A Few Question About Utah Online Wedding-Spouse Visa

[Jeff&Abi 3]

Hello Everybody, 

 

So yesterday I was reading  a post about the waiting times for k1 visas currently stuck at the nvc waiting to be transferred to the Manila US Embassy and I decided to ask for an estimate for my k1 application that has been stuck at the NVC since April of this year, and I was told that there is a huge backlog and it could probably take up to 3 years to get an interview. I already knew how bad things are when it comes to k1 visas in the Phillipines but I didn't know it was that bad. 

 

Somebody suggested that having an online marriage could be a good idea and I could submit a new application for a CR-1, and at this point I'm seriously considering it after speaking with my fiance. I know that there some threads explaining how to do it and I have read as much as I can but I still have a few question and hopefully somebody can help me out. But first, a few important details about our situation:

 

-We met online in May of 2019 and in person in December of 2019. When I came back to the States, the plan was to see each other around March of 2020, come back, and file for the visa but the virus had other plans for us and we haven't been able see each other for almost 2 years.

 

-I filed for the k1 visa in July of 2020 and got my NO2A in February of 2021. In April, I got my case number from the NVC and since that day my case has been stuck at the NVC.  

 

My question are:

 

1) Would it be worth it to abandon the case, get married and start all over again with a CR-1 visa after waiting for more than a year since the application date? I know it's a decision that only I can take but I would like to know everybody's opinion.

 

2) Has anybody from the Philippines gone thru this process? I know there was a thread about a lady that married her boyfriend from Costa Rica and everything worked out for them but I would think that every consulate is different and I don't want to go to thru all this to be told no at the end.

 

3)Would it be possible to consummate the marriage outside the Philippines? My fiance has never left the country before and I'm afraid they won't her exit the country or what's even worse, come back after the trip. I understand that I can get a visa to enter the Philippines after getting married but at this moment is not realistic for me to spend 10 days quarantining in a hotel and I was thinking that maybe meeting a place like Turkey could be a good idea.

 

4) If everything goes well, would getting a CFO to exit the Philippines be a problem for her assuming our visa gets approved? I've read many different opinions about this that I don't know what to believe, some people say that getting a CFO with an online marriage is impossible while others believe otherwise. 

 

Again, I apologize if all this has been asked before I'm just trying to put all this information together to take an informed decision in the near future.

 

Thanks! 

 

 

 

 

[Adventine 3,187]

I know it's a big decision, and here's my feedback on your questions:

 

1) Would it be worth it to abandon the case, get married and start all over again with a CR-1 visa after waiting for more than a year since the application date? I know it's a decision that only I can take but I would like to know everybody's opinion.

Yes, for the simple reason that if you continue with the K1, even after the K1 visa is granted, your spouse will face another long wait to get her work permit, travel permit, and/or green card. Some people wait months or even years. Even if you can financially afford the long wait, your spouse may have trouble adjusting to her new life if she cannot work or travel home for an unknown period of time. Some people also report issues obtaining SSNs, driver's licenses, bank accounts, and health insurance. Many threads here on VJ about couples who separate, partially because of the stress waiting for the EAD/AP/GC, or one or more of the related bureaucratic complications. The spousal visa avoids all these issues from the moment your spouse steps foot on US soil.

 

2) Has anybody from the Philippines gone thru this process? I know there was a thread about a lady that married her boyfriend from Costa Rica and everything worked out for them but I would think that every consulate is different and I don't want to go to thru all this to be told no at the end.

There are some posters here who are going through the process. There are some stories of US spousal visas granted by other consulates on the basis of an online marriage, but none yet specifically from the US embassy in Manila. Hopefully someone with first hand experience comes along soon.

 

3)Would it be possible to consummate the marriage outside the Philippines? My fiance has never left the country before and I'm afraid they won't her exit the country or what's even worse, come back after the trip. I understand that I can get a visa to enter the Philippines after getting married but at this moment is not realistic for me to spend 10 days quarantining in a hotel and I was thinking that maybe meeting a place like Turkey could be a good idea.

You can consummate the marriage anywhere in the world that you can physically meet. If your fiance has trouble leaving the Philippines (and she likely will because she's never traveled overseas before), then your next option will be to visit her in the Philippines. Expensive and inconvenient, but not impossible.

