Is the wedding allowed before the completion of process

[JimVaPhuong 4,864]

You might have a hard time finding a priest or pastor willing to complete a marriage ceremony if the understanding is that the ceremony is not supposed to be legal. There are a variety of circumstances where completing the marriage ceremony, and repeating the vows required under the law, would make you legally married even without a marriage license (married after cohabiting for more than five years, etc), and I could easily see a priest or pastor not being willing to take that chance. It may even be a violation of the law for someone who is registered to solemnize a marriage to complete a marriage ceremony without first requiring you to produce a marriage license. It appears this may be the case in Ontario, from what I can make of the Marriage Act of 1990. I don't know about the other provinces. You might have a better chance of getting a priest or pastor to go along if you don't use the legally required vows as part of your ceremony, and the priest or pastor never proclaims "I now pronounce you...".

Better yet, get legally married in the US after you get your K1 visa. It can usually be done within a matter of days at your local country clerks office. Complete the AOS process and get your green card. After that, plan a big ceremony in Canada to renew your vows. From what I can gather, a renewal of vows ceremony can be identical to a wedding in Canada and no license is required.

[brad836 0]

My wife and I had a religious matrimony and wedding party pre visa, then legal marriage, and another wedding party here in the states post visa. If you just are having a religious ceremony, and you are not getting married legally, legally as is in the eyes of the foreign government, I don't think it's a problem for K1. It would be a real problem though if you were denied the K1 for some reason. It's a risk, but so is anything worth pursuing in life.

Good luck and congrats

Edited June 11, 2011 by brad836

[brad836 0]

I wanted to add, if you are having a religious ceremony before visa and not registering it, that you make sure you are not violating any local laws by doing so.