/B2 vistor visa is she likely to be denied? Anyone tried that before and had good luck? As soon as she says she will visit her husband I assume she will be denied.

Is your fiance Muslim or Christian? it is VERY unlikely she would be approved for a visitor visa, but if you have the money for it, go for it, a denial will have no impact on a CR1 application

[coolman673 0]

Is your fiance Muslim or Christian? it is VERY unlikely she would be approved for a visitor visa, but if you have the money for it, go for it, a denial will have no impact on a CR1 application

we are both Christians.

[usmsbow 795]

I'm a Christian. I am not sure of the exact laws.

Can someone from Egypt let me know if i do the CR1 and make her apply for a B1/B2 vistor visa is she likely to be denied? Anyone tried that before and had good luck? As soon as she says she will visit her husband I assume she will be denied.

Well it sounds like it is a pain in the ### to get legally married in Egypt- which is good for you. There is no chance in a religious ceremony being a legal marriage apparently (edited to add: for foreigners). US embassy guidance:

http://egypt.usembassy.gov/consular/acs12.html

Hopefully someone more familiar with Egypt can chime in though.

If a ceremony is what your future FIL wants, then you could be OK (assuming you are not a dual Egyptian-US citizen). If he wants you to get legally married, well then this discussion is moot anyway

Edited April 21, 2015 by usmsbow

[raven52 233]

Well, you seem to have made your decision. All I can do is offer my opinion, and I do not know the exact situation, I would never leave a K-1 and file a CR-1, and start a 1 to 2 year process, which is what you are doing.

I would hope you and your fiance could sit down and talk about ""ALL"" options open to you, and the pros and cons for each situation.

Good luck with your situation, but if at all possible, avoid a CR-1.,,.,..,1-2 years, more fees.,.,and a terrible wait.

I hope you find a way to keep your K-1 intact.

Good luck either way.

[IcezMan_IcezLady 582]

In Egypt it's not appropriate to have such ceremony as it doesn't look good to her family or her friends. When we talk about wedding, we mean traditional wedding. It's hard to pull off such ceremonies in egypt.

thanks for understanding.

why would they put people on AP for CR1? i thought AP is done mostly for K1

I agree with you on pulling off a traditional wedding. There's nothing like a small wedding in Africa!

By small, i mean 3 to 10 ppl.. not gonna happen.

Im sorry you had to do this but good luck to both of you.

[mallafri76 1,012]

So are you planning on doing the CR-1 route because you want to get married with her dad at the cermony or because she wants to stay longer by her dad's side and is hence not ready to move to the US yet?

If it's because her dad should be at the cermony then is that her wish or her dad's? Explaining the situation might make her dad, and her, understand. I mean giving up after more than eight months and countless dollars, to start over on another process that takes minimum one year and countless more dollars is ill adviced. The CR-1 process is very long and nerve wrecking, I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.

If it's because she simply wants to stay by her dad's side till the end, then there are ways to prolong the process wining starting over.

[BaronB 42]

I'm sorry, but what does your father's health have to do with marriage?

Maybe because he is her father, you know the person who raised her, someone she loves. Are you an orphan?

[JohnandMhay 13]

Just to balance these horror stories of year plus waits on CR1.....

Filed October 14, 2014, Interview date May 27, 2015. Seven months and a few days.

[mallafri76 1,012]

Just to balance these horror stories of year plus waits on CR1.....

Filed October 14, 2014, Interview date May 27, 2015. Seven months and a few days.

Philippines get auto expedited at USCIS. For the rest of us, the process is about one year. Edited April 22, 2015 by mallafri76

[Cathi 5,609]

That couple was approved 5 minutes before me, no issues at all. I just personally think doing a CR-1 can be a bit worse, especially when you plan a big wedding and the consulate hears about it. It's supposed to be spontaneous, isn't it? Just trying to be helpful here and not get a fellow VJer into even more trouble.

If the OP made up their mind, it's fine, and we wish them all the best. Sometimes it just helps to see objective opinions from the outside. Allows them to hear honest opinions, not what you want to hear.

I don't understand your reasoning as far as cr-1 and having a big wedding. A cr1 is for MARRIED couples...so a wedding is expected. A big wedding will not hurt and chances of getting a cr1, nor will a small court ceremony.

There is so much misinformation and guessing in this topic, it is making my head spin. First of all, anyone from any country can get AP, regardless of the visa type. Period. Just because someone applies for a cr-1 does NOT make them any more or less likely to get AP than anyone else. Period. A Muslim male is allowed to marry another Muslim, Jew or Christian. A female Muslim can only marry another Muslim. Period. I am Christian my husband is Muslim, we had ZERO issues at any point because of our difference in religion.

