Marriage Info Before the Visa

[DanKorn 0]

My fiance and I are in the process of collecting the evidence for a K1 Visa.

We would like to have a religious and civil wedding in Ecuador before coming to the US using the K1. Is this a problem? Will it mess up the K1?

I spoke to a priest today and he said the religious and civil marriages need to be done in one place. Due to the Visa we would need to get the K1 make a civil wedding here then return to ecuador for the religious wedding.

If we chose to make a marriage in Ecuador before she enters the country with a K1 would this be a problem?

Any experiences would help. We want to do as much in Ecuador for her and her family as possible, but dont want to jeopardize the K1.

[rsn 135]

My fiance and I are in the process of collecting the evidence for a K1 Visa.

We would like to have a religious and civil wedding in Ecuador before coming to the US using the K1. Is this a problem? Will it mess up the K1?

I spoke to a priest today and he said the religious and civil marriages need to be done in one place. Due to the Visa we would need to get the K1 make a civil wedding here then return to ecuador for the religious wedding.

If we chose to make a marriage in Ecuador before she enters the country with a K1 would this be a problem?

Any experiences would help. We want to do as much in Ecuador for her and her family as possible, but dont want to jeopardize the K1.

You must get married in the U.S. if you hold a K1 visa and nowhere else. If you get married elsewhere you will invalidate your K1 visa and will have to start over with a CR1 visa.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Yes, it would mess up the K-1 significantly. The K-1 is for a fiancee. If you get married - and it appears both the civil and religious ceremonies count as a legal marriage in Ecuador you are no longer able to use a fiancee visa. She would no longer be a fiancee - she would be a spouse. In fact, if you had a marriage ceremony and attempted to use a fiancee visa it would be considered visa fraud and lead to a ban on entry to the US. You would have to start the immigration process all over again from the beginning with a CR-1 visa (spousal visa).

You can have an affirmation ceremony or an engagement ceremony before hand but you cannot have any type of a ceremony that looks like or is a marriage or wedding ceremony. You cannot have a priest or religious officiant perform the service as that would make it a wedding and would invalidate the K-1 visa.

You have several options. You can forego the K-1 visa, get married in Ecuador, and then apply for a CR-1 visa. You can keep on with the K-1 visa and have no ceremony before she arrives in the US, then have a civil ceremony in the US and when she is eligible to travel out of the US (after you apply for the AOS - green card - and she receives either the green card or the AP - advance parole) go back to Ecuador for a religious ceremony with her family.

Edited August 5, 2009 by Kathryn41

[bayojona3231 4]

My fiance and I are in the process of collecting the evidence for a K1 Visa.

We would like to have a religious and civil wedding in Ecuador before coming to the US using the K1. Is this a problem? Will it mess up the K1?

I spoke to a priest today and he said the religious and civil marriages need to be done in one place. Due to the Visa we would need to get the K1 make a civil wedding here then return to ecuador for the religious wedding.

If we chose to make a marriage in Ecuador before she enters the country with a K1 would this be a problem?

Any experiences would help. We want to do as much in Ecuador for her and her family as possible, but dont want to jeopardize the K1.

You cannot get married in Ecuador with a K1. The marriage must take place in the USA. There are no exceptions to this rule. If you do, you would run into some problems.

[Bobby+Umit 161]

File for the K-1 - get married in the US (civil) to get the paperwork needed for the AOS - then go back to her country to do the big religious wedding with family. (of course after you get the AP from the AOS)