How did you deal with foreign family for a US wedding

[javadown2 308]

1 minute ago, DaveAndAnastasia said:

Yeah, the only real hang-up for Russians getting a Schengen visa is if you don't live near a consulate it can be a bit of trek; the fees aren't that bad if you can afford a trip to Europe at all; Anastasia had to go to Moscow to get hers, which involved a 13-hour train ride each way...

But getting a US visitor visa right now is pretty much impossible.

Might have to consider the CR-1 then and live with the idea of being apart for a little longer. The good thing about this is that your family can go there a lot easier, if that matters as much to you.

[Richardson 92]

21 hours ago, Kali4nia58 said:

Not sure if this is the right forum, but...my fiancee is Russian and I was originally thinking we would get married outside the US since we have met up in Greece, Denmark, and Cyprus. I now understand that on the K1 Visa that is not possible. We will have to get married in the US. That being said, I am thinking that would make it near impossible for her family to come for the wedding since it takes forever to get a Visa from Russia. Curious how others have handled this (doesn't have to be with Russian fiancee). Is there a quick process to get tourists visas for family for the purpose of the wedding? Did you have a courthouse ceremony and then get married abroad (if so, how much time in between ceremonies)? Other ideas?

 

Cheers!

Speaking from my experience. I'm originaly from Haiti. I'm a USC. my wife family Domicile in Haiti. I petitioned my wife on a K1 from Haiti. Before the K1 process started I knew majority of her family's including close friend would'nt be able to attend the wedding. Therefore we had a court wedding prior to the 90days frame we had after she enter the US. Mainly was to stay in that 90days time frame and secondly was to get the AOS started. Right now we patiently waiting for her AOS interview. After she have her green card. 3-4 years from now we plan to renew our Vows and have a big Ceremony in Haiti where most of her family and partly mine domicile in. We created a saving account just for that purpose. Unless some of your wife familly already have visa it will be hard mosly impossible for all the one she wants to attend the wedding to attend

[Amy_and_Victor 159]

21 hours ago, Kali4nia58 said:

Not sure if this is the right forum, but...my fiancee is Russian and I was originally thinking we would get married outside the US since we have met up in Greece, Denmark, and Cyprus. I now understand that on the K1 Visa that is not possible. We will have to get married in the US. That being said, I am thinking that would make it near impossible for her family to come for the wedding since it takes forever to get a Visa from Russia. Curious how others have handled this (doesn't have to be with Russian fiancee). Is there a quick process to get tourists visas for family for the purpose of the wedding? Did you have a courthouse ceremony and then get married abroad (if so, how much time in between ceremonies)? Other ideas?

 

Cheers!

We didn't even bother. Tbh neither for Amy and neither for me actual wedding ceremony was a big deal, we just wanted to be together, and all these rituals and ceremonies were so unimportant for us that we didn't want to stress out about them at all. We were actually thinking about just having courthouse wedding and a fancy romantic date dinner after with no follow-up, but Amy's parents didn't want it to be so simple so they offered to cover and manage our wedding even if it will be very small one. At the end we had a nice simple wedding with about 10 guests, all from Amy's side. My family was understanding about it and fortunately didn't demand anything (they also knew how many thousands USD they would have to spend just for travel expenses), so they just got photos from there and were very happy for us. We're married for 6 years and never had regrets about it, however I understand not everyone would like what we did.

 

- Victor from Russia

[TBoneTX 43,061]

Thread is moved from the K-1 Process forum to the Tourist Visas forum.

[Paul & Mallory 1,398]

We decided to plan our traditional wedding for the fall so my fiancé's family from Sweden could come into town for it. Luckily, Swedes don't have to get tourist visas in order to travel to the states and only need a valid passport and complete an ESTA form, so I'm not sure if that factor would've changed our plans if that were different. Summertime is too expensive to travel, which is when our 90 day timeframe is following our K1 approval (my fiancé just entered on his visa last Wednesday), so this was what worked for us. We will get legally married within the K1 window so we can file AOS, and still plan for and enjoy our wedding day with family and friends in a few months.

