Traditional engagement?

[CP7416 0]

My fiance and I are planning to apply for K-1 visa now that my divorce is final.  Is it better to have a traditional engagement in my fiance's country?  Does traditional engagement help boost our chances of him obtaining a visa?  Or is it sufficient enough that we have a mutual agreement to get married?  We weren't necessarily planning to do a traditional engagement because I am not sure if I will be able to visit before this year is over and if that is the case  I won't be there until May at the earliest (next year).  We could not get engaged last year when I visited as my divorce was not final.  My first husband and I did have a traditional engagement 12 years ago.  It's been too long ago that if forget certain things about this process and with that, as time passes, things change.  Your help and/or advice is appreciated. 

Thanks!

[BJ & Christine 1,392]

7 minutes ago, CP7416 said:

My fiance and I are planning to apply for K-1 visa now that my divorce is final.  Is it better to have a traditional engagement in my fiance's country?  Does traditional engagement help boost our chances of him obtaining a visa?  Or is it sufficient enough that we have a mutual agreement to get married?  We weren't necessarily planning to do a traditional engagement because I am not sure if I will be able to visit before this year is over and if that is the case  I won't be there until May at the earliest (next year).  We could not get engaged last year when I visited as my divorce was not final.  My first husband and I did have a traditional engagement 12 years ago.  It's been too long ago that if forget certain things about this process and with that, as time passes, things change.  Your help and/or advice is appreciated. 

Thanks!

There is no need for engagement. All u need to prove is relationship is genuine and u both have the intent to marry within 90 days on entering USA on k1 visa.

[kris&me 572]

Ghana will look at this as a marriage

has been discussed many times here by Ghanians who are denieat  K1 at interview 

go to the Ghana portal and read thru the posts and embassy reviews

[JFH 12,189]

A "traditional engagement" can create more problems than it's worth in countries like Ghana. Many people have been denied a K-1 following a traditional engagement as the lines between "not married" and "married" become very blurred. Since "engaged" is not a legal status in the USA and is not required to get married (we never "got engaged", we just gradually realized as the relationship progressed that we wanted to be together for ever so we decided to get married), you do not need ring receipts, photos of either of you on one knee, party invitations, Facebook status updates, announcements or anything of that nature to be approved for a K-1 visa. Contrary to popular belief, it's perfectly possible to receive a K-1 visa with no ring, no proposal, etc. All that is required is that you are both intending to marry each other within 90 days of the intending immigrant's arrival in the USA. 

 

For Ghana your biggest hurdle is going to be time spent together. How many times have you seen each other? You need a LOT of strong evidence for Ghana. Avoid anything that looks like a ceremony. It will harm your case. Focus on evidence of time spent together. Visit as often as you can afford. 

[CP7416 0]

3 minutes ago, JFH said:

A "traditional engagement" can create more problems than it's worth in countries like Ghana. Many people have been denied a K-1 following a traditional engagement as the lines between "not married" and "married" become very blurred. Since "engaged" is not a legal status in the USA and is not required to get married (we never "got engaged", we just gradually realized as the relationship progressed that we wanted to be together for ever so we decided to get married), you do not need ring receipts, photos of either of you on one knee, party invitations, Facebook status updates, announcements or anything of that nature to be approved for a K-1 visa. Contrary to popular belief, it's perfectly possible to receive a K-1 visa with no ring, no proposal, etc. All that is required is that you are both intending to marry each other within 90 days of the intending immigrant's arrival in the USA. 

 

For Ghana your biggest hurdle is going to be time spent together. How many times have you seen each other? You need a LOT of strong evidence for Ghana. Avoid anything that looks like a ceremony. It will harm your case. Focus on evidence of time spent together. Visit as often as you can afford. 

I was there for 3 weeks in 2016 and 2 weeks in 2017.  Hopefully I am able to take off work before the end of this year (planning for 2 weeks), but not totally sure yet because I am a fairly new employee there... we will see.  I don't think our time together in 2016 can count for visa purposes because it has been over 2 years, I saw the application said must have visited once within a 2 year time period.  Thanks for your advice!

[CP7416 0]

12 minutes ago, kris&me said:

Ghana will look at this as a marriage

has been discussed many times here by Ghanians who are denieat  K1 at interview 

go to the Ghana portal and read thru the posts and embassy reviews

Thanks 😊

 I'll check them out.  I stay very busy with work, school, and mom duties, not sure I can devote much time to reading them, but I'll see what I can find.   

21 minutes ago, BJ & Christine said:

There is no need for engagement. All u need to prove is relationship is genuine and u both have the intent to marry within 90 days on entering USA on k1 visa.

Ok thank you!  

[Jeanne Adil 1,651]

13 minutes ago, CP7416 said:

Thanks 😊

 I'll check them out.  I stay very busy with work, school, and mom duties, not sure I can devote much time to reading them, but I'll see what I can find.   

