Marriage ceremony in US, without legal paperwork filed

[Shauneg 763]

Regardless, what this OP is suggesting is on shady ground and to me .... lying. They got married. Did the officiant turn in the marriage license or give it back to you to submit? K1 isn't that much faster. I'd rather not stress and risk a ban. CR1 have alot of advantages, less expensive, green card upon entry etc. And you can visit.

If it isn't turned in so it's registered it's nothing more than just playing around really. Married isn't married until the license is registered. Nothing illegal.

[LionessDeon 2,060]

If it isn't turned in so it's registered it's nothing more than just playing around really. Married isn't married until the license is registered. Nothing illegal.

True. That's why I asked if it had been submitted.

I guess after everything I went through I'd be very hesitant to do anything suspect. Not worth it to me.

[Ebunoluwa 6,136]

If it isn't turned in so it's registered it's nothing more than just playing around really. Married isn't married until the license is registered. Nothing illegal.

I agree. OP does have to get married again and register it for AOS. Meanwhile, a US ceremony only and not registered

can get approved by USCIS.

Keep in mind a CO can use his discretionary authority to refuse to issue the visa due to this ceremony.

[Penguin_ie 6,000]

There is definitely a danger that they will be considered "too married for the K1, but not married enough for the CR-1" with the current set up, and it is not a scenario I would recommend; if the COs are suspicious in any way, and talk to friends and family who say you got married on X date, you will be denied. I would say, as others have alluded to, be careful in terms of calling yourselves husband and wife between now and the legal ceremony, and don't ever put the "first ceremony" as your marriage date on future AOS or naturalisation documents.

However, they have not done anything illegal.

Edited August 15, 2016 by Penguin_ie

[Meg&Andrew 297]

Laugh is you want but this site has actually been mentioned in more than one interview. There are a few members that even admit to working for USCIS.

Funny now that I think of it, I may should watch what I say about the Saudi Embassy being extremely slow, and us still waiting on our interview after 2 and a half months. Not to mention others who submitted their Packet 3 after us have already gotten their interview. I will have nothing to say about the slowness of this Embassy anymore! Haha. Maybe they read my remarks :S I did once have someone message me telling me how he wishes for a woman like me who is committed and trustworthy to their significant other, then proceeded to ask if I have what's app or viber and for my phone number. Which is mainly what me and my fiance' communicate on. Makes me wonder if it was someone sniffing out my relationship with my fiance. It was very fishy!

[Ash.1101 1,756]

There is definitely a danger that they will be considered "too married for the K1, but not married enough for the CR-1" with the current set up, and it is not a scenario I would recommend; if the COs are suspicious in any way, and talk to friends and family who say you got married on X date, you will be denied. I would say, as others have alluded to, be careful in terms of calling yourselves husband and wife between now and the legal ceremony, and don't ever put the "first ceremony" as your marriage date on future AOS or naturalisation documents.

However, they have not done anything illegal.

Agree'd. I would def try to limit terms like wife and married to nothing. If you have pictures of the marriage ceremony, I wouldn't include them. If the CO has even an INKLING that you're married, with or without proof they can use their discretion and deny on the basis you're already married, which will then cause issues when they tell you you're path is through CR-1 which you can't do because you're not married enough.

[USC1961 251]

There is definitely a danger that they will be considered "too married for the K1, but not married enough for the CR-1" with the current set up, and it is not a scenario I would recommend; if the COs are suspicious in any way, and talk to friends and family who say you got married on X date, you will be denied. I would say, as others have alluded to, be careful in terms of calling yourselves husband and wife between now and the legal ceremony, and don't ever put the "first ceremony" as your marriage date on future AOS or naturalisation documents.

However, they have not done anything illegal.

Purposely not filing the paperwork after having gone through a marriage ceremony, with the implicit intent of making other visa options available that otherwise legally are not available to you, sure sounds illegal to me. If at the very least very unethical. And as another poster stated, this is lying.

To the OP: If it's not to late, file the paperwork and do this the right way. Why take the risk of opening Pandora's box? It's your fault for not researching this properly before getting married.

[Shauneg 763]

For what it's worth...

451.130 Penalty for failure to issue, record or return license

1. If any recorder willfully neglect or refuse to issue a license to any person legally entitled thereto on application, on payment or tender of the fee provided for in section 451.150, or shall fail to refuse to record such license, with the return thereon, as herein provided, he shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be fined in any sum not less than five nor more than one hundred dollars.

2. Every officer or person who shall fail to return a license within fifteen days after the issuing of the same, or who shall make a false return thereon, or any recorder who shall willfully make a false record of any marriage license or return thereon, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall be punished as provided in the preceding part of this section.

[Cathi 5,849]

why put your future at risk just to get her a here a few months sooner? Never EVER lie to immigration under any circumstances. I'm going to give you a GREAT example of the consulate knowing specific things about me that I never EVER told them, so I know for a fact that they do their homework:

When my husband had his interview 4 years ago in Amman, I went with him. The CO interviewed him, then asked me up and asked me a few questions. One of those questions was "Why does your ex husband still receive mail at your home?". the CO was correct and I told him the TRUTH, my ex did still have one particular bill still sent to my home. it was Comcast, and the reason it was still delivered to my home is because my ex used to work for Comcast and he got cable/internet free(it was one of the benefits for employees) and when he moved out he moved into an area where Comcast wasn't available so being the good guy he is, he just left it so i wouldn't have an expensive bill to pay(I had a very amicable divorce).

Now I ask you..how on EARTH would the CO in Amman, 8000 miles away from my home in NH have any idea my ex was still having mail delivered to my home? There is only one way, they absolutely 100% do their homework. So if you think for one moment that you are going to get away with filing for a K-1 when you;re actually married, you're just kidding yourself.

[Shauneg 763]

I take back everything I said...it's illegal not to record it. If the license wasn't used then it's still illegal for not turning it back in.

[LionessDeon 2,060]

Yea....sounds like a big unnecessary can of worms. They know she visits. Wouldn't take much effort to see if a marriage license was obtained.

Edited August 15, 2016 by LionessDeon

[Beth & Achraf 328]

Its alarming what USCIS can find out, even thousands of miles away......

[Penguin_ie 6,000]

****** Two off topic, bickering posts removed. stick to answering the Op's question, and stay civil please ******

2. Every officer or person who shall fail to return a license within fifteen days after the issuing of the same, or who shall make a false return thereon, or any recorder who shall willfully make a false record of any marriage license or return thereon, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall be punished as provided in the preceding part of this section.

Hrmm... that DOES make it sound like having the license issued, having the wedding ceremony and then not returning the license/ not telling them the wedding happened may be illegal, in which case the K1 is not an option.

[Unidentified 2,930]

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/234875-is-it-true-cos-read-visa-journey/ There is at least one other mention of such in the Sub Saharan forum

Thank you for the link. When I saw it, it sounded so outrageous that they would monitor the forum since it's a pretty big forum and even the moderators struggle to monitor this place sometimes. I didn't think they would have time to do that.

I learned something new today, thank you

[Shauneg 763]

****** Two off topic, bickering posts removed. stick to answering the Op's question, and stay civil please ******

Hrmm... that DOES make it sound like having the license issued, having the wedding ceremony and then not returning the license/ not telling them the wedding happened may be illegal, in which case the K1 is not an option.

I didn't post another section, but you must also return unused licenses at the 30 day mark if unused....all licenses are supposed to be turned used or not. They seek out the officiant and track down licenses that aren't turned in. Interesting stuff.