Marrying in Jamaica after receiving K1

[grecowfu 0]

Hello everyone, my fiancee lives in Kingston and I live in Charlotte, North Carolina and we both would prefer to have our wedding in JA because she has tons of friends and family there whereas it would be really low key here in Charlotte. The problem is that I don't want to wait six or seven months after we get married for her to be able to immigrate to the U.S. (until the k3 could be approved). She actually has a tourist visa for the United States that doesn't expire for several years now, so I suppose that we could go ahead and get married and then she just come up here and stay with me until its time to go back home for the k3; the problem is that she would literally be sitting around doing not much of anything while waiting on the approval process, not to mention they could turn her back at the border when they find out that she has an American husband. So, I thought yesterday that maybe we could go ahead and do the k1 visa process, get it approved, and then marry in Kingston a few days after the stamp was in her passport, then come to the U.S. We will not lie to the border agents, so I wonder what they'll say when they see her k1 and what they'll respond if she says that we got married after receiving the k1 visa but before hitting American soil? Are these border agents that sophisticated to say "no, you should have married in the U.S.?"

[doodle 0]

Hello everyone, my fiancee lives in Kingston and I live in Charlotte, North Carolina and we both would prefer to have our wedding in JA because she has tons of friends and family there whereas it would be really low key here in Charlotte. The problem is that I don't want to wait six or seven months after we get married for her to be able to immigrate to the U.S. (until the k3 could be approved). She actually has a tourist visa for the United States that doesn't expire for several years now, so I suppose that we could go ahead and get married and then she just come up here and stay with me until its time to go back home for the k3; the problem is that she would literally be sitting around doing not much of anything while waiting on the approval process, not to mention they could turn her back at the border when they find out that she has an American husband. So, I thought yesterday that maybe we could go ahead and do the k1 visa process, get it approved, and then marry in Kingston a few days after the stamp was in her passport, then come to the U.S. We will not lie to the border agents, so I wonder what they'll say when they see her k1 and what they'll respond if she says that we got married after receiving the k1 visa but before hitting American soil? Are these border agents that sophisticated to say "no, you should have married in the U.S.?"

I think you are playing a little too close to fire. The K1 is intended for people to come and then get married - you would be breaking the law if you didn't do that. The border people may not know but when you are ready to file your documents and get married in the US you will run into problems.

I would say that you should have a celebration or something in Jamaica - but not a legal marriage, and follow the rules. Otherwise - do it the right way and get married in jamaica but realize that you will not be eligible for a k1. This immigration process is long and hard and the last thing you want is something to come out of the woodwork and screw it all up.

Edited January 14, 2008 by doodle

[Jesse and Hema 2]

Hello everyone, my fiancee lives in Kingston and I live in Charlotte, North Carolina and we both would prefer to have our wedding in JA because she has tons of friends and family there whereas it would be really low key here in Charlotte. The problem is that I don't want to wait six or seven months after we get married for her to be able to immigrate to the U.S. (until the k3 could be approved). She actually has a tourist visa for the United States that doesn't expire for several years now, so I suppose that we could go ahead and get married and then she just come up here and stay with me until its time to go back home for the k3; the problem is that she would literally be sitting around doing not much of anything while waiting on the approval process, not to mention they could turn her back at the border when they find out that she has an American husband. So, I thought yesterday that maybe we could go ahead and do the k1 visa process, get it approved, and then marry in Kingston a few days after the stamp was in her passport, then come to the U.S. We will not lie to the border agents, so I wonder what they'll say when they see her k1 and what they'll respond if she says that we got married after receiving the k1 visa but before hitting American soil? Are these border agents that sophisticated to say "no, you should have married in the U.S.?"

They don't need to be very sophisticated to know that a K-1 is voided for legally married couples. Like doodle said, you might be able to have a celebration of some form in Kingston, but not a legal marriage.

If it means a lot that to her/you that you be legally married in Kingston, you should marry and file for K-3/IR-1/CR-1, and deal with the wait. You will be waiting about the same amount of time to be together, either way. FWIW, she can visit with the B-2 while the K-1 process is pending. There's a chance she will be turned back at the POE if she doesn't have strong ties to her country.

Good luck to you

[YuAndDan 153]

K-1 is for fiance(e)s not married people, if you marry outside the USA you will need to start all over and file an I-130 for a spousal visa.

There was an article posted on this site of a couple who married overseas but lied and entered the USA on separate immigrant visas that were applied for by their parents years before for (Unmarried children), and after entry to the USA and living as green-card holders for 20 some years, they decided to apply for citizenship. Result citizenship was denied, as well as green-cards revoked, and deportation orders issued.

So NEVER, EVER misuse a visa in this way.

We had a "Wedding Party" before returning to the USA using the K-1, we did not get married, just had a reception to celebrate the engagement.

[Jengles 0]

Since your financee has a tourist visa, u could get married in JA and she could still visit or even stay for long periods while the K-3 or or I-130 comes thru.

