thinking of changing from K-1 to CR-1... advice?

[rkk1 34]

Hi all,

This is my first post on this forum, which has been invaluable to me in helping my submit and file my K-1 application which I submitted only last week.

My fiance and I were engaged last month (August) after I spent 2.5 months in India... mostly with him. I'm back home now, but I am planning on going back to visit him in November. Actually, we're considering doing a whole lot more than visiting, as he and I were planning to do an 'unofficial' marriage/religious ceremony during my short 1-week trip in late November. I only have one week to go back as I'm a full-time student.

After reading through this site, it seems like getting an unofficial marriage may not be the best idea, as it seems like many people's K-1 visa has gotten declined due to suspected marriage, even if the people never registered the marriage. We didn't think we'd be doing anything wrong, as we were planning to have an official US marriage after he gets here next spring/summer. He simply wanted to have the marriage in India so that his family could be present, as it was important to them to be there. But after digging through this site, we are afraid about having the unofficial Indian wedding, as we don't want to take a risk of getting the K-1 declined. (He and I are both really honest people, so it would be very hard for us to lie to the consulate if they asked us point blank if we were married).

We were thus considering all the options available to us. Although I was blessed to have such a long summer holiday to spend with him, I won't be having anymore such long breaks to visit him anymore for the next several years (as I'm a med student). I'd either only be able to go to India for a week this November for sure, or possibly for a week in the fall of next year, but I don't have anymore breaks to go there and marry him. So our options are quite limited.

Under the circumstances, we are thinking to see if we can go ahead and just get married in November in India (and get it registered), and then as soon as I get back to the US, I could file for a marriage visa for him. This way we could be open about our Indian wedding. It would be lovely if we could use DCF, but I doubt I'd qualify for DCF since I'm only going to be in India for 1 week. Had we gotten married in the summer, I might have been allowed to file for DCF, but I don't think they'll allow me to do so if I just stayed for one week. Thus, I'd probably have to apply for the regular CR-1 or K3 visa after I get back to the US - which would mean another 9 months wait. So he'd probably be able to enter the US in August or September of next year (instead of April/May on the K-1). We hate having to wait longer, but we still will follow this path if it is the best way to get our visa approved. We just need to make sure that India will allow him to marry a foreigner (me) if I'm only coming for a week, as they may possibly have some requirement for a required length of stay in India before a marriage can take place. He will go and try to find out about this issue sometime this week.

Does anyone know if there are any problems/issues with trying to convert the K-1 into a CR-1 (or K3)? Do I simply need to file the CR-1 without doing anything about the previous K-1 that I just submitted, or do I need to write some letters requesting a change?

Any advice about anything written above would be most appreciated. Thank you!!!

[L&F 0]

Yup, I know how u feel. We did the samething because we wanted our families & close friends to be there on our special day of marriage, plus it was waay cheat for the kind of wedding we wanted. To be safe & honest just do the CR-1, but for sure it's gonna be a challenge because you will have to make that sacrifice due to the longer time apart as a married couple. There will be some proceedures you will have to do regarding doing the offical wedding over there, not sure how it goes in India but in Philippines there's a process starting with going to the US embassy, then down to the city hall which we were getting married in, etc. Of course fees & time applied. So it's better you have your fiance getting going on it before you arrive but you will have to appear in person for the US embassy swearing & signing of paperwork which is the first thing you gotta do when you arrive in India. I only stayed 2 weeks & everything(paperworks & wedding stuff) was really tight & nerve racking, 1 week is gonna be tough to do it all.

[Penguin_ie 5,986]

To avoid confusing things, you'd send a letter withdrawing the K1 first, then send the new petition. You';d start from the beginning, paying all the fees etc again.

[bigdog 376]

If you paid for K1 stay the course, do not start over.

[milimelo 4,245]

Since you just mailed the petition last week, put a stop on the check and that will get it returned to you - whole petition. Usually it takes them up to a month to process the payment and issue a NOA-1.

