K1 Filed, can we do a wedding ceramony and not register it?

[sumdesi 3]

Hi everyone,

I know this thread is old, but I've just started my K-1 petition process, and I still feel a little confused on the answer to this question. My fiance and I met online through a matrimonial website. We fell in love with each other, and told our parents about it. My family lives in the USA, and her family lives in India. Both families talked on Skype and reached conclusion that both wanted to go forward with the engagement, but first wanted to meet in person. So my mom and I flew to India, met the family, got engaged in a small family function, and then I flew back to USA and filed the K-1 visa. The process may take some time (as we all know ), but my whole family was going to travel to India in November (we made this plan even before I met my fiance). So we decided "why don't we have our wedding ceremony in November itself since we'll all be there anyways." So although the K-1 visa petition has been filed, we are planning on conducting our wedding ceremony in India, BUT NOT REGISTERING IN THE COURTS!

Now my fiance and I aren't experts on what constitutes as a LEGAL marriage in India. We can of course ask court members or lawyers there, but I just thought I would ask people on this forum instead in case someone already found out this information. So sorry for the long lead in.. but my basic question is:

In India, if we have a wedding ceremony with a priest and "ferahs" and all and NOT register in the courts, is this a legal marriage or not? I understand of course that my fiance should not provide any photos or evidence of this ceremony to the consulate because they might consider this as marriage regardless of the legal aspects of it. Just wondering in case they find out somehow, then my fiance should know how to defend herself.