[Marlita 0]

Well everyone told you about the legal issues of marrying in JA on a fiance visa, so i would not do it. There is really no need to go the K1 route anyway. If your girl is fortunate enough to have a multiple entry visa then she can legally visit you during the wait process anyway if she gets thru POE. Right now processing times are long....no matter which visa you do. Most are coming close in the race of wait time so i would suggest to get married in JA legally and apply for a CR1 visa, you can apply for K3 but its VERY VERY expensive ($1010 more than CR1) ($1110 more than k1) and right now isnt getting processed much faster than the CR1 visa. I had the same delima as you with the where to marry, and we truly wanted to have a ceremony with my husbands family and that could only happen in JA. We made it legal instead of just a spiritual ceremony. If you want to have a spiritual ceremony only but still do it up in a big wedding way and just not sign any documents you could do that and still apply for the K1.

Your fiance can always come to visit you on her B2 visa, no matter which visa you are applying for. Many people from Jamaica do it and there are a few on VJ that can attest to it, so its very possible to visit the US while filing for another visa.

Edited January 14, 2008 by Marlita

[Jengles 0]

Well everyone told you about the legal issues of marrying in JA on a fiance visa, so i would not do it. There is really no need to go the K1 route anyway. If your girl is fortunate enough to have a multiple entry visa then she can legally visit you during the wait process anyway if she gets thru POE. Right now processing times are long....no matter which visa you do. Most are coming close in the race of wait time so i would suggest to get married in JA legally and apply for a CR1 visa, you can apply for K3 but its VERY VERY expensive ($1010 more than CR1) ($1110 more than k1) and right now isnt getting processed much faster than the CR1 visa. I had the same delima as you with the where to marry, and we truly wanted to have a ceremony with my husbands family and that could only happen in JA. We made it legal instead of just a spiritual ceremony. If you want to have a spiritual ceremony only but still do it up in a big wedding way and just not sign any documents you could do that and still apply for the K1.

Your fiance can always come to visit you on her B2 visa, no matter which visa you are applying for. Many people from Jamaica do it and there are a few on VJ that can attest to it, so its very possible to visit the US while filing for another visa.

How is the K-3 visa that much more expensive? there are other fees assoicated with the I-130 in the long run, besides the filing fee.

[Marlita 0]

The K3, essentially is like the K1 so its not an immigrant visa. You have to file AOS within 90 days or it expires and you are then considered out of status. To file AOS on a K3 its $1010. That fee went up when all the others went up last July. However, it doesnt cost to file the K3 initially. You start out filing the I-130 and I-129f together now so the fee for K3 is waived. Still the $1010 will be needed later. It just seems like alot of money to me, for it not to be moving much faster than the Cr1 visa.

Oh you know what, i just thought about it...there are other fees associated with the Cr1 visa you're right. I think the fee went up to $400 this Jan for the AOS bill on the Cr1 route. Still cheaper by $600 dollars, so if money is an issue, this is one way to save. Plus you have priveldeges to work right away on the Cr1 visa.

Edited January 15, 2008 by Marlita

[Jengles 0]

The K3, essentially is like the K1 so its not an immigrant visa. You have to file AOS within 90 days or it expires and you are then considered out of status. To file AOS on a K3 its $1010. That fee went up when all the others went up last July. However, it doesnt cost to file the K3 initially. You start out filing the I-130 and I-129f together now so the fee for K3 is waived. Still the $1010 will be needed later. It just seems like alot of money to me, for it not to be moving much faster than the Cr1 visa.

Oh you know what, i just thought about it...there are other fees associated with the Cr1 visa you're right. I think the fee went up to $400 this Jan for the AOS bill on the Cr1 route. Still cheaper by $600 dollars, so if money is an issue, this is one way to save. Plus you have priveldeges to work right away on the Cr1 visa.

The K-3 visa is good for two years and its a re-entry visa. so no AP is needed to travel. When I worked it out before the k-3 visa cost $200 dollars more than the cr-1 in total when u just needed to file the I-485 which used to be around $375. I thought in total before the cr-1 cost around $800 before the fee hikes. This is visa only makes sense if you absolutely need your spouse here now, with the new fees.

Edited January 15, 2008 by Jengles

[*JG* 2]

Hello everyone, my fiancee lives in Kingston and I live in Charlotte, North Carolina and we both would prefer to have our wedding in JA because she has tons of friends and family there whereas it would be really low key here in Charlotte. The problem is that I don't want to wait six or seven months after we get married for her to be able to immigrate to the U.S. (until the k3 could be approved). She actually has a tourist visa for the United States that doesn't expire for several years now, so I suppose that we could go ahead and get married and then she just come up here and stay with me until its time to go back home for the k3; the problem is that she would literally be sitting around doing not much of anything while waiting on the approval process, not to mention they could turn her back at the border when they find out that she has an American husband. So, I thought yesterday that maybe we could go ahead and do the k1 visa process, get it approved, and then marry in Kingston a few days after the stamp was in her passport, then come to the U.S. We will not lie to the border agents, so I wonder what they'll say when they see her k1 and what they'll respond if she says that we got married after receiving the k1 visa but before hitting American soil? Are these border agents that sophisticated to say "no, you should have married in the U.S.?"

