K-1 Visa Wedding Ceremony

[MorningStar7 0]

Hello everyone,

 

I am new to this site, just want to say thank you to whoever created because it is very informative.
I had a bit of a concern regarding wedding ceremonies held while waiting for the K-1 Visa. It seems like there is a huge risk in doing this because the people at the consulate can think you are married already. Some people said that it worked for them, and I was just wondering about anyone who had that success if they could share more details as to which time period in their visa application they did their ceremony because it seems to me it only works after a certain decision has been taken. Also, does the ceremony being in a third world country influence their decision? I read some success stories from people from Western Europe and less so from people in Asia and Africa. There just seems to be no clear boundary given by the USCIS as to what a ceremony could entail in regards to being a marriage or not. At an end, it just seems that the USCIS is the one deciding whether you are married or not, instead of any other legal documentation; which is fair enough since they are the ones with the power but it feels that it ends up being a game of appearances and not certainties.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

[Mollie09 1,543]

Simple: don't have any type of ceremony that can be misconstrued as a wedding. We saw a denial for something like that a couple of weeks ago from Australia.

Not worth it.

Edited July 17, 2017 by Mollie09

[Dutchster 1,106]

You will be considered too married for a K-1 fiancee visa and not married enough for the CR-1 spousal visa. 

I wouldn't recommend taking the risk. As above, there was a couple from Australia some weeks ago that got denied for having a ceremony. 
 

 

[Ben&Zian 4,397]

Like above, it is recommended not to do any sort of ceremony that could be seen or deemed as a wedding. Many many many stories of denials here on VJ about it.

[Habibati & Habibi 21]

we had engagement party and on the cake was written happy engagement party, we dress nice and beautifully. we are not yet for the interview ill the embassy see this as a king of marriage?

I think the best way is to not have any wedding ceremony. this wil be the best option since K1 visa is for fiance to join his fiance to get married.

 

[b6543 25]

For K1 cannot be already married or have wedding party.

 

I can suggest instead to have engagement ceremony.  Engagement ceremony and party is also very useful in getting K1 visa during interview. Photos from engagement strengthen your K1 application. 

[Greenbaum 12,258]

First recommendation is NEVER NEVER NEVER LIE.  If caught, keep in mind that these (CO) are WELL trained interviewers and they can uncover most things, you will be denied and banned for many years. It's not worth it.

 

Second recommendation is very important you do NOT call your loved one a spouse/ wife/ wifey etc and not refer to a wedding or any ceremony when you are going for a K1 visa, because you will be denied if the CO believes that you maybe married. You don't get a chance to debunk anything the CO believes. 

 

Third recommendation is don't show any pictures of any ceremony, party or wedding.  Leave any pictures that can look like something is a miss.  Just do pictures with friends and family but not gatherings of any sort.

 

People have been denied from innocent pictures. I hope you understand this and you will head the warnings that you have been given by the responders here.

[Greenbaum 12,258]

On 7/18/2017 at 0:34 AM, b6543 said:

For K1 cannot be already married or have wedding party.

 

I can suggest instead to have engagement ceremony.  Engagement ceremony and party is also very useful in getting K1 visa during interview. Photos from engagement strengthen your K1 application. 

NO NO NO.  We have seen others that have had an innocent engagement ceremony and have been denied. Don't give any reason to the CO about any gathering, ceremony, party - Nada, zilch, nothing, No.

 

Here are some examples of what can go wrong. There are so many like this. I found lots just by using the search engine here in VJ.

 

 

Edited July 19, 2017 by Greenbaum

[danie82 4]

so I have a question to this.  What if, because they said they needed proof such as wedding arrangements, we put a deposit down for a venue and all.  Stupid decision I am finding out.   If it doesn't get approved before then, what are our options as we really wanted to get married at this place on this date?  I think it will be done before December, I hope.  But if not what could our options be?  There was a thread sticky that said no to getting married while on the fiancee visa.  Could he still come to the US and get married, but just stop the VISA and go the other route?  Or just go up to Canada and get married and then do it that way?  Or will these hurt his chances of coming in to the USA?

