spouse Spouse Visa Court Marriage Ceremony After

[KrishnaRadha 1]

Greetings

Viewing the length of time obtaining the Spouse Visa which can average a year.

 

I will be planning to marry my fiance whom lives abroad and I am a Born U.S. citizen. She has no family here in the states, and I wanted to have a double marriage, one for her family in her home country, which would not include any formal notice of marriage to the country, but purely religious ceremony, and then have a court marriage here in the states, with legal certification, using the K-1 Visa. But looking online, this would likely void the K-1 Visa.

Another thought had entered my mind. If we had a court marriage in her home country, and then apply for the I-130 Visa, and then go through the process to approval back here in the states. Once approved, I would return back to her home country, and then have a religious wedding ceremony in approximately under a year from the court marriage and prior to taking her to America with the approved Spouse Visa.

I had checked with her home country rules, and there is no issue with extended religious ceremony after the marriage certificate has been approved, but will there be any issues with the I-130 Visa. Essentially, I would be marrying the same person twice within a year.  One court and One religious.

Hopefully this makes sense.

~Zee

 

[Dashinka 23,202]

Go for the legal court marriage in her home country and file the CR1 in my opinion.  Once you have the legally recognized marriage certificate, file for the spousal visa.

 

Good Luck!

[Crazy Cat 39,187]

You basically have 2  options (although one is superior):

Option 1.  File for a K-1...no ceremony in Fiance's country......legally marry in the US........then return to fiance's country for a marriage celebration ceremony.

Option 2.  Legally marry in fiance's country...and file for a spousal visa.......

Option #2 is superior imo...

 

K-1
    Slightly faster arrival in the US (currently about 5 months sooner)    
    More expensive than CR-1    
    Requires Adjustment of Status after marriage (expensive and requires a lot of paperwork)    
    Spouse can not leave the US until she/he receives approved Advance Parole (approx 5-6 months)    
    Spouse can not work until she/he receives EAD (approx 5-6 months)    
    Some people have had problems with driver licenses, Social Security cards, leases, bank account during this period    
    Spouse will not receive Green Card for many months after Adjustment of Status is filed.

  

CR-1
    Slightly slower arrival in the US (currently about 5 months later)

    Less expensive than K-1    
    No Adjustment of Status(I-485, I-131, I-765) required.    
    Spouse can immediately travel outside the US    
    Spouse is authorized to work immediately upon arrival.    
    Spouse receives Social Security Card and Green Card within 2 or 3 weeks after entering the US    
    Opening a bank account, getting a driver's license, etc. are very easily accomplished with GC, SS card, and passport.

    Spouse has legal permanent Resident status IMMEDIATELY upon entry to US.
  �

DO NOT have any kind of ceremony in Fiance's country, then file a K-1.....

 

Edited August 11, 2019 by missileman

[Nitas_man 3,100]

Why two?  Why not one religious ceremony and file?

[KrishnaRadha 1]

Thank you for your wonderful replies.

Where I was unsure is, if I get a court marriage (Marriage #1) in her home country, then apply, and go towards the approval process of the I-130 here in the states. Once approved, return back to her home country and then have the Religious wedding ceremony (Marriage #2). After the ceremony, we both come to the US.

Would this have any impact on our approved I-130 by having a 2nd marriage. I guess this could be viewed as "renewed vows" , yet both could be considered legal marriage, but to the same person.

[Crazy Cat 39,187]

3 minutes ago, ZeeAli said:

Thank you for your wonderful replies.

Where I was unsure is, if I get a court marriage (Marriage #1) in her home country, then apply, and go towards the approval process of the I-130 here in the states. Once approved, return back to her home country and then have the Religious wedding ceremony (Marriage #2). After the ceremony, we both come to the US.

Would this have any impact on our approved I-130 by having a 2nd marriage. I guess this could be viewed as "renewed vows" , yet both could be considered legal marriage, but to the same person.

No....because only the 1st marriage in fiance country (court marriage) would be recognized as the legal marriage by USCIS.......