If it is that important to you to marry in Jamiaca, marry and file for the K-3 or CR-1.

File the K-1, marry in the US, and then return to Jamaica in 6 months or a year and do some kind of big renewal of vows ceremony. Or, even do a NON-LEGAL ceremony of some kind in JA before she leaves. Just make sure NOT to have any evidence that could make immigration think you married in JA on this visa.

Whatever you do, do not sit around trying to figure out ways to get around the laws by lying. Creative people have tried long before you to work around the visa rules and as someone pointed out, it can follow you the rest of your life. That is just one example. There are so many more.

Please be smart about this. It's not really some race you are talking about.....it's planning the rest of your life.

[athena_ny 1]

The K3, essentially is like the K1 so its not an immigrant visa. You have to file AOS within 90 days or it expires and you are then considered out of status. To file AOS on a K3 its $1010. That fee went up when all the others went up last July. However, it doesnt cost to file the K3 initially. You start out filing the I-130 and I-129f together now so the fee for K3 is waived. Still the $1010 will be needed later. It just seems like alot of money to me, for it not to be moving much faster than the Cr1 visa.

Oh you know what, i just thought about it...there are other fees associated with the Cr1 visa you're right. I think the fee went up to $400 this Jan for the AOS bill on the Cr1 route. Still cheaper by $600 dollars, so if money is an issue, this is one way to save. Plus you have priveldeges to work right away on the Cr1 visa.

The K-3 visa is good for two years and its a re-entry visa. so no AP is needed to travel. When I worked it out before the k-3 visa cost $200 dollars more than the cr-1 in total when u just needed to file the I-485 which used to be around $375. I thought in total before the cr-1 cost around $800 before the fee hikes. This is visa only makes sense if you absolutely need your spouse here now, with the new fees.

Even though you don't need AP to travel on K-3, you still pay for it =/ Just thought I'd point that out.

[payxibka 10,044]

So, I thought yesterday that maybe we could go ahead and do the k1 visa process, get it approved, and then marry in Kingston a few days after the stamp was in her passport, then come to the U.S. We will not lie to the border agents, so I wonder what they'll say when they see her k1 and what they'll respond if she says that we got married after receiving the k1 visa but before hitting American soil? Are these border agents that sophisticated to say "no, you should have married in the U.S.?"

Besides issues at entry how would you explain in your AOS submission, a marriage that occured before entry into the USA? Another red flag I would say......

[grecowfu 0]

Hi, thanks for all the responses everyone. I just wanted to write and say that by no means am I trying to find a way to cheat the system. I would never get married before my fiancee actually received her visa in the passport, or however they do it. My question is totally technical, viz. why does the United States care that you marry inside of the United States as opposed to just across the border in Canada, just below the border in Mexico, or in Jamaica for example. The real point is that the U.S. wants you to have a legitimate relationship and marriage, is it also the case that they want all the purchases (flights, rings, hotel rooms, receptions, parties, etc...) to be made in the U.S. or something? Basically I'm saying that the whole philosophy of any relationship based visa be that the relationship be legitimate, etc... not that a ceremony take place on American soil. To throw everybody for a loop, what if there were a priest, witness, marriage license and everything already in place on a non stop flight from Montego Bay to New York City and a couple with a k1 married in United States airspace, in the clouds! I'm sure everyone is going to say that the documents at USCIS only say the marriage has to be in the U.S. after the visa, there is no stipulation that it be before talking to an immigration officer.....

I know these questions seem crazy, but I do apprecfiate all the feedback...

[Jesse and Hema 2]

Hi, thanks for all the responses everyone. I just wanted to write and say that by no means am I trying to find a way to cheat the system. I would never get married before my fiancee actually received her visa in the passport, or however they do it. My question is totally technical, viz. why does the United States care that you marry inside of the United States as opposed to just across the border in Canada, just below the border in Mexico, or in Jamaica for example. The real point is that the U.S. wants you to have a legitimate relationship and marriage, is it also the case that they want all the purchases (flights, rings, hotel rooms, receptions, parties, etc...) to be made in the U.S. or something? Basically I'm saying that the whole philosophy of any relationship based visa be that the relationship be legitimate, etc... not that a ceremony take place on American soil. To throw everybody for a loop, what if there were a priest, witness, marriage license and everything already in place on a non stop flight from Montego Bay to New York City and a couple with a k1 married in United States airspace, in the clouds! I'm sure everyone is going to say that the documents at USCIS only say the marriage has to be in the U.S. after the visa, there is no stipulation that it be before talking to an immigration officer.....

I know these questions seem crazy, but I do apprecfiate all the feedback...

You aren't legally in America until you pass the POE, after the plane lands, so the airplane wedding would be a snafu

The US doesn't care if you marry inside or outside of the U.S. as there's immigration routes either way. What they care about is that it's not a sham marriage to "cheat the system".

[*JG* 2]

If you seek a K-1, you have to get married IN the US or US territories.

If you seek a K-3, you marry in your SO's country or any other country they & you can legally travel to.