Only three months to plan a wedding??

[seabroax 0]

Our Fiance visa has been approved and we will soon be going in for the interview process. We want to plan our wedding together in the US but there is no way in hell we could do it in three months.

What constitutes a "marriage" in order to apply for a change of status to become a permanent resident?

We want to have more time together to plan our ceremony... I mean typically planning for a wedding take 6 months or more... so... help please!

[payxibka 10,045]

any marriage that is legal and registered with your county or state.

FWIW, we planned our wedding in less than a week...

Edited May 4, 2011 by payxibka

[seabroax 0]

I guess what I am trying to ask is:

Does a "marriage" constitute simply as registering with your state?

...Or actually going through the entire marriage ceremony, e.g. both families present, with a reception, kissing, dancing, music, so on and so forth?

[DebWa 26]

You can always go to the courthouse and get married shortly after POE, then plan a vow renewal ceremony a couple months or even years down the road.

[seabroax 0]

I just want to know the following:

What constitutes a marriage to adjust the status of my foreign fiance?

A. Registering our marriage with the state

or

B. Actually having a ceremony, exchanging vowels, etc.

We just want to adjust her status so we can have more time together to plan for the wedding. A week, hell even three months is not long enough to plan a wedding together. We've been a couple for a long time, so we want it to be a special memory...not a hurried, courthouse marriage memory.

[Travis and Meghan 24]

technically, you would have about nine months to plan for it. you actually have six months to use the the visa and the ninety days only starts at your point of entry. so i guess if you wanted longer to plan it you could

[seabroax 0]

As I said before, we want to plan it together. We do not want to plan our wedding separate from one another, meaning we don't want to plan the wedding in separate countries from one another.

Is there someone that can just answer my question?

All of the responses are much appreciated, but I need someone who can give me a definitive answer...

[Anh map 2,098]

A courthouse marriage would satisfy the requirement. Then plan your wedding party for a more convenient time.

That's what we did. The party can include exchanging vows or whatever you want.

Edited May 4, 2011 by Anh map

[VanessaTony 3,567]

I just want to know the following:

What constitutes a marriage to adjust the status of my foreign fiance?

A. Registering our marriage with the state

or

B. Actually having a ceremony, exchanging vowels, etc.

We just want to adjust her status so we can have more time together to plan for the wedding. A week, hell even three months is not long enough to plan a wedding together. We've been a couple for a long time, so we want it to be a special memory...not a hurried, courthouse marriage memory.

1. it's VOWS not vowels.

2. A LEGAL marriage. They don't care if you do it in a court house, or if you have the full she-bang but it needs to be legal and you need to include the marriage certificate in the package for AOS (a copy of it at least).

As someone else said you have nine months to plan the wedding really, even long to organise the basics (such as dress and tuxes and what not) that you can start thinking about before getting the visa.

Some people do the court house wedding to deal with the legalities, and then have a full ceremony later. I personally organised my wedding while waiting for the visa. Once it was approved we booked the reception place (having talked to them first and being able to book and approximate date without losing money). I arrived Sept 12th and we married Nov 7th. I bought my dress in Australia and brought it over in my on-board luggage. Everything else was easy to organise online and with the help of Tony's family. Then 2 weeks before the wedding I stayed with his parents (wedding in Iowa, but we lived in Houston) to organise the last little bits and pieces and pay people.

[joevegas 67]

You need a legal marriage within 3 months of entering the United States,you can decide if you want a small courthouse wedding or the whole shebang,but you have to be married with a legal marriage certificate,then you can apply for AOS...try the Vegas route,we did..It was great

[Steph1988 11]

You are kinda in a situation where you dont have much time! Either speed up the wedding planning, or do a simple court house wedding, and then later do a the whole shabang and re new your vows. That what me and my hubby are doing when he gets over here on his CR-1 we couldnt afford a wedding when we got married, so we are gonig to save up, plan and do a nice simple little wedding and renew our vows i also know a couple that couldnt afford a wedding, so did a court house thing, and later went all out on a nice wedding. People do it all the time! just be greatful that your other half is one step closer to getting back to you soon, worry about all the matrial stuff someother time. the most important thing is to get his immigration stuff out of the way and have the rest of your days together! good luck

[TBoneTX 45,498]

do the court house wedding to deal with the legalities, and then have a full ceremony later.

This is the path to follow, si man, if you want to adjust status as soon as possible. As a tip: When you're married (say, by a Justice of the Peace), ask if you can hand-carry the signed marriage license to the county courthouse yourself. We did this, and on the same day as the marriage, we were able to get 7 copies of our marriage certificate while we waited. (The clerkette had never had anyone ask for so many, but she produced them in good humor.) We used copies for the mothers-in-law (souvenirs), AOS, the bank, something else, and our files, and we lost one. You can never go wrong in ordering more than one copy of official documents like that, no man -- and your foreign beneficiary should keep this in mind before leaving the home country, si man.

Edited to add: Please create your VJ timeline so that others can see your situation at a glance.

Edited May 4, 2011 by TBoneTX

[HappyInHawaii 6]

Aloha, Since we have family in Phil, Hawaii, West coast and Midwest. Our plan is to take our time, have a courthouse wedding on a convenient day within the 90 day K1 to take care the legal aspect. Then have a simple ceremony here in Hawaii.

Then as time and money permits, we will have more ceremonies (and honeymoons) with my west coast and Midwest families. And of-course a big one back in Bohol when we visit again (I plan bring all my immediate family along as well).

That is our current plan anyways. We just started so plans may change. Thats my Peso.... Peace.......Happy

[HappyInHawaii 6]

Aloha, Since we have family in Phil, Hawaii, West coast and Midwest. Our plan is to take our time, have a courthouse wedding on a convenient day within the 90 day K1 to take care the legal aspect. Then have a simple ceremony here in Hawaii.

Then as time and money permits, we will have more ceremonies (and honeymoons) with my west coast and Midwest families. And of-course a big one back in Bohol when we visit again (I plan bring all my immediate family along as well).

That is our current plan anyways. We just started so plans may change. Thats my Peso.... Peace.......Happy

I made an error on my post. Sorry Ehh

"court house wedding" - get a marriage licence at the courthouse

Edited May 4, 2011 by HappyInHawaii

[Aztec&Taino 144]

As I said before, we want to plan it together. We do not want to plan our wedding separate from one another, meaning we don't want to plan the wedding in separate countries from one another.

Is there someone that can just answer my question?

All of the responses are much appreciated, but I need someone who can give me a definitive answer...

You already know the definite answer. You just don't like it and you're trying to shop around for an answer you will like. You know that once you enter the US using the K1 visa you have up to 90 days to get married. The marriage needs to be legal; you and your fiance need to go to the city's courthouse and obtain a marriage license. They can marry you right there and then, you can schedule a date to get married by a judge, or another person (religiously affiliated and with the appropriate license permit) can marry you.

You may choose to get legally married before the 90 days are up and have your wedding party at a later date, once you have had the time you think you need to plan such event.