Wedding Venue Deposit

[fluffykim 333]

Question in terms of timing on a wedding venue.  When do /did people put deposits down?  Did you wait until you get formally approved after the interview?  Do you guess 10months out?

 

Just wanting to plan and be proactive

 

Thanks!

[Mimicherie 142]

Everyone will say not to plan anything until visa is in hand. You never know how your interview will go. I thought mine was going to be smooth sailing but ending up on AP for information verification since Sept. 19. I’ve been on AP for almost 2 months now and still waiting. My wedding date was for Nov.1st, I didn’t plan anything big so it didn’t really affect me, but for people who are renting venues, sending out invites and all that just be mindful that you literally cannot guess/ will not know anything until day of interview. This process is so unpredictable.

[agrabs 237]

2 minutes ago, gsdc23 said:

Everyone will say not to plan anything until visa is in hand. You never know how your interview will go. I thought mine was going to be smooth sailing but ending up on AP for information verification since Sept. 19. I’ve been on AP for almost 2 months now and still waiting. My wedding date was for Nov.1st, I didn’t plan anything big so it didn’t really affect me, but for people who are renting venues, sending out invites and all that just be mindful that you literally cannot guess/ will not know anything until day of interview. This process is so unpredictable.

This!  When your visa is in hand!

[Becci391 339]

Don't make any plans until you have the visa in your passport.

[Ben&Zian 4,397]

Sides, can always do a court house wedding then plan for a larger ceremony afterwards. Don't do it before visa in hand.

[geowrian 22,335]

Option 1: Plan what you can but don't put anything down until the visa is in hand. (Highly preferred)

Option 2: Try to plan a date but ensure the location and services can be rescheduled.

Option 3: Try to plan a date and risk missing it. Very not advisable, but it's your money at risk.

[fluffykim 333]

Great advice.  I wasnt sure if it was more compelling of evidence to have a deposit down.  I would prefer NOT to lose money on a venue due to date delay, but want to ensure we have the best foot forward too.  Thank you all.  

 

We think we will probably do a courthouse type thing in USA and do a big wedding in Jamaica so both our families can attend.  That is very important to both of us

[Sabrina02 108]

1 hour ago, gsdc23 said:

Everyone will say not to plan anything until visa is in hand. You never know how your interview will go. I thought mine was going to be smooth sailing but ending up on AP for information verification since Sept. 19. I’ve been on AP for almost 2 months now and still waiting. My wedding date was for Nov.1st, I didn’t plan anything big so it didn’t really affect me, but for people who are renting venues, sending out invites and all that just be mindful that you literally cannot guess/ will not know anything until day of interview. This process is so unpredictable.

do you mind sharing what they needed?

 

[Mimicherie 142]

12 minutes ago, Sabrina02 said:

do you mind sharing what they needed?

 

I had my fiancé’s divorce documents translated by ASAPTranslate and the company made the tiniest error on his finalized divorce date & they caught it at the embassy stage. They put (8/30/2015 instead of 8/31/2015) off by one day. Since false documents are such a huge thing in Haiti they wanted to verify that the divorce was official & which date was accurate, even though my fiancé bought every official document showing that all the dates matched the divorce decree I provided to USCIS, they still wanted to check things on their end. So they gave us a 221g form & asked my fiancé to submit further confirmation of his divorce along with his passport, we provided them with the actual judgment paper from the judge & publicized it through the Haitian newspaper (it’s a thing they do out there to further confirm divorces) & we’ve been on AP since waiting for a decision. 

[MaryJ 7]

I applied for the Visa and planned my wedding  a year in advance we got the Visa in February got married in April 2017. It went by slow yet fast.

[Sabrina02 108]

27 minutes ago, gsdc23 said:

I had my fiancé’s divorce documents translated by ASAPTranslate and the company made the tiniest error on his finalized divorce date & they caught it at the embassy stage. They put (8/30/2015 instead of 8/31/2015) off by one day. Since false documents are such a huge thing in Haiti they wanted to verify that the divorce was official & which date was accurate, even though my fiancé bought every official document showing that all the dates matched the divorce decree I provided to USCIS, they still wanted to check things on their end. So they gave us a 221g form & asked my fiancé to submit further confirmation of his divorce along with his passport, we provided them with the actual judgment paper from the judge & publicized it through the Haitian newspaper (it’s a thing they do out there to further confirm divorces) & we’ve been on AP since waiting for a decision. 

They just mean to be horrible. So sorry to hear. Can you call and tell them its submitted? Best of luck with the other steps.

[Ontarkie 13,917]

~~Moved to Moving Here and YOur New Life, from K1 P&P- As this is not a k1 processing question but a wedding planning question.~~

[Mimicherie 142]

2 hours ago, Sabrina02 said:

They just mean to be horrible. So sorry to hear. Can you call and tell them its submitted? Best of luck with the other steps.

I emailed them and they informed me that the documents were received, added to my file and that my case is under review with a CO. I just think they’re taking their sweet time, but I’m practicing my patience. Thank you very much; I wish you luck in your journey as well. 

[K & R 343]

17 hours ago, fluffykim said:

Great advice.  I wasnt sure if it was more compelling of evidence to have a deposit down.  I would prefer NOT to lose money on a venue due to date delay, but want to ensure we have the best foot forward too.  Thank you all.  

 

We think we will probably do a courthouse type thing in USA and do a big wedding in Jamaica so both our families can attend.  That is very important to both of us

Just make sure you don’t go back to Jamaica and do the big wedding until your fiancé/husband has either AP or his greencard. If he leaves during the AOS process without AP he cannot come back unless you start all over with a CR1 visa. 

[mtempelaar 190]

18 hours ago, gsdc23 said:

I had my fiancé’s divorce documents translated by ASAPTranslate and the company made the tiniest error on his finalized divorce date & they caught it at the embassy stage. They put (8/30/2015 instead of 8/31/2015) off by one day. Since false documents are such a huge thing in Haiti they wanted to verify that the divorce was official & which date was accurate, even though my fiancé bought every official document showing that all the dates matched the divorce decree I provided to USCIS, they still wanted to check things on their end. So they gave us a 221g form & asked my fiancé to submit further confirmation of his divorce along with his passport, we provided them with the actual judgment paper from the judge & publicized it through the Haitian newspaper (it’s a thing they do out there to further confirm divorces) & we’ve been on AP since waiting for a decision. 

There is a lesson here for anyone using translators - check, doublecheck and then check again on those translations.   I used a service and the person who translated did such a bad job that I had to send it back multiple times for corrections.  I don't even speak the language they were translating from and even I could see glaring issues.