[Deep2009 18]

K1 or K3 visa are go through lot of questioning.

If you are going through CR1 visa and is in Delhi(I think your other will goto Delhi or which ever Consulate he/she will go).

I would recommend this - Go to American Citizen services (take some cash in dollars for notary)

Get "No Objection Certificate of marriage (between US citizen and Indian Citizen)"

Embassy/Consulate know the text, it will be easier for your partner to get visa, it will help big time.

Hi all,

This is my first post on this forum, which has been invaluable to me in helping my submit and file my K-1 application which I submitted only last week.

My fiance and I were engaged last month (August) after I spent 2.5 months in India... mostly with him. I'm back home now, but I am planning on going back to visit him in November. Actually, we're considering doing a whole lot more than visiting, as he and I were planning to do an 'unofficial' marriage/religious ceremony during my short 1-week trip in late November. I only have one week to go back as I'm a full-time student.

After reading through this site, it seems like getting an unofficial marriage may not be the best idea, as it seems like many people's K-1 visa has gotten declined due to suspected marriage, even if the people never registered the marriage. We didn't think we'd be doing anything wrong, as we were planning to have an official US marriage after he gets here next spring/summer. He simply wanted to have the marriage in India so that his family could be present, as it was important to them to be there. But after digging through this site, we are afraid about having the unofficial Indian wedding, as we don't want to take a risk of getting the K-1 declined. (He and I are both really honest people, so it would be very hard for us to lie to the consulate if they asked us point blank if we were married).

We were thus considering all the options available to us. Although I was blessed to have such a long summer holiday to spend with him, I won't be having anymore such long breaks to visit him anymore for the next several years (as I'm a med student). I'd either only be able to go to India for a week this November for sure, or possibly for a week in the fall of next year, but I don't have anymore breaks to go there and marry him. So our options are quite limited.

Under the circumstances, we are thinking to see if we can go ahead and just get married in November in India (and get it registered), and then as soon as I get back to the US, I could file for a marriage visa for him. This way we could be open about our Indian wedding. It would be lovely if we could use DCF, but I doubt I'd qualify for DCF since I'm only going to be in India for 1 week. Had we gotten married in the summer, I might have been allowed to file for DCF, but I don't think they'll allow me to do so if I just stayed for one week. Thus, I'd probably have to apply for the regular CR-1 or K3 visa after I get back to the US - which would mean another 9 months wait. So he'd probably be able to enter the US in August or September of next year (instead of April/May on the K-1). We hate having to wait longer, but we still will follow this path if it is the best way to get our visa approved. We just need to make sure that India will allow him to marry a foreigner (me) if I'm only coming for a week, as they may possibly have some requirement for a required length of stay in India before a marriage can take place. He will go and try to find out about this issue sometime this week.

Does anyone know if there are any problems/issues with trying to convert the K-1 into a CR-1 (or K3)? Do I simply need to file the CR-1 without doing anything about the previous K-1 that I just submitted, or do I need to write some letters requesting a change?

Any advice about anything written above would be most appreciated. Thank you!!!

[Deep2009 18]

K1 or K3 visa always go through lot of questioning.

If you are going through CR1 visa and is in Delhi(I think your other will go to Delhi or which ever Consulate he/she will go).

I would recommend this - Go to American Citizen services (take some cash in dollars for notary)

Get "No Objection Certificate of marriage (between US citizen and Indian Citizen)"

Embassy/Consulate know the text, it will be easier for your partner to get visa, it will help big time.

[Bryan and Isabel 29]

Go for it, i was in the same situation a couple of weeks ago. Was going for the CR-1 , but after seeing the whole process and preparation was going to take some time we both decided to go for the k-1 and let me tell you, its still a lot of work but much easier and faster than the cr-1.

Bryan

shoot me a message if you need some more insight.

[Bec_Dipu 103]

If you're not both Hindu, you'll need to look up the rules that apply to your situation under the special marriage act. I think you have to apply 30 days before the wedding in India and you both have to be there to apply. I've read that some places will be a little more lenient but you should definitely do some research on what exactly is entailed in marrying in India and getting it registered legally.

