will now live in France - what do we say in K1 interview?

[kenneme 2]

Greetings! Hope someone can help.

Our situation: We applied for K1 fiance visa in October 2008 (CA Center / Embassy: Paris, France) while I (US citizen fiancee) was still in grad school in the US, thinking that would be the best legally and leave us the most options open. Thankfully I got a work contract in France for January 2009 through May 2009. We are planning our wedding in California August 15 2009 and had planned to return to the US in June/July with him on the fiance visa. We just sent in the "ready for interview" papers to the embassy and are praying everything comes through in time. I have a cosponsor (my mom) in the US. BUT, my work just offered to extend my contract here through December, which means we wouldn't be able to stay in the US after the wedding to do change of status, get his green card, etc. I guess we would instead have to do DCF (we would qualify) later on when we decide to move to the US?

The problem is that my fiance needs a visa to come to the US for the August wedding (he's an Algerian citizen so he can't come without a visa). Our question is what to say in his interview? Do we explain everything and tell them that we will not be pursuing his residency yet, but will be getting married? (It seems inevitable this will come up because my employer is in France!). Or, do we say I plan to get a new job in the US after the wedding? Or do we switch and instead try to get him a tourist visa (while still being honest that he's definitely getting married)? Or go ahead and do the legal wedding here in France and try for DCF between now and the wedding?

Any help much appreciated.

Megan

[Nik+Heather 121]

I vote that you delay your interview date such that you can both enter (him on K1) together when your contract is up in December. If you get the visa in July, that will be just at the end of its validity date. Simply put your planned travel date as December/January, and it seems like most of the embassies are willing to accommodate that, and they'll put your interview date back some so that you can swing that.

Before you try your visitor visa route, be sure that you can first cancel the pending K1, and then apply for and have a visitor visa in hand before the wedding. Thankfully, you'll both have fairly decent proof of ties back to France, so hopefully that won't be an issue at POE.

Wish I could convince my boss to give me work contracts in Europe! *envious*

[Bobby+Umit 161]

Wow - that is a lot of choices...

I don't agree on making plans till you have the visa in hand - (the august wedding).

If you go DCF, you will have to meet the requirments for France, for lenght of stay there/status, etc... (which you may meet, since you work there now)

But, if you get the July visa (K-1), it is good for 6 months, so you might be able to wait till your job is done in december, come back in January (if you get it in July), and then get married in January 2010.

I would not recommend to try to "switch" to a visitors visa, they may not grant that - you never know.

[Beth/ Paris Heart 2]

Greetings! Hope someone can help.

Our situation: We applied for K1 fiance visa in October 2008 (CA Center / Embassy: Paris, France) while I (US citizen fiancee) was still in grad school in the US, thinking that would be the best legally and leave us the most options open. Thankfully I got a work contract in France for January 2009 through May 2009. We are planning our wedding in California August 15 2009 and had planned to return to the US in June/July with him on the fiance visa. We just sent in the "ready for interview" papers to the embassy and are praying everything comes through in time. I have a cosponsor (my mom) in the US. BUT, my work just offered to extend my contract here through December, which means we wouldn't be able to stay in the US after the wedding to do change of status, get his green card, etc. I guess we would instead have to do DCF (we would qualify) later on when we decide to move to the US?

The problem is that my fiance needs a visa to come to the US for the August wedding (he's an Algerian citizen so he can't come without a visa). Our question is what to say in his interview? Do we explain everything and tell them that we will not be pursuing his residency yet, but will be getting married? (It seems inevitable this will come up because my employer is in France!). Or, do we say I plan to get a new job in the US after the wedding? Or do we switch and instead try to get him a tourist visa (while still being honest that he's definitely getting married)? Or go ahead and do the legal wedding here in France and try for DCF between now and the wedding?

Any help much appreciated.

Megan

Tourist visa is probley out, my husband and I thought we would try to apply for a visitors visa while waiting at USCIS, but that is not a option, so thats why I go to Paris every chance I get. My husband is also Algerian living ,working, and attending school, its his last year there at university, his final Masters.

I would marry in France, it would be easier for you to do this since you both are there, for us, our paperwork expired so we did not marry there. I think if you attend interview, and try to explain, they may think of a motive behind all of the reasons, even though they are true. Its a hard decision, but if your already in France, marry there, file DCF .

Good luck on your journey. I would still take the interview, explain and see what happens from there. The people at the Paris embassy are great. Im glad my husband will be interview there, and I will also attend interview.

[kenneme 2]

Thank you both for your input.

Yes, I know I know - we're not supposed to make definitive plans until visa is in hand, but we want to have a "real" wedding not just settle for some court house thing because he's not a US citizen Looking back now I wouldn't have put down the deposit for our wedding in August and would have waited until it was confirmed to do so, but this let us reserve a date that works better for the families and now it's done and we can't change it so, what would you recommend with keeping the August wedding date?

