Help! Getting Married Just before leaving on K1 visa

[scjpam 2]

I have an approved K1 visa. And will be leaving soon. I wanted to get married here in the Philippines just before I fly to US. This is because I wanted that my family be with me for my wedding. Is this possible?

[carolynhotstuff 252]

No it is not possible. With a K1 you must get married in the United States.

[JoyDee 21]

Don't do it! You won't be eligible to enter the country if you are married. They will ask you at POE if you are married and you will have to lie.

[Krikit 1,163]

Moving from K-1 Progress to K-1 Process. Welcome to VJ.

[max+patricia 24]

Definitely don't do it. You have to enter the US unmarried on a K-1 visa for the visa to be eligible. That's the whole point of it. If you get married first and lie to immigration it will make your life MUCH more difficult than you'd want to even imagine. Read up about material misrepresentation.

[Ryan H 3,790]

I have an approved K1 visa. And will be leaving soon. I wanted to get married here in the Philippines just before I fly to US. This is because I wanted that my family be with me for my wedding. Is this possible?

It is possible to have a ceremony so long as you are not legally married at the conclusion of said ceremony. Couples often have traditional ceremonies in the home country of the person who is leaving and then use the term "Engagement Ceremony."

Also, if you wish to have a ceremony in a church before your departure to the US, you can as long as you would not be legally married at the conclusion of the ceremony. I would check to see what the laws on that are.

When you use a K1 visa at a US POE, you must not be legally married.

Edited April 9, 2011 by Ryan H

[nenooye 8]

Moving from K-1 Progress to K-1 Process. Welcome to VJ.

can I ask you something..is it necessary for 'higher' member like you to really leave comment when you move a topic to the right place? I think it almost annoying to see a smarty pants just leaving comments like that and not even try to answer the question on the topic.. sorry no offense but I saw many comments like that often on many topics. so cold hearted for people who really check the topic every sec to get the right answer.. thank you

Anyway for SCJPAM:

You better not to do that because then you will violate the k1 visa. then you have to lie on POE then if you get caught its not only give trouble to your self and your future life but also many phillipinos who try to marry americans later. they will consider that your country is high rated for scam.

how about just have a party (just like farewell party) between your family and friends without getting married there. ( I assume you mean that you want to getting married legally in your country, right?)

Edited April 9, 2011 by nenooye

[YuAndDan 153]

K1 is for unmarried couples, not people who are married to enter the USA.

If an overseas marriage is a priority then marry first then file an I-130 for a CR-1 spouse visa and forget the K1. Then wait 8-9 months at interview for the spouse visa before coming to USA.

[AC_UM 0]

Suppose someone gets socially married (without legal registration) in presence of family members and coin it as engagement....will that too considered a fraud???

In india too, the term fiance(e) is not that much well accepted socially...it'd help if ppl get some kind of recognition before leaving the us legal marriage.

[scjpam 2]

Thanks to everyone. Will take note of all your comments and suggestions. As you said, K1 should not be legally married and I guess I should just stick to what is legal. Thanks again.

[scjpam 2]

can I ask you something..is it necessary for 'higher' member like you to really leave comment when you move a topic to the right place? I think it almost annoying to see a smarty pants just leaving comments like that and not even try to answer the question on the topic.. sorry no offense but I saw many comments like that often on many topics. so cold hearted for people who really check the topic every sec to get the right answer.. thank you

Anyway for SCJPAM:

You better not to do that because then you will violate the k1 visa. then you have to lie on POE then if you get caught its not only give trouble to your self and your future life but also many phillipinos who try to marry americans later. they will consider that your country is high rated for scam.

how about just have a party (just like farewell party) between your family and friends without getting married there. ( I assume you mean that you want to getting married legally in your country, right?)

Yes, i wish I could but if that will complicate things then I'll just stick to what is right and legal. Thanks.

[Krikit 1,163]

can I ask you something..is it necessary for 'higher' member like you to really leave comment when you move a topic to the right place? I think it almost annoying to see a smarty pants just leaving comments like that and not even try to answer the question on the topic.. sorry no offense but I saw many comments like that often on many topics. so cold hearted for people who really check the topic every sec to get the right answer.. thank you

The Site Administrator requires us to comment with each topic we move so that the original poster (OP) will not be confused when they don't see their thread in the forum they originally posted in..... which is why we are also required to leave a marker showing it has been moved.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

The Site Administrator requires us to comment with each topic we move so that the original poster (OP) will not be confused when they don't see their thread in the forum they originally posted in..... which is why we are also required to leave a marker showing it has been moved.

As a VJ member, I appreciate the way this is done. It lets us know who moved the topic, why it was moved, and sometimes provides context to comments that were made before the topic was moved that might otherwise seem to not make much sense.

[Ryan H 3,790]

Suppose someone gets socially married (without legal registration) in presence of family members and coin it as engagement....will that too considered a fraud???

No, not fraud. People have "engagement ceremonies" or "engagement parties" all the time.

how about just have a party (just like farewell party) between your family and friends without getting married there. ( I assume you mean that you want to getting married legally in your country, right?)

Yes, i wish I could but if that will complicate things then I'll just stick to what is right and legal. Thanks.

Having a party with your family in friends without getting married will not complicate things; as I have previously posted, many people already have such parties. Just don't use words like wedding, husband, wife, etc.

[khoamythovn 1]

I have an approved K1 visa. And will be leaving soon. I wanted to get married here in the Philippines just before I fly to US. This is because I wanted that my family be with me for my wedding. Is this possible?

You can have a wedding as long as the ceremony does not have any legal binding contracts of marriage. In other words, do not sign any papers. You can have a wedding, but you must not get married.

In some cultures, having a wedding does count as marriage with or without papers. You have to be careful of your country's customs and laws.

We did a wedding in September 2010 and K1 visa was approved in March 2011. To this day, we are not married still fiance. My fiance is arriving this month, then we get marriage certificate.