 

I'm not too familiar with the CR1 process, but I'm under the impression the waiting period is not that much different from K1; I think it's a bit longer, but isn't a dramatic difference (I may be wrong!). It's one of those things you just have to weigh the pros and cons for what works best for you. Another advantage to CR1 versus K1 is the beneficiary can begin working immediately upon their arrival to the states, whereas you have to file for a work permit and Advanced Parole under the K1, which can take a few months.

[Lars & Sasha 17]

19 minutes ago, Amy_and_Victor said:

We didn't even bother. Tbh neither for Amy and neither for me actual wedding ceremony was a big deal, we just wanted to be together, and all these rituals and ceremonies were so unimportant for us that we didn't want to stress out about them at all. We were actually thinking about just having courthouse wedding and a fancy romantic date dinner after with no follow-up, but Amy's parents didn't want it to be so simple so they offered to cover and manage our wedding even if it will be very small one. At the end we had a nice simple wedding with about 10 guests, all from Amy's side. My family was understanding about it and fortunately didn't demand anything (they also knew how many thousands USD they would have to spend just for travel expenses), so they just got photos from there and were very happy for us. We're married for 6 years and never had regrets about it, however I understand not everyone would like what we did.

Aleksandra and I feel the same way. Neither of us are interested in having a big wedding. We just want to be together. That being said, I would still like to do something small abroad for both our immediate family and a few close friends. Similar to what you mentioned.

 

12 minutes ago, Paul & Mallory said:

I'm not too familiar with the CR1 process, but I'm under the impression the waiting period is not that much different from K1; I think it's a bit longer, but isn't a dramatic difference (I may be wrong!). It's one of those things you just have to weigh the pros and cons for what works best for you. Another advantage to CR1 versus K1 is the beneficiary can begin working immediately upon their arrival to the states, whereas you have to file for a work permit and Advanced Parole under the K1, which can take a few months.

The CR1 process may only take an extra month or two, but add onto that a few months to plan an actually wedding and we may take 6 months longer. Add to that being a part longer. Plus, we would like to get started on adding to our family as we are both in our mid and late 30s. I don't mind her not working for a few months. I would rather she take some time to get acclimated to her new home and area, and well as get her/our son acclimated as well and helping him to learn english. He is about to turn 5 and has started English school a couple days a week in Russia.

[Crazy Cat 39,267]

2 minutes ago, Kali4nia58 said:

Aleksandra and I feel the same way. Neither of us are interested in having a big wedding. We just want to be together. That being said, I would still like to do something small abroad for both our immediate family and a few close friends. Similar to what you mentioned.

 

The CR1 process may only take an extra month or two, but add onto that a few months to plan an actually wedding and we may take 6 months longer. Add to that being a part longer. Plus, we would like to get started on adding to our family as we are both in our mid and late 30s. I don't mind her not working for a few months. I would rather she take some time to get acclimated to her new home and area, and well as get her/our son acclimated as well and helping him to learn english. He is about to turn 5 and has started English school a couple days a week in Russia.

To each his or her own......

[Paul & Mallory 1,398]

3 minutes ago, Kali4nia58 said:

Aleksandra and I feel the same way. Neither of us are interested in having a big wedding. We just want to be together. That being said, I would still like to do something small abroad for both our immediate family and a few close friends. Similar to what you mentioned.

 

The CR1 process may only take an extra month or two, but add onto that a few months to plan an actually wedding and we may take 6 months longer. Add to that being a part longer. Plus, we would like to get started on adding to our family as we are both in our mid and late 30s. I don't mind her not working for a few months. I would rather she take some time to get acclimated to her new home and area, and well as get her/our son acclimated as well and helping him to learn english. He is about to turn 5 and has started English school a couple days a week in Russia.

In that case, if the K1 works best for you, just know there are options where you guys can work with the ability for non-American family to travel. You have to get legally married within that 90 day window, but you don't have to have your traditional wedding with family within that time if you don't want to. It also gives you time to plan a wedding without it effecting the process. Like in our case; we began planning the wedding after I returned from Sweden in March (Paul passed his Embassy interview and had his visa issued while I was still there), and it has been smooth for us so far (the wedding isn't until October). Even after we get legally married and file for AOS, we're still able to enjoy planning the wedding without feeling rushed.