Edited August 11, 2019 by missileman

[Crazy Cat 39,187]

What country?

[KrishnaRadha 1]

2 minutes ago, Nitas_man said:

Why two?  Why not one religious ceremony and file?

I will be going in two months to her home country, and we will have an engagement, and I wish for her family/community to have time to put something together for the wedding, and by court marriage, I can start the process here with the Spouse Visa, and then returning, having the wedding ceremony. 
 

[KrishnaRadha 1]

8 minutes ago, missileman said:

No....because only the 1st marriage in fiance country (court marriage) would be recognized as the legal marriage by USCIS.......

My understanding from your response...

 

Basically, as long as we do not do anything in-between during the process for the Visa, and using the court marriage as legal reference towards the approval of the I-130, we should be okay. And after the approval, we can do as we like to honor the union-ship. After-effects will not hinder the approved I-130.

Is this what you mean?

[Crazy Cat 39,187]

21 minutes ago, ZeeAli said:

Basically, as long as we do not do anything in-between during the process for the Visa, and using the court marriage as legal reference towards the approval of the I-130, we should be okay.

No, that is not what I said .......If you marry in the court hose first, THAT is your legal marriage............if you have religious wedding first, the THAT is your legal marriage as recognized by USCIS.......you can have a court wedding followed by a religious ceremony the next month....but the court wedding is your official marriage..It won't be seen as legally married to the same person twice by USCIS.....In what country is your fiance?

Edited August 11, 2019 by missileman

[KrishnaRadha 1]

16 minutes ago, missileman said:

In what country is your fiance?

Thank you very much in making time for the Clarification. :)

She resides in the Fiji Islands. Myself, I am 2nd generation American born Fiji-Indian.

[Nitas_man 3,100]

2 hours ago, KrishnaRadha said:

I will be going in two months to her home country, and we will have an engagement, and I wish for her family/community to have time to put something together for the wedding, and by court marriage, I can start the process here with the Spouse Visa, and then returning, having the wedding ceremony. 
 

Nothing wrong with what you want to do.

 

Better stick to one date and avoid

calling that second ceremony your “wedding”.  

 

Whatever date you legalize your marriage - that’s your legal wedding date.  By what you are saying here - your court date is your only legal wedding date.

 

Don’t use two different dates in any part of the immigration process.  It’s paperwork you don’t need.

 

Good luck

[Scandi 3,970]

It's perfectly fine for an already married couple to have a wedding ceremony later. For instance, many K-1ers do this. They get married in a courthouse in the US, wait for their travel document and/or greencard to be approved so they can go back to the foreign country and have a ceremony there afterwards.

 

But the wedding ceremony is NOT your wedding date, just be aware of that. You can't use that date for anything immigration related. The only date that counts in that regard is the date you actually got married.

[davidvs 320]

19 hours ago, KrishnaRadha said:

I will be going in two months to her home country, and we will have an engagement
 

If you decide to go the K-1 route, please be very careful with the engagement celebration. Many times a formal engagement ceremony (traditional dress, exchanging of gifts or other traditions, will trigger the USCIS to consider you "too married" for a K1 visa. 

 

I would tend to agree with the others who have already posted... do a court wedding in her home nation when you go in  a few months and then get started on your spouse visa process.

 

Best of luck.

[Fernthony 11]

The second option is actually exactly what my wife and I are doing. We did a legal marriage back in May, then we completed our paperwork and filed our petition last month. We're planning our ceremony for mid 2020. Our reasoning for going this route is mostly due to cost and wanting to get her to the states. It was easier for us to afford the ceremony after 2 years from the engagement, but we wanted to bring ourselves together sooner, so we decided to get married a year sooner, begin the immigration process, and then do the celebratory ceremony later. I don't think there should be any problems with doing this. I would also recommend beginning to work on your paperwork before you go and get married, if you want to bring your spouse here sooner. If you are a busy person, the paperwork can take time to get done, and having it mostly ready by the time you get married can help you file sooner than you otherwise would. I made the mistake of waiting until after, and it took me just under 2 months to finish everything.