AOS requisite

[pri 0]

Hi All,

Al shall be moving in Mid June to New York City,

we are planning a Civil wedding in one of the Courts in Queens and are not planning to hv a proper reception we plan a small get 2 gather with a few family members at my place since Al will not be wrkng till he gets his EAD, and we are planning to apply for our AOS as soon as we get our marriage cert. from the court so that should be within 7 days of our marriage..and then we would go for our lovely honeymoon...

bcos Al's family is back in India they wont be here for the marriage

Now is all this reqd for the AOS do they ask like why didnt you do a church ceremony and booked a hotel or banquet hall for the reception.. I wrked out only on the reception cost it is more 15k minimum.. with few people and we dont hv tht kind of money to spend??

So is it problem with the AOS?? and do they need all this at the intereview or do we need these things when we apply?? so any suggestions are welcome

Thanks

Priya

[Kathryn41 3,205]

No, the most important thing for USCIS is that you are legally married - whether it is by a JP, a Minister or whatever. Many VJers have not had a big wedding nor a big reception. Since neither my husband and I are religious we chose to get married by a judge in the heritage gardens at an historic site then we all went to a local tearoom afterwards for refreshments. We had a very small ceremony with my father and a few friends only attending (my husbands parents were too infirm to travel) - and it was a wonderful event. We both felt that it was more important for us to focus on the marriage rather than the wedding, and so we did - and are:-) with no regrets. I hope you have a wonderful wedding - and a great marriage.

[planeobsessed 0]

Hi All,

Al shall be moving in Mid June to New York City,

we are planning a Civil wedding in one of the Courts in Queens and are not planning to hv a proper reception we plan a small get 2 gather with a few family members at my place since Al will not be wrkng till he gets his EAD, and we are planning to apply for our AOS as soon as we get our marriage cert. from the court so that should be within 7 days of our marriage..and then we would go for our lovely honeymoon...

bcos Al's family is back in India they wont be here for the marriage

Now is all this reqd for the AOS do they ask like why didnt you do a church ceremony and booked a hotel or banquet hall for the reception.. I wrked out only on the reception cost it is more 15k minimum.. with few people and we dont hv tht kind of money to spend??

So is it problem with the AOS?? and do they need all this at the intereview or do we need these things when we apply?? so any suggestions are welcome

Thanks

Priya

Priya,

We are in the same boat here... we just did a court marriage back in December with my parents and a few relatives present and filed for AOS... we didn't do a religous ceremoney because a) out of cash since I had to go to India to sort out the ####### at delhi embassy, B) there are no temples here, c) the nearest temple is about 300 miles away in seattle and requires advanced "booking", d) not a lot of friends relatives wanted to come to our town or seattle in that weather especially at a short notice like that.

We did have a reception (booked a banquet hall and such) in April since the weather was good and most friends relatives were able to come...

We didn't have a fancy honeymoon as far as going somewhere nice and stuff becaus of [see above - a) out of cash...]. So not sure how thats going to work. We are however planning eventually since wife just got her EAD hopefully soon she'll find a job and we can save up for one.

So for AOS we are going to take about 500 photographs of us (Traveling together, at local parties, court marriage, reception and pictures of our religious engagement "shagun" in India)

Then we have a few bank statements of joint checking/savings, joint visa credit card statements, joint cable bill, library card, car insurance documents on both names, junk mail with my wife's name, letters from medical association etc.

We have no health insurance because I lost my job when I went to India to sort out things there... and just got a new job... (We have cosponsors for support), have no rent/lease since we live at my parents house... so hopefully the limited documents we have are enough for our AOS next tuesday (16th)

Edited May 8, 2006 by planeobsessed

[raymaga 25]

A "fancy" wedding is not necessary for the AOS process, so you don't have to worry at all. All they want to see is your marriage certificate, and proof that you are a bona fide married couple.

Good luck.

[motu 5]

We just as many others on VJ have gotten married in a court (minimum cost) and many opt for a bigger wedding with family etc. later (after Green card is received and they can travel freely.) So, don't worry about the size or format of the wedding - you just need a certificate to show you are married. I would suggest - save the money and take a few trips (or give them to my friends in Vegas ) Good Luck

[americangirl 0]

For time, religious and financial reasons, we got married at city hall with only one friend in attendance - not even our parents! Both sets of parents live several thousand miles away, and since we were just having a small, non-religious ceremony - with plans to have a big religious ceremony later, when we can afford to get everyone together - it was not really worth it for them to come.

I, too, am hoping this is okay. Good luck, and let us know how it turns out