Getting married in a different country w/no visa app on file?

[xelance 31]

Helloo all, my fiancee and I were talking about marriage and we were thinking that we could have a marriage in her home country for family and friends. As we were talking, I thought this would pose us problems for the K-1 visa. Do we automatically have to apply for the K-3 if we get married in her country? Of course this poses a huge problem as we dont have bank accounts, kids, house together, we are still from different countries. Would this not be a wise idea if we plan on applying for the K-1 visa so she can be with me in the US? If it does, we definitely wont do it, but we just thought it would be a nice thing to do for her family/friends that cant come to the US and see us get married. Thank you for your advice, I appreciate it!!

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Helloo all, my fiancee and I were talking about marriage and we were thinking that we could have a marriage in her home country for family and friends. As we were talking, I thought this would pose us problems for the K-1 visa. Do we automatically have to apply for the K-3 if we get married in her country? Of course this poses a huge problem as we dont have bank accounts, kids, house together, we are still from different countries. Would this not be a wise idea if we plan on applying for the K-1 visa so she can be with me in the US? If it does, we definitely wont do it, but we just thought it would be a nice thing to do for her family/friends that cant come to the US and see us get married. Thank you for your advice, I appreciate it!!

In order to apply for and recive a K-1 you must both be free to marry and have a fiancee. If you are married to each other, you are neither.

If you go the K-1 route, get married in the USA and later she has her AOS or her AP then you can return and have a formal ceremony in her country. If you are married there you will have to file for the K-3 or a CR-1 visa.

[Hell0W0rld 10]

you can have a party thats about it, but if you are actually legally married in that country then you will have to file for K-3 because K-1 is for fiance(e)

[Danu 19]

Helloo all, my fiancee and I were talking about marriage and we were thinking that we could have a marriage in her home country for family and friends. As we were talking, I thought this would pose us problems for the K-1 visa. Do we automatically have to apply for the K-3 if we get married in her country? Of course this poses a huge problem as we dont have bank accounts, kids, house together, we are still from different countries. Would this not be a wise idea if we plan on applying for the K-1 visa so she can be with me in the US? If it does, we definitely wont do it, but we just thought it would be a nice thing to do for her family/friends that cant come to the US and see us get married. Thank you for your advice, I appreciate it!!

It depends. If you do a religious ceremony with none of the legal paperwork side of it, you will be ok. But if you get married on paper, you can't do a K1 as its for fiance's and you will then be spouses and have to do the K3. If you want to do just a nice religious ceremony without signing any paperwork, you can then do the K1 and get married on paper once you are in the states.

[xelance 31]

k thats what I figured, thank you for the clarification

[pushbrk 12,201]

k thats what I figured, thank you for the clarification

Married people need a spouse visa. K3 is not the first choice and certainly isn't required. CR1 would be the path. If marriage in the foreign national's country is a high priority, then get married and follow one of the available immigration paths. There's nothing magical about the K1.

[shawndoc 0]

If you decide to have "just" a religious ceremony, be very careful about NOT mentioning anything about it during the K1 interview or putting photos from the event in with your evidence of relationship. If you do a search on here you will find a number of people who were not legally married, but the embassy interviewer still rejected it based on the fact a ceremony had been performed.

Its just going to cloud the issue and give the interviewer one more possible reason to reject your application.

[xelance 31]

k thats what I figured, thank you for the clarification

Married people need a spouse visa. K3 is not the first choice and certainly isn't required. CR1 would be the path. If marriage in the foreign national's country is a high priority, then get married and follow one of the available immigration paths. There's nothing magical about the K1.

CR1 looks like a good option, but dont they need proof of a bonafide marriage? I wont have that if im not living with her....all I would have would be a legal marriage certificate from Colombia and I doubt that would be enough, right??

[pushbrk 12,201]

k thats what I figured, thank you for the clarification

Married people need a spouse visa. K3 is not the first choice and certainly isn't required. CR1 would be the path. If marriage in the foreign national's country is a high priority, then get married and follow one of the available immigration paths. There's nothing magical about the K1.

