Church marriage after having K-1 visa in hand

[Knoll 1]

Hello All,

I did search before writing this but did not find anything specific on this topic. Sorry to those in advance if this comes off as a stupid question or offends anyone.

Here's the plan:

Assuming my fiancée receives her visa in coming months, once she actually has it in hand, I was planning to fly to Ukraine and marry her in her church there amongst family and friends (that is, have a formal church ceremony). After the church wedding ceremony in Ukraine, we would return together to the USA. Can doing this jeopardize her K-1 visa if say somehow the authorities learn that we married in the church in Ukraine, before using her visa to travel to the United State? Do they even care? Who else did this and did you get a marriage certificate from the church?

Thank you.

Knoll

[amykathleen2005 441]

If you marry in the Ukraine before she gets here then she is no longer a fiancee but a wife and the visa would be void.

[payxibka 10,044]

If you marry in the Ukraine before she gets here then she is no longer a fiancee but a wife and the visa would be void.

Please, you need to understand that a church wedding is NOT recognized in Ukraine. The only valid way to get married is at the ZAGS office... as long as you do not do the ZAGS wedding you are not officially married

[amykathleen2005 441]

Please, you need to understand that a church wedding is NOT recognized in Ukraine. The only valid way to get married is at the ZAGS office... as long as you do not do the ZAGS wedding you are not officially married

That may be true, but what a USCIS official thinks of what looks like a wedding might be a different story. I have heard of people on these boards that had even just an engagement ceremony that looked like a wedding and they had trouble.

[Mrs. Disney 0]

I don't see any problems with it as long as the ceremony doesn't make it official (I'm not sure how it works in your country). Be safe and do it once you have your visa in hands. And once again, don't make your marriage LEGAL until you are in the US.

[payxibka 10,044]

That may be true, but what a USCIS official thinks of what looks like a wedding might be a different story. I have heard of people on these boards that had even just an engagement ceremony that looked like a wedding and they had trouble.

That is because they "flaunted" it. If the USCIS or the consulate are not made aware of it, how can they have a problem with it?

[katie & sifa 25]

You should be fine as long as it's not a legal ceremony. I would avoid carrying like...a photo album of the wedding in her luggage, but otherwise as long as you LEGALLY marry in the United States it's ok to have a non binding ceremony in another country. Most of the time people only run into trouble with this at the interview, which will clearly be over by that point.

[A&R&Jacob 0]

I think it's a wonderful idea and i'm sure your fiancée and her family will appreciate the opportunity to be part of your wedding celebration. As you said the church wedding is not recognised as marriage (even in her country) until official ceremony in the government/civil office, therefore i do not think it would be deemed valid/official by US immigration officers. This is how it used to work in Poland up to recently - now the wedding in church is reported to the civil office and deemed valid. I guess it would be worth double checking, whether the church would forward the information about your wedding to the government etc.

Anyway, good luck to you both!

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Hello All,

I did search before writing this but did not find anything specific on this topic. Sorry to those in advance if this comes off as a stupid question or offends anyone.

Here's the plan:

Assuming my fiancée receives her visa in coming months, once she actually has it in hand, I was planning to fly to Ukraine and marry her in her church there amongst family and friends (that is, have a formal church ceremony). After the church wedding ceremony in Ukraine, we would return together to the USA. Can doing this jeopardize her K-1 visa if say somehow the authorities learn that we married in the church in Ukraine, before using her visa to travel to the United State? Do they even care? Who else did this and did you get a marriage certificate from the church?

Thank you.

Knoll

Your plan will render her visa NULL AND VOID. BAD idea. She MUST enter the USA as a fiancee with a fiancee visa. You MUST get married in the USA and submit a US marriage certificate with the AOS. Doing it any other way is FRAUD and subjects her to being deported and barred from future visas of any type.