Good luck!

[rkk1 34]

Wow! Thank you all so much for the very helpful responses! I'm totally grateful. I have some follow up questions/comments to some of your responses below...

Yup, I know how u feel. We did the samething because we wanted our families & close friends to be there on our special day of marriage, plus it was waay cheat for the kind of wedding we wanted. To be safe & honest just do the CR-1, but for sure it's gonna be a challenge because you will have to make that sacrifice due to the longer time apart as a married couple. There will be some proceedures you will have to do regarding doing the offical wedding over there, not sure how it goes in India but in Philippines there's a process starting with going to the US embassy, then down to the city hall which we were getting married in, etc. Of course fees & time applied. So it's better you have your fiance getting going on it before you arrive but you will have to appear in person for the US embassy swearing & signing of paperwork which is the first thing you gotta do when you arrive in India. I only stayed 2 weeks & everything(paperworks & wedding stuff) was really tight & nerve racking, 1 week is gonna be tough to do it all.

@L&F, can you please tell me more about what needs to be done after entering India and right before and after the wedding? I know of nothing that I would need to do, so I'd be most grateful for your advice (or anyone else's on this forum as well) telling me what steps I need to do. I had actually just posted a thread on this topic here in the CR-1 forum: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/328166-what-to-do-immediately-pre-post-marriage/ Thanks a million!

To avoid confusing things, you'd send a letter withdrawing the K1 first, then send the new petition. You';d start from the beginning, paying all the fees etc again.

@Penguin, I was hoping that the CR-1/K-3 visa might be expedited if the consulate knew that I had already filed a K-1. I had once read this somewhere about K-3, that they try to expedite it if you already had submitted the K-1. I don't know if this is true or just rumor. If our process would be expedited by having already applied, then I'd just leave the K-1 as is. But if there is no benefit at all, then I'd probably just put a stop-check to see if I couldn't recover the $340.

If you paid for K1 stay the course, do not start over.

@Bigdog, I hear you. I am very tempted to just have the Indian wedding, not register it, and not say anything about it. But the idea of starting my marriage out with a lie doesn't sit well with me. It just seems like bad karma, which is not what I want on my marriage, the most important relationship of my life. I'm feeling really torn on this.

K1 or K3 visa are go through lot of questioning.

If you are going through CR1 visa and is in Delhi(I think your other will goto Delhi or which ever Consulate he/she will go).

I would recommend this - Go to American Citizen services (take some cash in dollars for notary)

Get "No Objection Certificate of marriage (between US citizen and Indian Citizen)"

Embassy/Consulate know the text, it will be easier for your partner to get visa, it will help big time.

@Deep, Thank you. This is really useful info and I'd really like to know more about this. So I can obtain this 'No objection' certificate in India itself? Or do I need to also take some proof with me from the US that I'm not married in order to get this 'No objection' certificate from the Delhi consulate? I have no idea how to prove that I'm not married.

If you're not both Hindu, you'll need to look up the rules that apply to your situation under the special marriage act. I think you have to apply 30 days before the wedding in India and you both have to be there to apply. I've read that some places will be a little more lenient but you should definitely do some research on what exactly is entailed in marrying in India and getting it registered legally.

Good luck!

@Bec, thanks! Although I'm an American, I'm of Indian origin and my name is Indian/Hindu. So I don't know if that's enough proof to have a Hindu marriage. I don't have any other documentary proof of being Hindu, and I wouldn't know where to get it. We don't know if we would need to get married under the Hindu Marriage Act or Special Marriage Act. But it seems like the Hindu Marriage Act might be easier as it seems like the SMA has additional requirements. We'll also have a traditional Indian marriage with the walk around the fire, so I think that might be enough... I really don't know enough about this, nor do I know who to address my questions to. I had previously written to the Delhi consulate in India and didn't get any response to my questions.

Thanks again everyone!