religious wedding while waiting for visa aproval

[D&R 0]

Hello everyone, do you know if after sending the I-129F I could get marry in my fiancee country only by religuos wedding ceremony, not the civil one?

Thanks.

Play is safe... Don't risk it!! It's just not worth it

[FaridS 0]

I have a simple question for you guys about this. I am sort of in the same boat as OP.

How would the consulate know that you are married or not??

The K-1 visa is only the first stage of a 3 stage process that will allow you to live in the US. The K-1 gives you permission to enter the US in order to get married and apply for the 2nd stage - permission to remain in the US. Entering the US on a K-1 only gives you legal status in the US for 90 days whether you get married or not. Once you are married you have to apply to adjust your status from a non-immigrant fiance to an immigrant using the "Adjustment of Status" application. Part of this process includes providing proof of the date of marriage and that proof needs to be from the US and within the 90 days of entry. Telling US immigration that you are still single when you are in fact married is considered misrepresentation and carries a life time bar from entering the US. If you get married before you enter the US and use a K-1 visa to enter the US, then that is considered visa fraud and again, you will find yourself removed from the US for misrepresentation and barred from re-entry. If somehow you 'get away with it' at the AOS stage, after 2 years you have to go back to USCIS and prove the validity of your marriage once again because your status is only conditional for 2 years. If at any stage during the immigration process your lie or your true state of marriage prior to entry on a K-1 is discovered you will be deported and barred from rentry to the US for life, even if you have already become a citizen.

Lying to immigration is one of the most serious offences you can commit and is definitely not worth the consequences. USCIS has ways of knowing and you don't want to risk your marriage or future happiness by trying to play games with them at the start of the process.

I wasn't suggesting that I would lie about it. I was simply asking whether the consulate will actively seek the marriage status for the beneficiary's country. I am not planning to lie on my application. I know its not worth it and is against the law.