Ok thank you!  

u dont have to spend a lot of time ,  just google the question

many posts will show up on web from VJ posters showing their denial for showing engagement photos taken wrongly for wedding photos

[CP7416 0]

1 minute ago, adil-rafa said:

u dont have to spend a lot of time ,  just google the question

many posts will show up on web from VJ posters showing their denial for showing engagement photos taken wrongly for wedding photos

oh ok  thanks  

 

[Sugarlegetiti 566]

45 minutes ago, CP7416 said:

My fiance and I are planning to apply for K-1 visa now that my divorce is final.  Is it better to have a traditional engagement in my fiance's country?  Does traditional engagement help boost our chances of him obtaining a visa?  Or is it sufficient enough that we have a mutual agreement to get married?  We weren't necessarily planning to do a traditional engagement because I am not sure if I will be able to visit before this year is over and if that is the case  I won't be there until May at the earliest (next year).  We could not get engaged last year when I visited as my divorce was not final.  My first husband and I did have a traditional engagement 12 years ago.  It's been too long ago that if forget certain things about this process and with that, as time passes, things change.  Your help and/or advice is appreciated. 

Thanks!

Traditional engagement will not help your chances for a K1 visa. With K1 all you need is the intent to marry within 90days of arriving in the USA and  have met your fiance in person within two years.  You have two options you can file the K1 now or you go marry in May and file CR1. K1 is expensive and CR1 is cheaper 

[Jeanne Adil 1,651]

 

4 minutes ago, Sugarlegetiti said:

Traditional engagement will not help your chances for a K1 visa. With K1 all you need is the intent to marry within 90days of arriving in the USA and  have met your fiance in person within two years.  You have two options you can file the K1 now or you go marry in May and file CR1. K1 is expensive and CR1 is cheaper 

But do not marry on 1st visit / Ghana is like Morocco / u must see each other on multiple visits to be successful 

good luck /stay for the long run and you can be happy

[Sugarlegetiti 566]

6 minutes ago, adil-rafa said:

 

But do not marry on 1st visit / Ghana is like Morocco / u must see each other on multiple visits to be successful 

good luck /stay for the long run and you can be happy

It will be her third visit in May so it will be fine to marry if she chooses to. I married my husband on the second visit and we have no problem.  Your are right the next vist she should stay longer. I stayed  30days each on both visits 

[CP7416 0]

5 minutes ago, Sugarlegetiti said:

It will be her third visit in May so it will be fine to marry if she chooses to. I married my husband on the second visit and we have no problem.  Your are right the next vist she should stay longer. I stayed  30days each on both visits 

Right my next visit be my 3rd time to see him.  At my place of employment you can take a total of 3 weeks off at a time.  maybe I can stretch it to 4 weeks, but our policy is max 3 weeks off in a row. Though with doing 3   12 hour shifts a week, maybe I can arrange it to total 4 weeks.  If I get to go in November I can only go for 2 weeks because that’s all the time off I’ve accumulated so far 😆

 

[CP7416 0]

29 minutes ago, Sugarlegetiti said:

Traditional engagement will not help your chances for a K1 visa. With K1 all you need is the intent to marry within 90days of arriving in the USA and  have met your fiance in person within two years.  You have two options you can file the K1 now or you go marry in May and file CR1. K1 is expensive and CR1 is cheaper 

Thanks I’ll check into this. A few months ago we were undecided about which route to take, marriage or fiancé. Seems like I better do some more research.  I always thought CR1 took a lot longer to process 🤷🏻‍♀️ 

25 minutes ago, adil-rafa said:

 

But do not marry on 1st visit / Ghana is like Morocco / u must see each other on multiple visits to be successful 

good luck /stay for the long run and you can be happy

Thanks! 

[Sugarlegetiti 566]

7 minutes ago, CP7416 said:

Right my next visit be my 3rd time to see him.  At my place of employment you can take a total of 3 weeks off at a time.  maybe I can stretch it to 4 weeks, but our policy is max 3 weeks off in a row. Though with doing 3   12 hour shifts a week, maybe I can arrange it to total 4 weeks.  If I get to go in November I can only go for 2 weeks because that’s all the time off I’ve accumulated so far 😆

 

If you only have 3weeks then it is fine, you can wait till May so that you can get the 3weeks and if your company can give you till 4weeks. If you choose to marry do traditional engagement plus the wedding ceremony. The wedding can be at the register office or a pastor can marry you guys after the traditional engagement ceremony 

[Loren Y 2,748]

Timelines change, but right now a K1 is taking 8-10 months ( Took me almost exactly 8 Months from I129f sent to Visa in Hand, and that was a simple no flags, no RFE's petition) I have seen CR1 taking 12-14 months, so maybe a 4-6 month difference. You have to decide what works best for you. And time together is time together, My fiancee and I had visits we sent in from 5 years before we even applied for the K1 and included it when front-loading the packet . If you still have passport stamps, and boarding passes, etc. include them with the petition even if they were over 2 years ago, it didn't cause any problems with my petition, and even at the interview the CO mentioned that we had proof of our relationship from 5 years ago, and that is something he doesn't see much, so I think it was a benefit to include it, but overall we had over 10 visits of 2-3 weeks each before we applied, and I had 1 visit while waiting for NOA2 that I had her take to the interview with her for additional evidence, but the CO didn't ask to see it, she mentioned it, but he was fine with what we had submitted.