CR1 looks like a good option, but dont they need proof of a bonafide marriage? I wont have that if im not living with her....all I would have would be a legal marriage certificate from Colombia and I doubt that would be enough, right??

That and some pictures is enough. One thing critical to success in the immigration process is the ability to read carefully and interpret literally. Whn you do so, you'll understand that anything that follows the words "in addition to the required" is "not required".

Actually, you are referring to instructions that come with the I-130, which MUST be filed in all K3 cases. So, these non-requirements apply to either spouse visa equally anyway.

[baron555 934]

If you decide to have "just" a religious ceremony, be very careful about NOT mentioning anything about it during the K1 interview or putting photos from the event in with your evidence of relationship. If you do a search on here you will find a number of people who were not legally married, but the embassy interviewer still rejected it based on the fact a ceremony had been performed.

Its just going to cloud the issue and give the interviewer one more possible reason to reject your application.

Personally I am against any such "ceremony" if you are going the K-1 route. The K-1 is for unmarried people and as stated, depending on the consulate, any ceremony may be viewed as a marriage ceremony, regardless if it is legal or not.

Why take the chance? If you are denied because of it, this denial could also cause problems later if you then decide to file for a CR1 or K-3 visa petition (the subject of visa fraud intent might be raised).

Why take the chance?

[lucyrich 19]

If you decide to have "just" a religious ceremony, be very careful about NOT mentioning anything about it during the K1 interview or putting photos from the event in with your evidence of relationship. If you do a search on here you will find a number of people who were not legally married, but the embassy interviewer still rejected it based on the fact a ceremony had been performed.

Its just going to cloud the issue and give the interviewer one more possible reason to reject your application.

Personally I am against any such "ceremony" if you are going the K-1 route. The K-1 is for unmarried people and as stated, depending on the consulate, any ceremony may be viewed as a marriage ceremony, regardless if it is legal or not.

Why take the chance? If you are denied because of it, this denial could also cause problems later if you then decide to file for a CR1 or K-3 visa petition (the subject of visa fraud intent might be raised).

Why take the chance?

Exactly. When you play this game, some of the rules aren't always completely logical, but it's best to learn the rules and plan your strategy so as to avoid coming anywhere close to conflicting with them.

To get a K-1 visa, you have to be single. Not only that, but you have the burden of PROVING that you are both single, and not married to each other (or to anyone else).

To get a spousal visa (either K-3, CR-1, or IR-1) you have to be married to each other, and you have the burden of proving that you are legally married to each other.

Proving that you're married is usually pretty easy. You show a marriage certificate that's been legally recorded by some government clerk.

Proving that you're not married can be quite a bit harder.

It can be especially difficult to prove at the port of entry. The inspector who processes your paperwork at the border will be in charge of handling the paperwork of people who come from every country in the world. It's unrealistic to expect him/her to be an expert in what does or doesn't constitute a legal marriage in each of the countries of the world. There are places where no formal paperwork is required for a marriage to be binding. Even if you're coming from a country where formal paperwork is really required, how are you going to prove that you didn't file the paperwork?

So if you go the K-1 route, you've got to be very sure that no hint of evidence ever comes into the record to suggest that you might be married. If there's doubt, you lose. The easiest way to be sure no such evidence comes into the record is to not have any kind of ceremony that looks remotely like a wedding.

It's kind of silly, when you think about it. Both K-3 and K-1 couples have to do pretty much the same paperwork, pass the same background checks and admissibility requirements, and prove the same bona fide nature of their relationships. About the only real "big picture" significant difference between the two is the marital status issue. If you're a K-1 couple, I can't think of any great harm that would come to the people of the United States or the USCIS if you had a little ceremonial non-legal marriage before you enter. Nevertheless, while it may seem like a silly rule that any doubt as to your single status would cause you to be denied a visa and/or denied entry, it IS a very firm rule written into the law, so you've got to live with it.