There are pros and cons to both a k-1 and a cr-1. In my opinion, the cr1 has a lot more pros than cons as opposed to the k-1. With a k-1 the approval MAY be faster,but it isn't always the case, it is more expensive in the long run by at least 1k, then you are under pressure to get married and file AOS, the beneficiary cannot work for at least several months until work authorization is approved. With the cr-1 everything is done before the visa is issued, the marriage all paperwork and fees are paid beforehand, and as soon as the beneficiary enters the country he/she can work the minute they set foot into the US and you don't have to worry about anything at all until removal of conditions.

Now to those of you who are trying to talk the OP out of cancelling their K-1, he has made it PERFECTLY clear that this is the route they will go so they can fulfill his fiance's father's dying wish. I don't think it is appropriate for anyone to pass judgement based on what you may or may not think is right. His life, his wife, his future. He came here asking for specific advice, anything more than that is really no one's business.

To the OP, I feel for you situation and I think it is very honorable to want to fulfill your future father in-law's dying wish. My father in-law passed away a year ago, he was a kind, gentle, generous, understanding soul and had my husband and I been face with the same circumstance, would have done the same. A lot of people here don't know or understand the Middle Eastern culture, and I am sure his being there to see his daughter married and knowing that she will be safe and taken care of after he is gone will be a huge relief and joy for him. Best of luck and congratulations.

Edited April 22, 2015 by mimolicious

[coolman673 0]

I don't understand your reasoning as far as cr-1 and having a big wedding. A cr1 is for MARRIED couples...so a wedding is expected. A big wedding will not hurt and chances of getting a cr1, nor will a small court ceremony.

There is so much misinformation and guessing in this topic, it is making my head spin. First of all, anyone from any country can get AP, regardless of the visa type. Period. Just because someone applies for a cr-1 does NOT make them any more or less likely to get AP than anyone else. Period. A Muslim male is allowed to marry another Muslim, Jew or Christian. A female Muslim can only marry another Muslim. Period. I am Christian my husband is Muslim, we had ZERO issues at any point because of our difference in religion.

There are pros and cons to both a k-1 and a cr-1. In my opinion, the cr1 has a lot more pros than cons as opposed to the k-1. With a k-1 the approval MAY be faster,but it isn't always the case, it is more expensive in the long run by at least 1k, then you are under pressure to get married and file AOS, the beneficiary cannot work for at least several months until work authorization is approved. With the cr-1 everything is done before the visa is issued, the marriage all paperwork and fees are paid beforehand, and as soon as the beneficiary enters the country he/she can work the minute they set foot into the US and you don't have to worry about anything at all until removal of conditions.

Now to those of you who are trying to talk the OP out of cancelling their K-1, he has made it PERFECTLY clear that this is the route they will go so they can fulfill his fiance's father's dying wish. I don't think it is appropriate for anyone to pass judgement based on what you may or may not think is right. His life, his wife, his future. He came here asking for specific advice, anything more than that is really no one's business.

To the OP, I feel for you situation and I think it is very honorable to want to fulfill your future father in-law's dying wish. My father in-law passed away a year ago, he was a kind, gentle, generous, understanding soul and had my husband and I been face with the same circumstance, would have done the same. A lot of people here don't know or understand the Middle Eastern culture, and I am sure his being there to see his daughter married and knowing that she will be safe and taken care of after he is gone will be a huge relief and joy for him. Best of luck and congratulations.

I think you summed it best. Her father just wants to be sure she is married while he is alive and that she will be safe and sound. I think that's the least i can do to be on her side. Will it cause delays of about 1 year? yes but i think we have the rest of our lives to continue our journey and be happy.

[TBoneTX 43,048]

OP, if you wish your thread to be closed for any reason, hit the "report" button and so request.

[janetusman 33]

I think you summed it best. Her father just wants to be sure she is married while he is alive and that she will be safe and sound. I think that's the least i can do to be on her side. Will it cause delays of about 1 year? yes but i think we have the rest of our lives to continue our journey and be happy.

There is no way to tell how short or long of a delay it will cause. You can look for a thread that may tell you what to expect coming out of the embassy in your country. For Pakistan we had an AP tracker thread that followed progress. You can gauge how long it will take at step 1 (USCIS petition) by checking the processing times for i-130 at the processing center for your petition. From what I have seen NVC (step 2) is taking around 60 days or so to process cases due to higher volumes right now. For the embassy (step 3), try to find a tracker thread to see what is going on there.

[TBoneTX 43,048]

Thread closed at OP's request.