 

4) If everything goes well, would getting a CFO to exit the Philippines be a problem for her assuming our visa gets approved? I've read many different opinions about this that I don't know what to believe, some people say that getting a CFO with an online marriage is impossible while others believe otherwise. 

I haven't heard of any CFO stories related to online marriage yet. I don't see how it could be a problem especially if you can prove you've been in a legitimate relationship for years. 

 

 

[top_secret 2,062]

2)  You can see several confirmed cases in some Facebook groups of the Utah Marriages being accepted and CR-1 visas being issued by US Embassy Manila.  I think I have heard of 2 cases where apparently it went through without question and CR-1 visas were issued. There is one recent more detailed account where the beneficiary reported that she was questioned fairly extensively about it by the Filipino counsel doing the pre-interview review.  She said the Filipino counsel was unfamiliar with the Utah marriage process but after having it explained to her, she concluded it was a proxy marriage, verified passport stamps that they had met after the wedding and before filing and sent the case through.  The American counsel doing the actual interview didn't mention it in that case and the visa was issued.  So far, I have not seen any accounts of any couples experiencing any significant blowback from US Embassy Manila over the Utah marriages.

[Jeff&Abi 3]

1 hour ago, Adventine said:

I know it's a big decision, and here's my feedback on your questions:

 

1) Would it be worth it to abandon the case, get married and start all over again with a CR-1 visa after waiting for more than a year since the application date? I know it's a decision that only I can take but I would like to know everybody's opinion.

Yes, for the simple reason that if you continue with the K1, even after the K1 visa is granted, your spouse will face another long wait to get her work permit, travel permit, and/or green card. Some people wait months or even years. Even if you can financially afford the long wait, your spouse may have trouble adjusting to her new life if she cannot work or travel home for an unknown period of time. Some people also report issues obtaining SSNs, driver's licenses, bank accounts, and health insurance. Many threads here on VJ about couples who separate, partially because of the stress waiting for the EAD/AP/GC, or one or more of the related bureaucratic complications. The spousal visa avoids all these issues from the moment your spouse steps foot on US soil.

 

2) Has anybody from the Philippines gone thru this process? I know there was a thread about a lady that married her boyfriend from Costa Rica and everything worked out for them but I would think that every consulate is different and I don't want to go to thru all this to be told no at the end.

There are some posters here who are going through the process. There are some stories of US spousal visas granted by other consulates on the basis of an online marriage, but none yet specifically from the US embassy in Manila. Hopefully someone with first hand experience comes along soon.

 

3)Would it be possible to consummate the marriage outside the Philippines? My fiance has never left the country before and I'm afraid they won't her exit the country or what's even worse, come back after the trip. I understand that I can get a visa to enter the Philippines after getting married but at this moment is not realistic for me to spend 10 days quarantining in a hotel and I was thinking that maybe meeting a place like Turkey could be a good idea.

You can consummate the marriage anywhere in the world that you can physically meet. If your fiance has trouble leaving the Philippines (and she likely will because she's never traveled overseas before), then your next option will be to visit her in the Philippines. Expensive and inconvenient, but not impossible.

 

4) If everything goes well, would getting a CFO to exit the Philippines be a problem for her assuming our visa gets approved? I've read many different opinions about this that I don't know what to believe, some people say that getting a CFO with an online marriage is impossible while others believe otherwise. 

I haven't heard of any CFO stories related to online marriage yet. I don't see how it could be a problem especially if you can prove you've been in a legitimate relationship for years. 

 

 

Thank you for detailed answers, Adventine. I think, at this point, getting married online is the best option that we have and after reading your response I feel more confident that we can do it even though it won't be easy but nothing is easy nowadays in this pandemic that seems to never end.

A got a few more questios if you don't mind:

-Would I need to cancel the k1 visa or do I just submit a I-130 after the wedding and consummation?

-I have limited time off at work, would my fiance be able to visit me or stay with me at the hotel while during my quarantine? I can probably get 10 days off at work and after that I would need to come back to the States. It will suck to be stuck in a hotel in such a beautiful country but it is what it is. 

