Setting a marriage date whilst waiting for the visa

[DakotaK1 1]

Hi folks,

I hope that everyone is having a good (and not too frustrating) visa experience. I was hoping for some guidance, wisdom and experience. Myself and my fiancee are planning on sending off the I-129F and all the supporting stuff by the end of January. We want to set the date of our marriage before we get approved, so family and friends can book the time off work and get flights. We are thinking of November, but do people think this is too risky in terms of getting the visa by then? 6-8 months is the timeframe I have heard, which would take us up to the end of September for getting the visa. Just to fill people in on the situation, I am British, and there are no obvious difficulties (no divorces or the like) but as we have not used a lawyer there is always the possibility we have missed something somewhere! All advice appreciated.

Thanks, David

I would say dont plan anything.

We had a wonderful wedding and planned it during the time when I came here on my K1 Visa.

I would wait until you have it in your hand,after you recieve it you have 6 months time to enter the country anyway.That should leave you enough time.

[MissusM09 1]

hello there,

you and i are in similar situations it seems. we are also filing this january beginning of feb. i was thinking about what to buy what not to buy. i personally am not big on the whole white wedding dress thing i want something more personal and we are counting every penny. what i would like to know is , do you have the numbers, website addresses of any good shipping companies, i have a few things im going to have to send over to the usa, want to have a ball park price.

any suggestions??

we decided the only thing we are gonna plan b4 the visa is buying our clothes for the day. thats it

[MichelleMcK 0]

Hi folks,

I hope that everyone is having a good (and not too frustrating) visa experience. I was hoping for some guidance, wisdom and experience. Myself and my fiancee are planning on sending off the I-129F and all the supporting stuff by the end of January. We want to set the date of our marriage before we get approved, so family and friends can book the time off work and get flights. We are thinking of November, but do people think this is too risky in terms of getting the visa by then? 6-8 months is the timeframe I have heard, which would take us up to the end of September for getting the visa. Just to fill people in on the situation, I am British, and there are no obvious difficulties (no divorces or the like) but as we have not used a lawyer there is always the possibility we have missed something somewhere! All advice appreciated.

Thanks, David

We have set a wedding date (August 2nd, 2008), but if his visa has not come through by that time, we will just have the ceremony, and technically get married at a courthouse later. My immediate family will know what is going on, but the majority of the guests will think that we are really getting married. That way, we can have the wedding day, and still be able to have time to plan ahead!

This is the best solution that we have found to this dilemma.

[Jeraly 3]

Yeah - I think you *should* be ok but I would take out wedding insurance (check the terms) and if you can get a venue that will allow a sliding date then that would be good too - of course that doesn't help your family booking flights.

Remember that once you get the visa you have six months before you have to enter the US and then you have 90 days before you have to marry - that is almost 9 months to plan a wedding and more than enough time for your family and friends to boko time off etc

I know it really sucks but sometimes it is best to play it safe - you never know what is going to sneak up behind you

[Carlawarla 1]

We planned our wedding AFTER I got my visa. If you search, you'll find more than a few threads about people that planned a date for a wedding, and then didn't get a visa in time. I'd wait until you get that hot little visa in your hands! Your SO will then have up to 6 months to come to the US, and then, 90 days to get married, which should leave ample enough time for the small wedding you're hoping to have. By all means look on the internet and dream of the big day! It's fun to look at venues, and dresses, and how you'd like it to be, but I'd not book anything. Just my opinion.

[Jeraly 3]

Yeah - I'm the result of being *coughs* super-organised We've come up with a contingency but it is less than ideal

[davidm1982 0]

Yeah, I think from what you all say we will pencil in (very lightly) November, but be very clear in telling everyone (and ourselves!) that plans may change so not to book things. And definitely not to book lots of expensive wedding things, not that we were going to anywhere. Prima and Jay - unfortunately I don't know the contacts of shipping companies, I am only planning on bringing a little bit to start with (within the airline weight limit) and then when I am more established over there and we have some more money to ship some more stuff over (it is with in my parents' house and can stay there for a while!)

Thanks, David

[Kazan' Tiger 1]

There is plenty of good advise already given. Just be careful, it is all a ####### shot and nothing begins to solidify until the beneficiary crosses the POE and hears, "Welcome to the U.S." Just keep everything loose!

[~Chad~ 0]

David, let me throw some good vibes your way: you joined VJ exactly 1 year after I did, my journey-including wedding- went smooth, so yours will too.

[Nadja&Holland 0]

keep in mind that you might feel like having a nervous breakdown every day for several months

That is the understatement of the year

[davidm1982 0]

Thanks for the good vibes - lets hope they work! Good luck to everyone starting down the path (and those somewhere down it too), lets hope for lots of smooth and quick journeys. David

[swordfish2k0 0]

I would probably say don't book anything but once i started the visa process we booked a wedding date, now i am waiting for approval and praying that i get the visa in time. Its a big gamble and i hope it pays off.

Its easy to say wait until you get the visa because you still have 7 months before you have to be married but its damn hard to wait for 7 more months when you've already been waiting for what seems like an eternity for the visa.

It is a risk but if you go for it then good luck.....to us both!

[SonoranSongbird 3]

I have a tentative wedding date set, but before signing a contract or putting down a deposit, I made sure the venue would allow me to push the date back if need be. I know that many other couples here have done that, and the venues are usually pretty willing to work with them.

The other thing is you should really check the estimated processing times first to get an idea of what a realistic date would be. Unfortunately, they are slow as molasses right now, and 6-8 months sounds extremely optimistic. But if you are going through the Vermont Service Center and your consulate is one of the faster ones, maybe that is realistic.

[SonoranSongbird 3]

Playing devil's advocate and assuming no visa is issued before the planned nuptials and we want to proceed with the wedding date, is there anything barring us from having my SO enter the country, get married and then start this stinking process over using a K3 visa when he goes home? I realize no one wants to start things over from scratch...but just thinking of ideas for a backup plan because I do have the dream of an amazing wedding.everything is good.

Yes, but as Laura said, you would have to start over. Another option if that happens would be to have a "wedding" without getting legally married. I know at least one couple did that. Jeremy and Kristy. I don't think I've seen Jeremy posting in a while.

[SMASHROX 0]

Playing devil's advocate and assuming no visa is issued before the planned nuptials and we want to proceed with the wedding date, is there anything barring us from having my SO enter the country, get married and then start this stinking process over using a K3 visa when he goes home? I realize no one wants to start things over from scratch...but just thinking of ideas for a backup plan because I do have the dream of an amazing wedding.everything is good.

Yes, but as Laura said, you would have to start over. Another option if that happens would be to have a "wedding" without getting legally married. I know at least one couple did that. Jeremy and Kristy. I don't think I've seen Jeremy posting in a while.

Yes I saw that post today and I really like that option as well if things "fall by the wayside" up at good ol' VSC. We just want a traditional wedding surrounded by our closest family and friends. Great idea!