[Ontarkie 13,915]

~~~~thread split from zombie thread~~~~

[skiptex 225]

Wth.

Jus marry her and file cr1

Lying to uscis is not good idea.

And asking for help to commit visa fraud is no bueno either..

So forget k1

[sumdesi 3]

Wth.

Jus marry her and file cr1

Lying to uscis is not good idea.

And asking for help to commit visa fraud is no bueno either..

So forget k1

like I said, we're not going to register in court... how is that visa fraud? even if we conduct the religious ceremony, as long as the government does not takes that as a legal marriage until we register it, then how is it fraud?

However, if the government does consider religious ceremony as a legal marriage, then I understand. that's why I'm asking before we go forward with this plan. so understand what i'm saying before you start telling me i'm going to commit a crime..

Edited May 26, 2013 by sashah2006

[TBoneTX 43,058]

Avoid being defensive, please. There are many other threads on the same subject (available through a search). In short, doing what you propose is so bad an idea that it's perhaps the worst thing that I-129F filers could do, aside from referring to each other as "husband" and "wife" in e-mails that USCIS or the consulate will see.

Edited May 26, 2013 by TBoneTX

[sumdesi 3]

Avoid being defensive, please. There are many other threads on the same subject (available through a search). In short, doing what you propose is so bad an idea that it's perhaps the worst thing that I-129F filers could do, aside from referring to each other as "husband" and "wife" in e-mails that USCIS or the consulate will see.

I did do a search on this topic and posted in another thread but the mod moved my post into a new thread. but if you also go and see, there are people who posted that as long as the marriage wasn't registered into the courts, then technically you weren't married.. just to clarify this point i posted this question..

i guess based on your answer it's not ok to do even if you don't register in the courts.. that's all i wanted to know.. thank you.

[TBoneTX 43,058]

it's not ok to do even if you don't register in the courts.

It can be perilous to do. Get her here on the K-1, do a civil marriage, and plan your magnificent ceremony for both here and in India, at your pleasure and at your leisure. That's what a great many of us have done.

Edited May 26, 2013 by TBoneTX

[sumdesi 3]

i understand.. thanks for the help!

[skiptex 225]

Op.. you said your whole family is going in November. ... so u want get married .. as bone and I said. . Bad idea.. I referred to fraud in ur last sentence where u asked for advice on how to defend herself if y'all get caught... we don't offer advice on how to lie.. all advice here is for legal immigration..

Look.. u want get married in november.. then do it! Great idea.. esp.. since ur whole family will travel there..

U just sent ur file like 2 weeks ago (according to your timeline)..cancel it.. get really married.. file cr1.. to bring over spouse.. why waste ur family's trip over there.. since its what y'all really want to do. .

[sumdesi 3]

Op.. you said your whole family is going in November. ... so u want get married .. as bone and I said. . Bad idea.. I referred to fraud in ur last sentence where u asked for advice on how to defend herself if y'all get caught... we don't offer advice on how to lie.. all advice here is for legal immigration..

Look.. u want get married in november.. then do it! Great idea.. esp.. since ur whole family will travel there..

U just sent ur file like 2 weeks ago (according to your timeline)..cancel it.. get really married.. file cr1.. to bring over spouse.. why waste ur family's trip over there.. since its what y'all really want to do. .

ok i gotcha.. reason i even stated that at the end was because i thought (based on what other people have written in other threads) that as long as we legally aren't married, it's fine to go through a K-1 visa. only thing is that the interviewers were simply giving people hard time even though they knew that legally people who had done a wedding ceremony weren't married.

But i understand your guys perspective as well.. so thanks for the response!

[skiptex 225]

Co are wise from interview experiences and body language.. they will test he/her in interview.. to make sure.. all stated items are true.. I was warned that they will refer to fiance as husband or wife. I told this to my fiance as precaution.. and correct them if they do.. I will be damned.. they did same exact thing several times.. she corrected them every time. .

You want your fiance to be as stress free as possible in interview. . Hence the warnings.

Good luck in what path u take...

[goodlucklife 44]

Bad idea ... Stay honest with you visa... They do extensive background checks... Do you want to take the chance that they deny you visa and you fiancé or husband can't enter the USA... Use you time in India to get to know your family and pan your wedding... Always be honest with your visa!!!!!!

Hi everyone,

I know this thread is old, but I've just started my K-1 petition process, and I still feel a little confused on the answer to this question. My fiance and I met online through a matrimonial website. We fell in love with each other, and told our parents about it. My family lives in the USA, and her family lives in India. Both families talked on Skype and reached conclusion that both wanted to go forward with the engagement, but first wanted to meet in person. So my mom and I flew to India, met the family, got engaged in a small family function, and then I flew back to USA and filed the K-1 visa. The process may take some time (as we all know ), but my whole family was going to travel to India in November (we made this plan even before I met my fiance). So we decided "why don't we have our wedding ceremony in November itself since we'll all be there anyways." So although the K-1 visa petition has been filed, we are planning on conducting our wedding ceremony in India, BUT NOT REGISTERING IN THE COURTS!

Now my fiance and I aren't experts on what constitutes as a LEGAL marriage in India. We can of course ask court members or lawyers there, but I just thought I would ask people on this forum instead in case someone already found out this information. So sorry for the long lead in.. but my basic question is:

In India, if we have a wedding ceremony with a priest and "ferahs" and all and NOT register in the courts, is this a legal marriage or not? I understand of course that my fiance should not provide any photos or evidence of this ceremony to the consulate because they might consider this as marriage regardless of the legal aspects of it. Just wondering in case they find out somehow, then my fiance should know how to defend herself.

[Dave&Roza 748]

If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, then it is a duck. If it is a duck how are you going to explain to the USCIS that you already have a duck when you are not the have a duck until you arrive in the US. Do you really want to play with fire when it is so easy to just wait. Get married in the US, file for audjustment of status (AOS), employment authorization (EAD) and advance parole (AP) and then travel back to India to do another celebration. Why does the one in India have to be first?

Good luck with whatever you decide,

Dave

[dave97232 12]

I think there are two ways of thinking about this which are getting intermixed in this discussion, and cause some confusion.

One the one hand, you would not be legally married. It is just a ceremony. You can make up whatever ceremonies you want, for whatever intentions you want, say a "getting acquainted" ceremony. Since it's not a legal marriage, why should USCIS care? This line of thinking says it's no big deal, not visa fraud, and go for it.

On the other hand, you really don't want to create problems for your interview. A "wedding ceremony" will be a huge red flag, and create a lot of problems for you and your fiancee to explain it.

My fiancee and I thought about a non-legal marriage ceremony and we cancelled that plan because of this. It is just not worth making a big stressful difficulty for her interview. Our celebrations come after she has the visa.

[sumdesi 3]

I think there are two ways of thinking about this which are getting intermixed in this discussion, and cause some confusion.

One the one hand, you would not be legally married. It is just a ceremony. You can make up whatever ceremonies you want, for whatever intentions you want, say a "getting acquainted" ceremony. Since it's not a legal marriage, why should USCIS care? This line of thinking says it's no big deal, not visa fraud, and go for it.

On the other hand, you really don't want to create problems for your interview. A "wedding ceremony" will be a huge red flag, and create a lot of problems for you and your fiancee to explain it.

My fiancee and I thought about a non-legal marriage ceremony and we cancelled that plan because of this. It is just not worth making a big stressful difficulty for her interview. Our celebrations come after she has the visa.

I think you put this perfectly regarding the confusion we had during the beginning of the thread. But yeah, I think I've come to the same conclusion as you..