K1 Visa & Church ceremony

[stag 51]

I've seen that people advice against doing a church ceremony in the country of origin, even if it has no legal effect. My wish was to do a church ceremony in the country of origin (there is no legal effect in that country) so that my fiance's family can attend and then do a small wedding in the US, which will be the legal marriage. Can anyone advice me on the best direction? Should I just leave it to be a small celebration in the country of origin (so her family can attend) and do Church+Legal in the States? Thank you very much. 

[Mike E 11,740]

Do not have any marriage ceremony before getting married in the USA.  
 

Dinner parties celebrating engagement are fine and arguably of benefit to you form the K-1 interview and adjustment of status.  
 

A legal ceremony in the USA suffices. 

[stag 51]

12 minutes ago, Mike E said:

Do not have any marriage ceremony before getting married in the USA.  
 

Dinner parties celebrating engagement are fine and arguably of benefit to you form the K-1 interview and adjustment of status.  
 

A legal ceremony in the USA suffices. 

Thank you for that advice. Given the pandemic, we plan on having such a celebration during the later summer in her home country, by which time very likely she would have passed through the K-1 interview already. Is it okay that she says during the interview that we plan on having a small celebration in the home country even if it takes place after she is issued the visa?

[NandV 87]

We are planning on doing the marriage ceremony in the US and then after all the paperwork is done (AOS), we will go back to his country to do another celebration there. From what I've read on these forums, it is not recommended to have any type of celebration that can be seen as a wedding until after the K1 is completed (which is entry into the US)

[Mike E 11,740]

26 minutes ago, metuchen said:

Is it okay that she says during the interview that we plan on having a small celebration in the home country even if it takes place after she is issued the visa?

Be prepared to be denied the visa. 

[CrisBR 30]

1 hour ago, metuchen said:

I've seen that people advice against doing a church ceremony in the country of origin, even if it has no legal effect. My wish was to do a church ceremony in the country of origin (there is no legal effect in that country) so that my fiance's family can attend and then do a small wedding in the US, which will be the legal marriage. Can anyone advice me on the best direction? Should I just leave it to be a small celebration in the country of origin (so her family can attend) and do Church+Legal in the States? Thank you very much. 

Hello!

It’s not advised to show any photos of what may look like a wedding ceremony anywhere else.

It’s understandable if you want to have a small engagement ceremony, however, be very careful to not make it look like a wedding party.

The recommendation is to keep it very small, invite important members of the family and not wear anything that will look like a wedding garment.

Have a great journey. 

[aaron2020 11,651]

36 minutes ago, metuchen said:

Thank you for that advice. Given the pandemic, we plan on having such a celebration during the later summer in her home country, by which time very likely she would have passed through the K-1 interview already. Is it okay that she says during the interview that we plan on having a small celebration in the home country even if it takes place after she is issued the visa?

Telling the US Embassy that she plans to commit fraud by having a church ceremony after getting the visa and before going to the US is quick way to get a denial.

 

The K-1 is for a marriage in the US.  PERIOD.  That's what you applied for, so that is what you have to live with.  ANY religious ceremony clouds her status.  If you proceed, you risk her being denied a green card and up to denying her US citizenship.

If you wanted a religious ceremony in her country, you should have legally married her there and applied for a CR-1 spousal visa.  

We're not being hard asses.  We are telling you the cold harsh truth because of green cards and US citizenship have been denied when other people have had religious ceremony in their countries before entering the US on their K-1 visas.  

[Crazy Cat 41,975]

33 minutes ago, NandV said:

We are planning on doing the marriage ceremony in the US and then after all the paperwork is done (AOS), we will go back to his country to do another celebration there. From what I've read on these forums, it is not recommended to have any type of celebration that can be seen as a wedding until after the K1 is completed (which is entry into the US)

That is exactly what I would do.  Too many people have had ceremonies before the interview, then faced the "your too married for a K-1" catastrophe. 

[hopefulfor2021 31]

56 minutes ago, NandV said:

We are planning on doing the marriage ceremony in the US and then after all the paperwork is done (AOS), we will go back to his country to do another celebration there. From what I've read on these forums, it is not recommended to have any type of celebration that can be seen as a wedding until after the K1 is completed (which is entry into the US)

What we want to do as well, or even maybe later on.. This is fine, right?? Gives us time to save for the celebration too, and anyway, covid.

[Adventine 3,201]

Don't do any kind of ceremony that could be mistaken as a marriage, even AFTER being issued a K1 visa but BEFORE travelling to the US.

 

It's not worth the risk of it being discovered at the border ("Looks like you're already married, so you're ineligible to enter the US on a fiancé visa") or during the AOS process (same line of thinking).

[stag 51]

44 minutes ago, Adventine said:

Don't do any kind of ceremony that could be mistaken as a marriage, even AFTER being issued a K1 visa but BEFORE travelling to the US.

 

It's not worth the risk of it being discovered at the border ("Looks like you're already married, so you're ineligible to enter the US on a fiancé visa") or during the AOS process (same line of thinking).

Yes this is good to know. What if we just have a small celebration in her home country? Like an engagement party (but after the visa is given)? Because of COVID we couldn't do it in person unfortunately. 

 

1 hour ago, aaron2020 said:

Telling the US Embassy that she plans to commit fraud by having a church ceremony after getting the visa and before going to the US is quick way to get a denial.

 

The K-1 is for a marriage in the US.  PERIOD.  That's what you applied for, so that is what you have to live with.  ANY religious ceremony clouds her status.  If you proceed, you risk her being denied a green card and up to denying her US citizenship.

If you wanted a religious ceremony in her country, you should have legally married her there and applied for a CR-1 spousal visa.  

We're not being hard asses.  We are telling you the cold harsh truth because of green cards and US citizenship have been denied when other people have had religious ceremony in their countries before entering the US on their K-1 visas.  

Yes I understand and definitely don't want to do anything that goes against the rules and trying to learn more about what is right and wrong to do. Is it all right to just have a small engagement party in her home country (even after she gets the visa)? We couldn't do it in person beforehand because of the pandemic. 

Edited January 4, 2021 by metuchen

[Adventine 3,201]

Engagement parties are tricky. The idea is to avoid anything that could even be remotely misconstrued as a marriage.

 

A goodbye party (small number of invitees, no formal outfits, no formal participation of a pastor or other religious officiant) seems like a much safer plan.

 

 

[TBoneTX 45,469]

The larger point that folks are making here, and one that applies throughout the immigration process, is that you're free to do what you want as long as you're willing to accept the consequences.

 

There are so many potential potholes from beginning to end that I recommend taking every measure to minimize risk, whenever it's in one's hands to do so.

[SalishSea 17,916]

1 hour ago, metuchen said:

Yes this is good to know. What if we just have a small celebration in her home country? Like an engagement party (but after the visa is given)? Because of COVID we couldn't do it in person unfortunately. 

 

Yes I understand and definitely don't want to do anything that goes against the rules and trying to learn more about what is right and wrong to do. Is it all right to just have a small engagement party in her home country (even after she gets the visa)? We couldn't do it in person beforehand because of the pandemic. 

Sounds like you should have gotten married in your home country and then petitioned for a CR-1 visa instead. 

[stag 51]

2 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

Sounds like you should have gotten married in your home country and then petitioned for a CR-1 visa instead. 

But why? We are not getting married, we are simply doing a small party to celebrate our engagement and her going away. The wedding would be in the States.