 

[Jeff&Abi 3]

53 minutes ago, top_secret said:

2)  You can see several confirmed cases in some Facebook groups of the Utah Marriages being accepted and CR-1 visas being issued by US Embassy Manila.  I think I have heard of 2 cases where apparently it went through without question and CR-1 visas were issued. There is one recent more detailed account where the beneficiary reported that she was questioned fairly extensively about it by the Filipino counsel doing the pre-interview review.  She said the Filipino counsel was unfamiliar with the Utah marriage process but after having it explained to her, she concluded it was a proxy marriage, verified passport stamps that they had met after the wedding and before filing and sent the case through.  The American counsel doing the actual interview didn't mention it in that case and the visa was issued.  So far, I have not seen any accounts of any couples experiencing any significant blowback from US Embassy Manila over the Utah marriages.

That's very good news, top_secret. I will keep informing and educating myself about this option and hopefully by the end of next year, she'll be here with me already and what's even better she won't have to wait for a work/travel permit. 

 

Thank you! 

[Adventine 3,187]

15 minutes ago, Jeff&Abi said:

Thank you for detailed answers, Adventine. I think, at this point, getting married online is the best option that we have and after reading your response I feel more confident that we can do it even though it won't be easy but nothing is easy nowadays in this pandemic that seems to never end.

A got a few more questios if you don't mind:

-Would I need to cancel the k1 visa or do I just submit a I-130 after the wedding and consummation?

-I have limited time off at work, would my fiance be able to visit me or stay with me at the hotel while during my quarantine? I can probably get 10 days off at work and after that I would need to come back to the States. It will suck to be stuck in a hotel in such a beautiful country but it is what it is. 

 

 

Just submit the I-130. Here's what we did when we cancelled our K1:

 

- There's a section in the I-130 that asks "Have you ever filed a petition for this person before?" We selected yes and wrote on the form: "Withdrew I-129F fiance petition. Married now."

- Sent a message through the Ask NVC web page indicating we were married.

 

As for her visiting you during quarantine, it will depend on your hotel. But I don't think any hotel will advertise that they allow quarantine visitors. The government would shut that down right away.

[Joe Kano 327]

11 hours ago, Jeff&Abi said:

That's very good news, top_secret. I will keep informing and educating myself about this option and hopefully by the end of next year, she'll be here with me already and what's even better she won't have to wait for a work/travel permit. 

 

Thank you! 

Don't believe all the scare tactics about hard to get SSN, Bank Account, etc on K1. We went to Bank Of America the 3rd day she was here and got a joint account, we were at the SS office the same day and she had her SSN within couple of weeks.

 

As far as work permit, travel permit, green card that all varies with how USCIS is handling it at the time period. Some times they will issue a EAD/AP Card before they give you greencard, and some times they will wait to issue a 2 year greencard.  I have seen USCIS do both and with the EAD/AP greencard that takes about 2 months after arrival on K1, with greencard it takes about 5 months. 

 

In normal times K1 is better in my opinion since it gives you 90 days to live together to help make sure marriage is best, I have seen a few people leave before the 90 days, and you can read a bout a few in the Family sections about leaving a few weeks after entering the USA.

 

If you have assets or and you want to do a prenup, more than likely it will be thrown out of court in the USA since your wife didn't seek separate counsel from a US lawyer if you decide to get a pre nup, since she was never in the USA.

 

Just be aware of all the ups and down, thankfully you have meet your fiance some guys are doing online marriages without meeting in person.   With the way things are now I just don't see a K1 being processed anytime soon as in years.  So that's my 2 cents. 

[Joe Kano 327]

13 hours ago, Jeff&Abi said:

That's very good news, top_secret. I will keep informing and educating myself about this option and hopefully by the end of next year, she'll be here with me already and what's even better she won't have to wait for a work/travel permit. 

 

Thank you! 

End of Next year is your goal. I may stick with a K1 then since it's filed.  Another thing a K1 gives you is 3 to 9 month time of living together before the greencard is approved, that way if you need to pull your sponsorship after getting married and filing the Adjustment of Status you have a time long time frame to either not file or revoke it.  Once the greencard is issued it game over.

 

You do a Spousal Visa you stuck like chuck the day she enters the USA and has a greencard in case your marriage goes sour.

[jskibo 588]

57 minutes ago, Joe Kano said:

 

 

You do a Spousal Visa you stuck like chuck the day she enters the USA and has a greencard in case your marriage goes sour.

Joe is our regional forum romantic specialist