K1 Interview - marriage plans question

[DollyDolly 278]

My interview is booked - I am aware the officer may ask questions about our wedding ceremony plans.

 

Due to the nature of this visa we haven't planned a wedding ceremony at all. We decided we would get married at the courthouse a few weeks after I arrive, once I am settled in to my new home with my fiance - have a small ceremony so that we are legally married in line with the 90 day rule,  his Mom will attend and my parents will fly over from the UK to attend.

 

As the majority of my US fiance's family originates from Nigeria, we are wanting to have a Nigerian style wedding ceremony in the US quite a while AFTER we are actually married at the courthouse - possibly in 2019/2020 with his family from the US and Nigeria and also my family coming over from the UK. This type of huge ceremony takes months and months to plan and is very expensive so it would have been totally unrealistic to plan this around the K1 visa due to uncertainty of arrival date etc.

 

Will the officer understand why we are yet to make any wedding ceremony plans?

Is it a usual thing for people to have a courthouse wedding first just to make it official?

 

I cannot see how anyone can successfully plan a large wedding around this visa process (hats off to those of you that do though - super organised!).

 

Thanks

 

[Londonergirl 133]

Everyone I know did the courthouse ceremony. Me, however, planned an outside wedding in a park in San Francisco. It was stressful but it worked out really well. I bought the dress in London before going and booked everything beforehand. 

[Marieke H 2,519]

Don't worry about it. I told the officer that we were going to do a courthouse wedding because it was impossible to plan a large wedding on such short notice, and just moving to the US was stressful enough already. She completely understood.

[Wuozopo 4,293]

25 minutes ago, LucyDolly said:

My interview is booked - I am aware the officer may ask questions about our wedding ceremony plans.

 

Due to the nature of this visa we haven't planned a wedding ceremony at all. We decided we would get married at the courthouse a few weeks after I arrive, once I am settled in to my new home with my fiance - have a small ceremony so that we are legally married in line with the 90 day rule,  his Mom will attend and my parents will fly over from the UK to attend.

 

As the majority of my US fiance's family originates from Nigeria, we are wanting to have a Nigerian style wedding ceremony in the US quite a while AFTER we are actually married at the courthouse - possibly in 2019/2020 with his family from the US and Nigeria and also my family coming over from the UK. This type of huge ceremony takes months and months to plan and is very expensive so it would have been totally unrealistic to plan this around the K1 visa due to uncertainty of arrival date etc.

 

Will the officer understand why we are yet to make any wedding ceremony plans?

Is it a usual thing for people to have a courthouse wedding first just to make it official?

 

I cannot see how anyone can successfully plan a large wedding around this visa process (hats off to those of you that do though - super organised!).

 

Thanks

 

 

You just have to be legally married within 90 days. They don't care a whit about your big ceremony. A London interview is way easy. Takes about 3 minutes with the officer and the rest of the time waiting your turn and turning over your documents. No photos or further relationship  evidence is needed.  No engagement ring needed.  Just a few easy questions like where will you live, where does he work, have you met any of his family yet. If you haven't', say no and that's okay too. It's a short easy chat in London. 

Edited February 1, 2018 by Wuozopo

[Illiria 980]

Totally fine, we weren’t even asked about the plans at the k1 interview. I was just asked at the point of entry when I flew to the us if I knew I had to get married within 90 days and I said yes getting married in Vegas. 

 

We got married at the commissioners office in Vegas with one witness, at our adjustment of status the only question they had was why my parents hadn’t attended (caring for an elderly relative).

[DollyDolly 278]

3 minutes ago, Wuozopo said:

 

You just have to be legally married within 90 days. They don't care a whit about your big ceremony. A London interview is way easy. Takes about 3 minutes with the officer and the rest of the time waiting your turn and turning over your documents. No photos or further relationship  evidence is needed.  No engagement ring needed.  Just a few easy questions like where will you live, where does he work, have you met any of his family yet. If you haven't', say no and that's okay too. It's a short easy chat in London. 

Thank you for easing my mind !

I am just getting anxious to have everything perfectly in line sorted and  ready for my interview and I want to be prepared for every-which-way ..

[Ontarkie 14,279]

I was asked if we picked a date at my POE not the interview. I just said if we can get it all set up it will be the 28th of May. We didn't get it set up and got married on the 21st of June. Mostly because I wanted my family here and timed it with my Uncles vacation since he was driving my parents as my father had a stroke and couldn't drive. 

 

 

[Zzyzx 106]

On ‎1‎/‎31‎/‎2018 at 4:20 PM, LucyDolly said:

Will the officer understand why we are yet to make any wedding ceremony plans?

Is it a usual thing for people to have a courthouse wedding first just to make it official?

 

I cannot see how anyone can successfully plan a large wedding around this visa process (hats off to those of you that do though - super organised!).

 

Thanks

 

It is very usual and what most people do.  In fact I would say it's very unwise to make plans for a big wedding ceremony with a K-1 in the mix.  I'm afraid I can't give a hats off to insanity!!    

 

I would however make preliminary plans on the date you are going to tie the knot at the courthouse, as when are you getting married is a common question asked.   When the CO asked us what our plans were,  my fiancée said we planned to get married in Las Vegas during the Thanksgiving Holiday, which made the CO smile.  

Edited February 2, 2018 by Zzyzx

[Chris Duffy 1,257]

I have never had a CO ask me about my wedding plans at the K1 interviews.

 

I know about a dozen or so who did K1 and never heard that question asked, That must be a Embassy/Consulate specific question.

 

 

[TBoneTX 45,522]

It's not necessarily consulate-specific.  It depends on the nature of the case, the line of questioning by the CO, and perhaps the philosophy of the Immigrant Visa Unit chief.

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Thread is moved from the K-1 Process forum to the Embassy/Consulate forum.