Planning Wedding Before K1 approval

[coolrain82 0]

Hi everyone,

My soon to be be fiance and I are thinking of getting married on 12/13/14. I will start the application after feb 14 (the day or proposal I know we talk about the wedding even before the proposal). I know I am risking some money in case it did not get approved but we really wanted a church wedding and it will take at least 6 months of preparation as per catholic parish. I have heard that k1 applicaton is about 5-6 months so it could work out.

Aside from money is it a good idea? Will it send out red lags that we are planning wedding before the approval?

[KayDeeCee 4,902]

It is not a red flag to plan a wedding before an approval. It has nothing to do with getting the visa itself. Lots of people make tentative wedding plans and sometimes people are even asked about their plans at the K-1 interview.

The problem with making definitive plans is that you never know what could happen with your immigration process and if you are not approved in time for you to be in the US for your planned wedding date, then you have lost a lot of money. Also, any guests that made plans to attend might lose out too. It can be a big, depressing mess. This is why it is always advised to have the visa in hand before solid plans are set in stone.

[longtruelove 11]

I have a question how did you get your catholic parish to agree? My pastor said we had to do 9 months of preparation before we could get married by the church. So we will have to get married by civil court then do the 9 months prep only after he arrives.

[coolrain82 0]

I haven't but the information i have is 6 months not 9. If that is the case then we really have to do civil.

[coolrain82 0]

Will doing this help withthe immigration approval since there is a planned wedding already???

[kitthekat 1,317]

Will doing this help withthe immigration approval since there is a planned wedding already???

No, because then everyone would plan a wedding just for the sake of approvals.

[Rose&Jorge 8]

Hey

We done the same thing.We booked our wedding before visa approval . Our wedding is booked for 2nd of May 2014.

We applied for the i-129f end of july and got approved end of nov. so in total around 4 months. which was great as I was worried also that it wouldnt be approved in time.

It really depends on how well you put everything together. to make sure no RFE

also what country you are from and where the application is sent - California nvc seems to be faster than the rest/

I have seen people not get there k1 visa approved for almost 12 months and then other people like me in 4 months.

Some countries are faster than others as have fewier applications.

It is not a red flag also you do not need to mention that you already have your wedding booked.

I would advise you to look at the immigration timelines for your country in 2013.

Do not restrict yourself to applying for visa and having only 6 months before the wedding.

I set the wedding for about 10 months after applying for the visa

Edited January 28, 2014 by RoeDeVinna

[a&y 1]

_Hello,

_{We have ourselves started the K1 process (dealing with RFE now, not fun but hopefully approval should not be far away). We have already made some plans for the wedding (scheduled for end of October). I have just made sure in the various contracts with vendors that I can postpone if I anticipate some delays. We may lose a bit of money if we have to postpone but we wanted to have something planned already (and it is more exciting that the immigration papers!). Also for my family I have told them not to book the plane tickets until I have clear visibility on the visa.}

_{Already working on wedding plans can actually be a good additional evidence in your K1 petition that you intend to marry. We included the emails from our wedding planner as well as the contract.}

_{Good luck!}

_Anne

[baron555 934]

Hi everyone,

My soon to be be fiance and I are thinking of getting married on 12/13/14. I will start the application after feb 14 (the day or proposal I know we talk about the wedding even before the proposal). I know I am risking some money in case it did not get approved but we really wanted a church wedding and it will take at least 6 months of preparation as per catholic parish. I have heard that k1 applicaton is about 5-6 months so it could work out.

It could work.

Aside from money is it a good idea?

No

Will it send out red lags that we are planning wedding before the approval?

It could, depends on everything else. If you want to marry her so bad, then do it in her country and then file for a CR-1.

International relationships and immigration to the US requires couple to conduct their lives a little out of the norm. Many family and friends don't understand the need and requirements and sometimes the couples also.

[bettypentiér44 12]

I would personally say that, unless what you plan is refundable, don't book anything. Every case is different and you have no idea how long the process is going to take. My fiancé and I filed in March last year and I got my visa in November. My fiancé knows someone who has been waiting over a year to be approved and hasn't even gotten to the medical stage yet. Others have had it approved in a few months. It's difficult and frustrating if you want to plan something, but this process is so unpredictable that you could stand to lose a lot of money if you book and then by that time you still don't have the visa.

Obviously it's your choice, but that's my advice.

[DaPoets 1]

We didn't have any wedding plans set in stone but we did have a very nice engagement party which probably in their eyes pulls more weight due to it being a very public announcement of our intent to marry. We included pictures from the event in our package and didn't have any hang ups at all getting our K-1 approved.