Question about courthouse elopement for AOS/IR-1

[rk2018 0]

Hi,

 

I appreciate this forum so much. It's been a huge help for us.

 

I'm an American citizen and my partner (home country PRC) is on an OPT student visa with one year left. We are planning on eventually having a big ceremony, but for now the timing is right to get legally married, both for immigration purposes and so also so he can go on my insurance. We've been dating 2 years and living together/sharing finances about 6 months. 

 

We briefly met with a lawyer who told us that if we get married at a courthouse, we should bring family and make sure to take lots of pictures. The pics are fine (we can hire a photographer), but bringing family/friends is logistically difficult because they live 1000 miles away and our timeline is very tight - we're scheduled to go in front of a JP on my one week off from medical residency. We are in a new city and don't know a lot of people who would be off during business hours to tag along. The other thing is that his parents are in China and I really want us to have both families together and 'do it right' in the long run. My preference would be to elope for now and save the sharing for later when we have the bandwidth to really plan. BUT, I don't want to shoot ourselves in the foot if this is going to be a mistake.

 

Is there any legitimate reason to believe that getting married alone at city hall is going to cause us trouble in the application process? We can probably figure out a way to have people there if it will make a big difference, I just can't get a feel for how much this actually matters. The other aspects of our application are (I hope) fairly unremarkable/unlikely to raise red flags. He's here legally, we have many ways to prove the bona fide-ness of our relationship, we live together, we have tons of pictures at other events with family and friends, I meet the criteria to be his sponsor, etc.

 

Thank you!!

[payxibka 10,044]

1 minute ago, rk2018 said:

Hi,

 

I appreciate this forum so much. It's been a huge help for us.

 

I'm an American citizen and my partner (home country PRC) is on an OPT student visa with one year left. We are planning on eventually having a big ceremony, but for now the timing is right to get legally married, both for immigration purposes and so also so he can go on my insurance. We've been dating 2 years and living together/sharing finances about 6 months. 

 

We briefly met with a lawyer who told us that if we get married at a courthouse, we should bring family and make sure to take lots of pictures. The pics are fine (we can hire a photographer), but bringing family/friends is logistically difficult because they live 1000 miles away and our timeline is very tight - we're scheduled to go in front of a JP on my one week off from medical residency. We are in a new city and don't know a lot of people who would be off during business hours to tag along. The other thing is that his parents are in China and I really want us to have both families together and 'do it right' in the long run. My preference would be to elope for now and save the sharing for later when we have the bandwidth to really plan. BUT, I don't want to shoot ourselves in the foot if this is going to be a mistake.

 

Is there any legitimate reason to believe that getting married alone at city hall is going to cause us trouble in the application process? We can probably figure out a way to have people there if it will make a big difference, I just can't get a feel for how much this actually matters. The other aspects of our application are (I hope) fairly unremarkable/unlikely to raise red flags. He's here legally, we have many ways to prove the bona fide-ness of our relationship, we live together, we have tons of pictures at other events with family and friends, I meet the criteria to be his sponsor, etc.

 

Thank you!!

No legitimate reason. 

[geowrian 22,335]

Where, how, and who is there for a wedding doesn't matter.

Edited October 27, 2018 by geowrian

[Cyberfx1024 7,978]

10 minutes ago, rk2018 said:

Hi,

 

I appreciate this forum so much. It's been a huge help for us.

 

I'm an American citizen and my partner (home country PRC) is on an OPT student visa with one year left. We are planning on eventually having a big ceremony, but for now the timing is right to get legally married, both for immigration purposes and so also so he can go on my insurance. We've been dating 2 years and living together/sharing finances about 6 months. 

 

We briefly met with a lawyer who told us that if we get married at a courthouse, we should bring family and make sure to take lots of pictures. The pics are fine (we can hire a photographer), but bringing family/friends is logistically difficult because they live 1000 miles away and our timeline is very tight - we're scheduled to go in front of a JP on my one week off from medical residency. We are in a new city and don't know a lot of people who would be off during business hours to tag along. The other thing is that his parents are in China and I really want us to have both families together and 'do it right' in the long run. My preference would be to elope for now and save the sharing for later when we have the bandwidth to really plan. BUT, I don't want to shoot ourselves in the foot if this is going to be a mistake.

 

Is there any legitimate reason to believe that getting married alone at city hall is going to cause us trouble in the application process? We can probably figure out a way to have people there if it will make a big difference, I just can't get a feel for how much this actually matters. The other aspects of our application are (I hope) fairly unremarkable/unlikely to raise red flags. He's here legally, we have many ways to prove the bona fide-ness of our relationship, we live together, we have tons of pictures at other events with family and friends, I meet the criteria to be his sponsor, etc.

 

Thank you!!

We got married at a JP with no issues at all. I would have some people come just because some states ask that a witness comes and signs something. 

[Kim Mertens 54]

We got married at the courthouse, his mom being our only witness/photographer, and we had no issues. We did our "big" wedding, in both countries, shortly before and the other one shortly after our AOS. We had no proof of either of those included in our package. We were fine and did not get an RFE