If you WANT to marry her in Ukraine, then DO SO and file for a CR-1 visa. That is WHY they have differnet types.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I think it's a wonderful idea and i'm sure your fiancée and her family will appreciate the opportunity to be part of your wedding celebration. As you said the church wedding is not recognised as marriage (even in her country) until official ceremony in the government/civil office, therefore i do not think it would be deemed valid/official by US immigration officers. This is how it used to work in Poland up to recently - now the wedding in church is reported to the civil office and deemed valid. I guess it would be worth double checking, whether the church would forward the information about your wedding to the government etc.

Anyway, good luck to you both!

WRONG! Unlike Ukraine the US recognizes religious weddings. If it is a "legal marriage" under the laws of the church it is a legal marriage accepted in the USA. We have separation of church and state, the USA cannot make any distinction between church and civil weddings. Doing this is a terrible idea. Proceed at your own risk and be aware the penalties are severe.

Do it in reverse. Have her come HERE, marry HERE in a civil ceremony, file for AOS, return to Ukraine and get married in the church. OR get married in the church and file for a CR-1.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Please, you need to understand that a church wedding is NOT recognized in Ukraine. The only valid way to get married is at the ZAGS office... as long as you do not do the ZAGS wedding you are not officially married

You are correct that the GOVERNMENT of Ukraine does not recognize ANY religious wedding. Absolutely true. However the government of the UNITED STATES recognizes ALL religious ceremonies as a legal marraige. The OP would be able to apply for AND RECEIVE a CR-1 visa based on a Ukrainian church wedding ONLY. If it is VALID to receive a spousal visa, then it is equally as valid to negate a K-1 visa. By the same token, the Ukrainian government does not recognize ANY marriage in the US unless it is registered with ZAGs.

Ukraine also has some strict residency requirements for a marriage. Unlike the US where anyone can get married any time, in Ukraine you must meet residency requirements, though such things can usually be avoided with a bribe.

while it may be true "if no one knows, what difference does it make?" it is a dis-service to the OP to say it is "OK" to do so, it is not.

[idaho_and_surigao 3]

[ However the government of the UNITED STATES recognizes ALL religious ceremonies as a legal marraige.

While I agree with you that it is a bad idea to do this, I don't think this statement is true. Generally speaking, Thanks to the principle of comity, the United States recognizes the laws of foreign countries. Thus if the marriage was not 'legal' in the Ukraine, The US would not recognize it. i.e. if there was no marriage certificate, license etc, then the US would not consider it a legal marriage.

to the OP, I still think this is a risky idea...why chance it?

Edited June 23, 2010 by idaho_and_surigao

[payxibka 10,044]

You are correct that the GOVERNMENT of Ukraine does not recognize ANY religious wedding. Absolutely true. However the government of the UNITED STATES recognizes ALL religious ceremonies as a legal marraige. The OP would be able to apply for AND RECEIVE a CR-1 visa based on a Ukrainian church wedding ONLY. If it is VALID to receive a spousal visa, then it is equally as valid to negate a K-1 visa. By the same token, the Ukrainian government does not recognize ANY marriage in the US unless it is registered with ZAGs.

I respectfully disagree here Gary... even in the USA, if you are not married by a "registered" officiant qualified to perform marriages in that jurisdiction, you are NOT married (unless of course you reside in a a common law jurisdiction, which is not even in play here).... Every "ordained" minister, pastor, priest, etc... must in fact register with the respective state or they cannot perform a "legal" marriage.

[Old Dominion 26]

It's a big enough risk to wait until after she can return to the Ukraine with her green card, and then have the religious celebration.

[payxibka 10,044]

Your plan will render her visa NULL AND VOID. BAD idea. She MUST enter the USA as a fiancee with a fiancee visa. You MUST get legally married in the USA and submit a US marriage certificate with the AOS. Doing it any other way is FRAUD and subjects her to being deported and barred from future visas of any type.

If you WANT to marry her in Ukraine, then DO SO and file for a CR-1 visa. That is WHY they have differnet types.

You can have as many "ceremonies" as you want... you can only have ONE marriage event... and it must occur in the USA or one of its territories.

Edited June 24, 2010 by payxibka