Temple wedding and traditional wedding with family & friends

[yogik_yo 6]

Please excuse me if this has been asked previously. I couldn't find any similar scenario so thought might create a new thread and see if anyone has similar situation or any feedback. 

Ok, so we got married at Arya  Samaj temple in India and it was Hindu marriage. We did perform rituals as advised by the temple priest and they issues a marriage certificate. I took that certificate to local marriage registrar and got it registered on the same day and they issued  official registration of marriage certificate. The process was advised by a lawyer for quick turnaround, infact it only took a day for entire process. The lawyer guided through entire process. I am not familiar much with Indian marriage law and took lawyer advise along the way.  I didn't take any photographs at temple wedding as it was just my wife , me and couple of witness.

We used the same marriage date and both the certificate from temple and registrar office at 130 and nvc and now we are scheduled for interview. 

Now comes the tricky part . We also had traditional big fat wedding after a week of temple wedding with 100s of guests and did all the rituals as required by hindu marriage. We submitted all the pictures from that wedding at 130 and side loaded at NVC and planning to take to the interview. 

So, is that technically considered marrying twice to the same person and create any flag during interview ? Please note the temple wedding was a hindu religious wedding and not a court marriage . I know some people do court marriage and do traditional one. I only had couple of weeks for the wedding off from work and we went that route to accommodate our timing, also it was advised by lawyer for quicker process. We also got the marriage certificate certified by Ministry of foreign affairs and that took almost a week. 

Anyway, I would really appreciate if anyone could help me or have similar situation . I know I could tell the next traditional wedding was celebration but the pictures i have submitted shows it more like wedding with all hindu rituals. I couldnt have submitted those pics and create less confusion but its been already done. 

How do I explain this at interview? We been in relation for almost 8 years (arranged through family ) and married for little over 2 years now . We have plenty of communication logs , few face to visits with tons of pictures. She is on my medical insurance, pension plan, authorized credit card user but i know those documents are barely reviewed at the interview. 

 

[nguoivietnam2019 67]

You did not get married twice to the same person, you just had 2 celebrations. The official marriage certificate and the date on it is your marriage date. 

 

Our Vietnamese culture normally has 2 part weddings - one at the bride's and one at the groom's, settings can be different, especially bridge's and groom's family live two different regions or sometimes have different regions. I have not heard people having any issue with their pictures.

 

[USS_Voyager 1,971]

It's not even big deal. They only care if you are legally married. As long as you have a valid marriage certificate recognized by the local government, that's all that matters. They will only barely take a look at the wedding pictures. Those are secondary evidence. What they are interested in the most is the bona fide relationship. As you have been married for over 2 years, have you filed tax returns as married and list your spouse, have you commingled assets, bank accounts, insurances, ... Evidence of time spent together, trips together, ...that sort of thing. 

[yogik_yo 6]

9 minutes ago, USS_Voyager said:

It's not even big deal. They only care if you are legally married. As long as you have a valid marriage certificate recognized by the local government, that's all that matters. They will only barely take a look at the wedding pictures. Those are secondary evidence. What they are interested in the most is the bona fide relationship. As you have been married for over 2 years, have you filed tax returns as married and list your spouse, have you commingled assets, bank accounts, insurances, ... Evidence of time spent together, trips together, ...that sort of thing. 

Yes, we filed joint tax for 2017 and 2018 and I have her on my medical benefits, pension , life insurance.. We spent out anniversary in bali indonesia and have all receipts , boarding passes. I will take all those to the interview but its just matter of if they even look at them. 

For bank account I wasn't able to add her as they require her to be here physically and have social security. 

Edited May 8, 2019 by yogik_yo

[nguoivietnam2019 67]

2 minutes ago, yogik_yo said:

Yes, we filed joint tax for 2017 and 2018 and I have her on my medical benefits, pension , life insurance.. We spent out anniversary in bali indonesia and have all receipts , boarding passes. I will take all those to the interview but its just matter of if they even look at them. 

For bank account I wasn't able to add her as they require her to be here physically and have social security. 

Every case is different but yours look good.

My wife just received her visa and they did not even look at a single thing we brought in for her interview - just asked us (I came with my wife) a few questions.

[USS_Voyager 1,971]

27 minutes ago, yogik_yo said:

we filed joint tax for 2017 and 2018 and I have her on my medical benefits, pension , life insurance.. We spent out anniversary in bali indonesia and have all receipts , boarding passes.

Yes yes, those are the meat of the case. Your case looks good. 

[yogik_yo 6]

Thank you both

. I heard consular gets quite picky on wedding tradition in south Asian countries. Keeping my finger crossed and hoping for the best.