[Greenbaum 12,258]

42 minutes ago, danie82 said:

so I have a question to this.  What if, because they said they needed proof such as wedding arrangements, we put a deposit down for a venue and all.  Stupid decision I am finding out.   If it doesn't get approved before then, what are our options as we really wanted to get married at this place on this date?  I think it will be done before December, I hope.  But if not what could our options be?  There was a thread sticky that said no to getting married while on the fiancee visa.  Could he still come to the US and get married, but just stop the VISA and go the other route?  Or just go up to Canada and get married and then do it that way?  Or will these hurt his chances of coming in to the USA?

The CO is not going to ask for or require wedding arrangement details from your fiancee to get a K1 visa.  If you are on a K1 visa route then the requirements are that you marry within the first 90 days of arrival to the states. Simple. You can't marry prior to leaving your country on a K1 visa or you void the visa and must start a new visa as a CR1 or you are committing visa fraud and you will be denied or for that matter forever the opportunity to apply for another visa.

[khmer@nike 0]

3 hours ago, Greenbaum said:

The CO is not going to ask for or require wedding arrangement details from your fiancee to get a K1 visa.  If you are on a K1 visa route then the requirements are that you marry within the first 90 days of arrival to the states. Simple. You can't marry prior to leaving your country on a K1 visa or you void the visa and must start a new visa as a CR1 or you are committing visa fraud and you will be denied or for that matter forever the opportunity to apply for another visa.

Wow, thank you very much. i'm glad i read these thread.

i'm a us citizen.  went to cambodia got engaged at end of june 2017.  now we plan to get marry in November 2017.

so i better not get married if i file for k1 visa.

one question that i have is if we my fiance issued k1 visa can we set up wedding date in Cambodia in a few months ?

 

Edited July 27, 2017 by khmer@nike

[TamaraN 72]

On 7/19/2017 at 2:37 PM, Greenbaum said:

First recommendation is NEVER NEVER NEVER LIE.  If caught, keep in mind that these (CO) are WELL trained interviewers and they can uncover most things, you will be denied and banned for many years. It's not worth it.

 

Second recommendation is very important you do NOT call your loved one a spouse/ wife/ wifey etc and not refer to a wedding or any ceremony when you are going for a K1 visa, because you will be denied if the CO believes that you maybe married. You don't get a chance to debunk anything the CO believes. 

 

Third recommendation is don't show any pictures of any ceremony, party or wedding.  Leave any pictures that can look like something is a miss.  Just do pictures with friends and family but not gatherings of any sort.

 

People have been denied from innocent pictures. I hope you understand this and you will head the warnings that you have been given by the responders here.

I am new to this website, and just found this thread. My fiancé and I had an engagment party with his family. We dressed up in traditional clothing, danced, and celebrated with his family. The cake said congratulations on your engagement.  We included photos from the party in our packet, and of the cake. I think there are also pictures of our rings at the party and maybe even of us wearing them. The research I had done, and friends who have been through the visa process, encouraged us to include these pictures. Also, I had him saved as "my husband" in my phone contacts (just changed it, maybe too late) and included screenshots from what's ap conversations that show that as his contact name. I was stupid to do that, I can see that now, but people often call each other hubby during engagement, and I was only thinking of proving our relationship, not of making it clear we were engaged, not married. 

 

Our cake does say happy engagement, our social media accounts say we are engaged and show people congratuating us on our engagment. 

 

Have we ruined everything? I have been obsessive over this petition and cant believe I was stupid and made this mistake. I feel like my heart is breaking and I have wasted so much time and money. 

 

The people making this decision are American, right? Might they understand my mistake and recognize that we are not married? Also, the type of engagment party we had, is common is his country. We weren't doing anything out of the ordinary. Please give me hope!!

