church wedding

[Jim&Julie 0]

Hi all! If your filling for a fiancee visa can the petitioner & beneficiary marry through a church wedding ceremony in the philippines before they leave for US when the visa is approve? and upon arriving in the US they will marry through a civil ceremony. Any thoughts?

[kate&javi 26]

Getting married before arriving in the US will void the visa. The point of the K1 visa is to get married IN the US.

[Thomas&Cleofe 358]

Absoulutely not. If you get married in the Philippines you must start a new petition and apply for the CR-1 visa.

[cdneh 3,112]

Hi all! If your filling for a fiancee visa can the petitioner & beneficiary marry through a church wedding ceremony in the philippines before they leave for US when the visa is approve? and upon arriving in the US they will marry through a civil ceremony. Any thoughts?

No. You would have to start over with a Spousal Visa.

[JohnR! 5,495]

Hi all! If your filling for a fiancee visa can the petitioner & beneficiary marry through a church wedding ceremony in the philippines before they leave for US when the visa is approve? and upon arriving in the US they will marry through a civil ceremony. Any thoughts?

Anything which results in a 'marriage' certificate is a no-no. Play it safe with the USCIS. If you wish to have a faith ceremony before you leave, can you get a priest to do a simple private blessing for the soon-to-be-married couple, for a send off? Nothing official in the laws of men but very kosher with the one up above? Just an idea...

[Dave&Roza 748]

Hi all! If your filling for a fiancee visa can the petitioner & beneficiary marry through a church wedding ceremony in the philippines before they leave for US when the visa is approve? and upon arriving in the US they will marry through a civil ceremony. Any thoughts?

Nyet!

Nine!

NO!

My question to you would be, "What part of Fiancee do you not understand?" If you read the requirements of the fiancee visa it states, and they remind you over and over and over, that you have 90 days to get married AFTER the beneficiary enters the US. To get married before would required the beneficiary to enter on a spousal visa which is another long and expensive process. If you wanted to get married in teh PI before the beneficiary enters the US, you should have applied for a spousal visa.

The only possibility for that to work is to make absolutely certain the "marriage" is no way considered official, legal, or otherwise binding, but the USCIS has decided to say some people are married even though they had an engagement party. I would not risk it, IMHO as you are bound by their rules and any interpertation they make YOU must over come and provide the proof.

Your choice: get married in the PI and start all over with a spousal visa or get married inteh US per the fiancee visa you are already approved for.

Good luck and I wish you well,

Dave

[Thomas&Cleofe 358]

Nyet!

Nine!

NO!

My question to you would be, "What part of Fiancee do you not understand?" If you read the requirements of the fiancee visa it states, and they remind you over and over and over, that you have 90 days to get married AFTER the beneficiary enters the US. To get married before would required the beneficiary to enter on a spousal visa which is another long and expensive process. If you wanted to get married in teh PI before the beneficiary enters the US, you should have applied for a spousal visa.

The only possibility for that to work is to make absolutely certain the "marriage" is no way considered official, legal, or otherwise binding, but the USCIS has decided to say some people are married even though they had an engagement party. I would not risk it, IMHO as you are bound by their rules and any interpertation they make YOU must over come and provide the proof.

Your choice: get married in the PI and start all over with a spousal visa or get married inteh US per the fiancee visa you are already approved for.

Good luck and I wish you well,

Dave

Ok...thank you Dave & Rosa.....no need to make the OP feel shame for asking a question. Thank you for your reply.

[mrsSpitze 9]

schedule the church wedding after you get married in the US.

getting married before you get to the US through an approved K1 visa voids the approval.

[del-2-5-2014 1,340]

Nyet!

Nine!

NO!

My question to you would be, "What part of Fiancee do you not understand?" If you read the requirements of the fiancee visa it states, and they remind you over and over and over, that you have 90 days to get married AFTER the beneficiary enters the US. To get married before would required the beneficiary to enter on a spousal visa which is another long and expensive process. If you wanted to get married in teh PI before the beneficiary enters the US, you should have applied for a spousal visa.

The only possibility for that to work is to make absolutely certain the "marriage" is no way considered official, legal, or otherwise binding, but the USCIS has decided to say some people are married even though they had an engagement party. I would not risk it, IMHO as you are bound by their rules and any interpertation they make YOU must over come and provide the proof.

Your choice: get married in the PI and start all over with a spousal visa or get married inteh US per the fiancee visa you are already approved for.

Good luck and I wish you well,

Dave

[Thomas&Cleofe 358]

Anything which results in a 'marriage' certificate is a no-no. Play it safe with the USCIS. If you wish to have a faith ceremony before you leave, can you get a priest to do a simple private blessing for the soon-to-be-married couple, for a send off? Nothing official in the laws of men but very kosher with the one up above? Just an idea...

I love this idea....I am sure most priests in Pinas would be very proud to give blessing for the couple to have a good fortune in their new travels together.

[thinkerlove0212 158]

Hi all! If your filling for a fiancee visa can the petitioner & beneficiary marry through a church wedding ceremony in the philippines before they leave for US when the visa is approve? and upon arriving in the US they will marry through a civil ceremony. Any thoughts?

Don't do that, you will be facing a long process.. if ever..

[thinkerlove0212 158]

Hi all! If your filling for a fiancee visa can the petitioner & beneficiary marry through a church wedding ceremony in the philippines before they leave for US when the visa is approve? and upon arriving in the US they will marry through a civil ceremony. Any thoughts?

you can have just a blessing with priest, we do that too in-front to our friends, family and relatives.. just like a blessing for the both of us, since we file the K1 visa.

[bigdog 377]

Just follow the rules and guides. Easy.

[AngelAndJoy 22]

As everyone has mentioned, you cannot be married before getting married in the USA for her K1.

I plan on getting married first in a civil process here in the USA, and then two years later (she cannot leave US soil for that long unless you have an emergency visa), we will head to Bohol and get married by Church. Two years would be enough time for us to save for a very big beautiful wedding.

Most important things is get her here in the USA first so you would not be dependent anymore on a bureucrat's stamp of approval for her to be with you. This what I hate most about this entire process. ONE BUREUCRAT can deny you your future with your wife. The POWER these unelected people have. Unbelievable.

Hi all! If your filling for a fiancee visa can the petitioner & beneficiary marry through a church wedding ceremony in the philippines before they leave for US when the visa is approve? and upon arriving in the US they will marry through a civil ceremony. Any thoughts?

[MarcusC 0]

My fiancé and I also had planned to do a private blessing with a priest before she comes to the US. However after talking to two lawyers and much research, the USCIS condisers any blessing of sorts with a ordained priest or minister present a valid marriage regardless if you sign any legal papers or not.

Obvs the lawyers and research could be wrong but we decided not risk it.