[TearsOfBabylon 1,680]

21 hours ago, Kali4nia58 said:

Thanks everybody for the responses! Very helpful. Will have to chat with Aleksandra and see what she would like to do. I was hoping we could get married in Italy but it looks like Las Vegas is more like it...with webcast for her family 

Check the little white wedding chapel in Vegas! They offer a stream, you can book in addition!

We got married in Vegas as well, but in the High Roller (The Giant Ferris wheel). They don't offer a live stream, but you could have one of your wedding guests go live on FB!
There is a ton of locations to pick from!
Good luck!

Edited May 21, 2018 by TearsOfBabylon

[optlh0 19]

We called my wife's family on Skype so they could watch in real time from the Philippines. One of the guests used our phone to show them everything. Of course that meant we'd hear the occasional rooster crowing from over there which brought a lot of laughs during the ceremony, and we had to reconnect twice but everyone in attendance knew why so it was no big deal. In fact I'd say it added something special to it we'll always remember  We also had it professionally videotaped and brought them a CD of the ceremony as well next time we visited them

[DaveAndAnastasia 2,079]

8 hours ago, Kali4nia58 said:

Aleksandra and I feel the same way. Neither of us are interested in having a big wedding. We just want to be together. That being said, I would still like to do something small abroad for both our immediate family and a few close friends. Similar to what you mentioned.

 

The CR1 process may only take an extra month or two, but add onto that a few months to plan an actually wedding and we may take 6 months longer. Add to that being a part longer. Plus, we would like to get started on adding to our family as we are both in our mid and late 30s. I don't mind her not working for a few months. I would rather she take some time to get acclimated to her new home and area, and well as get her/our son acclimated as well and helping him to learn english. He is about to turn 5 and has started English school a couple days a week in Russia.

FWIW, when I saw someone here pointing to a site that set up small beach weddings in Florida quickly, I thought for sure someone does the same here in San Diego and found a couple for beach/park weddings (since there are certainly plenty of nice places to do that in here in SD, and the weather will almost certainly cooperate). Haven't actually talked to anyone from them yet, but that's currently our plan.

[Lars & Sasha 17]

Just now, DaveAndAnastasia said:

FWIW, when I saw someone here pointing to a site that set up small beach weddings in Florida quickly, I thought for sure someone does the same here in San Diego and found a couple for beach/park weddings (since there are certainly plenty of nice places to do that in here in SD, and the weather will almost certainly cooperate). Haven't actually talked to anyone from them yet, but that's currently our plan.

Ive thought of that too. Maybe something at La Jolla Cove. I am also looking at a small Civil Ceremony at the Santa Barbara Courthouse, which is gorgeous!

[little immigrant 800]

On 5/21/2018 at 3:08 AM, ADAngel said:

 

It's 100% NOT VISA FRAUD because we're NOT ALREADY MARRIED. Not sure how it got lost in translation with my post? I was simply just explaining that because he has a much bigger family than I do, and my family and I are quite close, we would want everyone to be at a big wedding for us. Thus, when he gets approved we will be having a "secret" courthouse affair and we're planning our actual "wedding" for 2020. 

Everyone can do the process how they like, some people are content with just a courthouse wedding or something really small, I suppose. But I guess I'm just not one of those people - I've always wanted to do the year- long wedding planning and to have all of both of our friends and family there. So that's just how we're choosing to do it. I was letting the OP know that most people don't know nearly as much about immigration as people going through the process, so if they haven't taken the time to explain what kind of visa it is, it wouldn't really affect anything to just do something small and plan their dream wedding n Italy further down the line. 

Plus, I'm very familiar with the implications of visa fraud, thank you - not an idiot. 

Like I said I probably misunderstood you and I did. Thank you for taking the time to clarify. 

 

I eloped with my husband and we plan on having a celebration in his home country with his parents. I wish you all the best for your wedding plans