Putting a deposit on the venue?

[angey_blueskies 2]

I live in Surrey, BC Canada and my fiancee lives near Bellingham, WA. We are starting the K-1 process and will be couriering our I-129F application to Texas this next week, likely getting it in the mail on September 8, 2015. I presume our application would go to the CPC, which currently is showing a 5 month processing time.

I realize everyone says not to start planning for wedding dates or securing venues until you have the visa in your hand, which is certainly smart advice. That said, I am tempted to put a deposit on our favorite venue and try for a Saturday date in May 2016.

The venue we want our reception at charges only $25 for date change, which I think is more than affordable.

If we have to change the date due to a lag in the visa process, it may mean we don't get a Saturday date but they do have a variety of other weekday/Sunday dates available.

Should I put a deposit to hold a potential May Saturday date and then pay the $25 fee if I need to change dates due to the visa process? OR should I wait until I get to a particular point in the visa process and risk not having a Saturday date? What would you do?

[beccajayne93 17]

Hey!

My interview is this Friday so I can't tell you how things have worked out for me yet, but I waited until I could actually book my interview date before I gave my venue, photographer, and hair/makeup stylists a deposit, and even then I asked each vendor to have a stipulation in the contract that would allow me to change my date free of charge if I give enough notice (say a month). I will NOT let my sister book her flight or my parents/friends book hotels until I have my visa in hand (due to these charges being non-refundable and bearing the risk on someone other than myself).

You're right, almost all of the advice here strictly state that NOTHING should be booked until the visa is in hand, because literally anything can happen. For example, a fellow April filer (shout out to Rush Hour, stay strong!) is STILL waiting for his NOA2 from CSC, meanwhile others from April have their visa and are in the USA. For myself and another few Canadian filers, we are all relatively the same in terms of processing times and right now we stand at 4-5 months from NOA1 to interview. Just remember that some time frames are completely relative to each case, based on: the time to receive NOA2 (especially if you get an RFE), interview dates available at the consulate, and the amount of time after the interview to receive the visa! Each of these will create varying differences in your timeline compared to others, however I think May is a reasonable month to plan for if your case is uncomplicated.

You may want to book the venue now but you still have to consider other vendors for your wedding and their availability. You definitely should not book those now and the ones you want to pair with your venue may not be available anymore when the time comes to book them.

The insignificance of the $25 is tempting for me to tell you that booking now won't be a huge deal, but you still have a deposit to pay as well. What if you find another venue? What if you decide to have a huge wedding later and begin with a civil ceremony? I'll tell you now that working on this visa AND making wedding plans is not an easy feat, and if I had to do it all over again I'd seriously consider eloping because my stress levels are so high.

I really really really want to tell you to go ahead and book it because it just seems so easy to change the date and it sounds like it is what you really want, but since you haven't even filed your petition yet, my gut instinct is to tell you to wait. The visa process is just SO unpredictable, unfortunately Whatever you decide, I'm sure it will work out well in the end!

Good luck on your visa journey!!!

[Anthony and Becky 6]

I'd say that's cutting it close. Even if TSC is showing a 5 month processing time, you'll still have to deal with the NVC delay, then the delay with the consulate to book your interview, another delay in getting the actual visa in hand, and account for any potential RFE delays.

We filed in December of 2014, I'm hoping to enter in October, but more likely in November.

[TBoneTX 45,962]

*** Thread moved from K-1 Process forum to the Moving to the US forum -- topic involves that phase. ***

[Unidentified 2,930]

I live in Surrey, BC Canada and my fiancee lives near Bellingham, WA. We are starting the K-1 process and will be couriering our I-129F application to Texas this next week, likely getting it in the mail on September 8, 2015. I presume our application would go to the CPC, which currently is showing a 5 month processing time.

I realize everyone says not to start planning for wedding dates or securing venues until you have the visa in your hand, which is certainly smart advice. That said, I am tempted to put a deposit on our favorite venue and try for a Saturday date in May 2016.

The venue we want our reception at charges only $25 for date change, which I think is more than affordable.

If we have to change the date due to a lag in the visa process, it may mean we don't get a Saturday date but they do have a variety of other weekday/Sunday dates available.

Should I put a deposit to hold a potential May Saturday date and then pay the $25 fee if I need to change dates due to the visa process? OR should I wait until I get to a particular point in the visa process and risk not having a Saturday date? What would you do?

It's recommended that you don't make any plans, don't book anything until you have your visa in hand. You never know for sure when you'll get your visa. National average is 5 months, ours took 8 months. It's up to you but be careful.

[Udella&Wiz 325]

Take a hard look at other Canadian VJer deadlines for K1's in the Canadian Forum, this should give you an excellent idea of what to expect - APPROXIMATELY.

Your case, no matter how straight forward you think it is can hit snags, get RFE's along the way that you don't expect. If you weren't born in Canada, expect a delay.

Personally I would book what you want since the change fee is only $25 - that is very reasonable. I personally started asking family/friends to 'save the date' once I knew when my interview was since at that point I was fairly sure everything would go smoothly. But there was always a chance I might have had to wait for my passport and VISA processing, you never know.