[trudi 1,317]

7 hours ago, khmer@nike said:

Wow, thank you very much. i'm glad i read these thread.

i'm a us citizen.  went to cambodia got engaged at end of june 2017.  now we plan to get marry in November 2017.

so i better not get married if i file for k1 visa.

one question that i have is if we my fiance issued k1 visa can we set up wedding date in Cambodia in a few months ?

 

For the K1 you MUST marry in the US, your spouse cannot then leave the US until they receive the EAD/AP which can take several months.

If you really want to marry in Cambodia then the K1 is not for you, you would need the CR1.

[trudi 1,317]

7 hours ago, TamaraN said:

I am new to this website, and just found this thread. My fiancé and I had an engagment party with his family. We dressed up in traditional clothing, danced, and celebrated with his family. The cake said congratulations on your engagement.  We included photos from the party in our packet, and of the cake. I think there are also pictures of our rings at the party and maybe even of us wearing them. The research I had done, and friends who have been through the visa process, encouraged us to include these pictures. Also, I had him saved as "my husband" in my phone contacts (just changed it, maybe too late) and included screenshots from what's ap conversations that show that as his contact name. I was stupid to do that, I can see that now, but people often call each other hubby during engagement, and I was only thinking of proving our relationship, not of making it clear we were engaged, not married. 

 

Our cake does say happy engagement, our social media accounts say we are engaged and show people congratuating us on our engagment. 

 

Have we ruined everything? I have been obsessive over this petition and cant believe I was stupid and made this mistake. I feel like my heart is breaking and I have wasted so much time and money. 

 

The people making this decision are American, right? Might they understand my mistake and recognize that we are not married? Also, the type of engagment party we had, is common is his country. We weren't doing anything out of the ordinary. Please give me hope!!

I don't want to give you false hope, there are many examples of people being denied for similar things.

 

All you can do is wait for the interview see what happens, if you are denied because the CO believes you are married then you'll need to get married and file for CR1.

 

I wish you luck and an understanding CO

[RJandHamid 1,128]

7 hours ago, TamaraN said:

I am new to this website, and just found this thread. My fiancé and I had an engagment party with his family. We dressed up in traditional clothing, danced, and celebrated with his family. The cake said congratulations on your engagement.  We included photos from the party in our packet, and of the cake. I think there are also pictures of our rings at the party and maybe even of us wearing them. The research I had done, and friends who have been through the visa process, encouraged us to include these pictures. Also, I had him saved as "my husband" in my phone contacts (just changed it, maybe too late) and included screenshots from what's ap conversations that show that as his contact name. I was stupid to do that, I can see that now, but people often call each other hubby during engagement, and I was only thinking of proving our relationship, not of making it clear we were engaged, not married. 

 

Our cake does say happy engagement, our social media accounts say we are engaged and show people congratuating us on our engagment. 

 

Have we ruined everything? I have been obsessive over this petition and cant believe I was stupid and made this mistake. I feel like my heart is breaking and I have wasted so much time and money. 

 

The people making this decision are American, right? Might they understand my mistake and recognize that we are not married? Also, the type of engagment party we had, is common is his country. We weren't doing anything out of the ordinary. Please give me hope!!

You are right in that engagement ceremonies/parties are very common in Morocco. I don't think that your engagement photos will cause problems (except maybe the ring photos, it's hard to say). My fiance just had his K1 interview in Casablanca a few weeks ago and he was asked if we had an engagement ceremony. We did not, and the CO then asked why we didn't, so I feel like it is something that they pay close attention to.  

 

The fact that he is listed as your husband in the chat logs you submitted is a bit more concerning. It is very likely the CO will notice this. All your fiance can do is be honest and explain what you just said about calling each other hubby. 

 

Some of the COs are American and some are Moroccan. I'm not sure if this is always true, but if he chooses to take the interview in English, it's more likely he will be interviewed by an American officer, who have been known to be a bit less strict than the Arabic speaking Moroccan officers. 

 

Good luck and I hope everything works out well for you and your fiance.