[kenneme 2]

Thank you Paris Heart, that's very helpful! I think you understand my situation...It's true that they may begin to question if we make too many changes.

My other thought was that you are not "required" to get married if you enter on a K1 as long as you leave the country, right? so I don't think they can force us or penalize us in anyways for legally doing the K1 entry and the wedding and then deciding not to do change of status...?

[Beth/ Paris Heart 2]

Thank you Paris Heart, that's very helpful! I think you understand my situation...It's true that they may begin to question if we make too many changes.

My other thought was that you are not "required" to get married if you enter on a K1 as long as you leave the country, right? so I don't think they can force us or penalize us in anyways for legally doing the K1 entry and the wedding and then deciding not to do change of status...?

Well Hon, what I do know for a American to marry in France who is NOT living in France is a hard thing to do. Our paperwork was turned into the courts, and 3 days before expiring they called my husband, "then ficance" and told him that I needed to submit a phone bill from USA. No way we could do that, plus it had to be in French!!! So there went Paris wedding, but we did honeymoon there, and Im returning Sept. 7th, for vacation, and hopefully our interview.

Now, Im not sure what you mean by your last sentence, not to do change of status...? You are welcome to PM me if you like.

[Nik+Heather 121]

I would still discourage you from using the visa in any way other than intended (to enter the US to stay and AOS).

I wonder if it would be a VJ first if the beneficiary was all alone in the US doing paper work while the Petitioner was in another country! What if your fiance stayed in the States after the August wedding to adjust status while you went back to France to finish out your contract, and then he went back over to France once the Advance Parole came through? You'd need someone to watch your US mail and also need to know how long he can be out of the country on AP....but...Is this idea TOO "creative"?

You may have made deposits, but it is my experience that many vendors will allow you to change the date and not loose your deposits, especially as we are still more than 90 days out. I would still strongly encourage you to spend some time considering moving your K1 plans to January instead of August.

I see lots of risks against you in trying to get married in August:

- May not be granted visitor visa.

- May not be admitted (even with visitor visa)

- Will have to go through the process of filing again

--- Extra money (How does this compare to money down already?)

--- Extra time & effort

--- Waivers?

--- Other unknowns you'll have to research and should be informed about before you make this decision.

Do you feel confident that you can mitigate all of these to have your perfect August wedding? I hope so....

Also, have you considered simply declining your contract extension? Something's got to give here.

I understand completely the desire to have an all inclusive wedding - the ceremony and the legal bit and all the family around all in one day. We are doing that, and will probably be separated an extra 3 months in order to do as we like. I'm not sure why moving from August to January is going to prevent that...

We don't have all the details like you do, so my previous suggestion still seems like the best path from what you've shared. When circumstances change, so must you revisit previously made decisions and reconsider from the beginning.

Wishing you the best, I hope that whatever you do in the end, it works out!

[Chica Yeyé 41]

Thank you Paris Heart, that's very helpful! I think you understand my situation...It's true that they may begin to question if we make too many changes.

My other thought was that you are not "required" to get married if you enter on a K1 as long as you leave the country, right?[/b] so I don't think they can force us or penalize us in anyways for legally doing the K1 entry and the wedding and then deciding not to do change of status...?

Wrong. A fiancee's visa only purpose is precisely to allow the fiance to come into the US to get married, adjust status AND reside in the US.

[pushbrk 12,154]

Greetings! Hope someone can help.

Our situation: We applied for K1 fiance visa in October 2008 (CA Center / Embassy: Paris, France) while I (US citizen fiancee) was still in grad school in the US, thinking that would be the best legally and leave us the most options open. Thankfully I got a work contract in France for January 2009 through May 2009. We are planning our wedding in California August 15 2009 and had planned to return to the US in June/July with him on the fiance visa. We just sent in the "ready for interview" papers to the embassy and are praying everything comes through in time. I have a cosponsor (my mom) in the US. BUT, my work just offered to extend my contract here through December, which means we wouldn't be able to stay in the US after the wedding to do change of status, get his green card, etc. I guess we would instead have to do DCF (we would qualify) later on when we decide to move to the US?

The problem is that my fiance needs a visa to come to the US for the August wedding (he's an Algerian citizen so he can't come without a visa). Our question is what to say in his interview? Do we explain everything and tell them that we will not be pursuing his residency yet, but will be getting married? (It seems inevitable this will come up because my employer is in France!). Or, do we say I plan to get a new job in the US after the wedding? Or do we switch and instead try to get him a tourist visa (while still being honest that he's definitely getting married)? Or go ahead and do the legal wedding here in France and try for DCF between now and the wedding?

Any help much appreciated.

Megan

There is no penalty for entering the US using a K1 visa, marrying and then leaving before the 90 day I-94 expires. You then follow the appropriate spouse visa route when ready. People change plans. Nobody here is going to counsel you on just what lie to tell a Consular officer so that you can have your cake and eat it too.

[rebeccajo 14]

Postpone your 'real' wedding.

Drag out the K1 as has been explained to you previously.

Have a courthouse ceremony when you finally both get here (after December). Submit his AOS. Then you can relax and plan your ceremony wedding.

[Ginger cat 3]

I would still discourage you from using the visa in any way other than intended (to enter the US to stay and AOS).

I wonder if it would be a VJ first if the beneficiary was all alone in the US doing paper work while the Petitioner was in another country! What if your fiance stayed in the States after the August wedding to adjust status while you went back to France to finish out your contract, and then he went back over to France once the Advance Parole came through? You'd need someone to watch your US mail and also need to know how long he can be out of the country on AP....but...Is this idea TOO "creative"?

You may have made deposits, but it is my experience that many vendors will allow you to change the date and not loose your deposits, especially as we are still more than 90 days out. I would still strongly encourage you to spend some time considering moving your K1 plans to January instead of August.

I see lots of risks against you in trying to get married in August:

- May not be granted visitor visa.

- May not be admitted (even with visitor visa)

- Will have to go through the process of filing again

--- Extra money (How does this compare to money down already?)

--- Extra time & effort

--- Waivers?

--- Other unknowns you'll have to research and should be informed about before you make this decision.

Do you feel confident that you can mitigate all of these to have your perfect August wedding? I hope so....

Also, have you considered simply declining your contract extension? Something's got to give here.

I understand completely the desire to have an all inclusive wedding - the ceremony and the legal bit and all the family around all in one day. We are doing that, and will probably be separated an extra 3 months in order to do as we like. I'm not sure why moving from August to January is going to prevent that...

We don't have all the details like you do, so my previous suggestion still seems like the best path from what you've shared. When circumstances change, so must you revisit previously made decisions and reconsider from the beginning.

Wishing you the best, I hope that whatever you do in the end, it works out!

I concur in that way of approaching the situation.

[kenneme 2]

There is no penalty for entering the US using a K1 visa, marrying and then leaving before the 90 day I-94 expires. You then follow the appropriate spouse visa route when ready. People change plans. Nobody here is going to counsel you on just what lie to tell a Consular officer so that you can have your cake and eat it too.

Thank you for this concrete feedback. Rest assured we are not trying to be deceptive in how we use the visa (that's why I'm asking the question!). In fact it was because we were trying to "dot all the i's and cross all the t's" that we decided to go the K1 route in the first place (rather than trying for a tourist visa with the intent of getting married). As you said, life plans change, and I'm sure some of you can understand that. We are not naive about the high stakes and potential challenges we face - just asking for some honest advice. I'm thankful we have made it this far and I do recognise that we are fortunate to be together during this phase.

[kenneme 2]

Thank you Nik + Heather for outlining some of the potential risks - you're right that there are many potential pitfalls, including the possiiblity of him being stuck in the US without me!

Thank you for your support.

I would still discourage you from using the visa in any way other than intended (to enter the US to stay and AOS).

I wonder if it would be a VJ first if the beneficiary was all alone in the US doing paper work while the Petitioner was in another country! What if your fiance stayed in the States after the August wedding to adjust status while you went back to France to finish out your contract, and then he went back over to France once the Advance Parole came through? You'd need someone to watch your US mail and also need to know how long he can be out of the country on AP....but...Is this idea TOO "creative"?

You may have made deposits, but it is my experience that many vendors will allow you to change the date and not loose your deposits, especially as we are still more than 90 days out. I would still strongly encourage you to spend some time considering moving your K1 plans to January instead of August.

I see lots of risks against you in trying to get married in August:

- May not be granted visitor visa.

- May not be admitted (even with visitor visa)

- Will have to go through the process of filing again

--- Extra money (How does this compare to money down already?)

--- Extra time & effort

--- Waivers?

--- Other unknowns you'll have to research and should be informed about before you make this decision.

Do you feel confident that you can mitigate all of these to have your perfect August wedding? I hope so....

Also, have you considered simply declining your contract extension? Something's got to give here.

I understand completely the desire to have an all inclusive wedding - the ceremony and the legal bit and all the family around all in one day. We are doing that, and will probably be separated an extra 3 months in order to do as we like. I'm not sure why moving from August to January is going to prevent that...

We don't have all the details like you do, so my previous suggestion still seems like the best path from what you've shared. When circumstances change, so must you revisit previously made decisions and reconsider from the beginning.

Wishing you the best, I hope that whatever you do in the end, it works out!

[kenneme 2]

Thanks for your input everyone and for the practical advice.

We're going to move to the US as soon as the K1 is approved for travel. It's not ideal financially but sounds like the safest option.