Help !!!

[Maju 3]

I just got home from the airport. I was in Peru to get married. We had a "religious" wedding BUT no "civil" wedding. My not yet legal wife needed to have her middle name removed (I won't go into why this had to be done) before we could have the civil wedding. This process of having the name change took a lot longer then expected, so we could not have the civil wedding before I returned home today.

Now, what should I do? Go back to Peru in 2 months and get legally married or start the K-1 K-2 ????Which would be the FASTEST way? The main reason we wanted to get married in Peru was so her family could attend the wedding, which they did, as well as my family. So now where we get legally married is not important.

Just want to know what might be the fastest way to get her here!!!!

[Dan J 277]

I just got home from the airport. I was in Peru to get married. We had a "religious" wedding BUT no "civil" wedding. My not yet legal wife needed to have her middle name removed (I won't go into why this had to be done) before we could have the civil wedding. This process of having the name change took a lot longer then expected, so we could not have the civil wedding before I returned home today.

Now, what should I do? Go back to Peru in 2 months and get legally married or start the K-1 K-2 ????Which would be the FASTEST way? The main reason we wanted to get married in Peru was so her family could attend the wedding, which they did, as well as my family. So now where we get legally married is not important.

Just want to know what might be the fastest way to get her here!!!!

Well it depends, if you want the least trouble, just get legally married. It will take a little longer but you shouldn't have any problems.

As far as doing K-1/K-2, it depends on how much information you give. If you tell the CO or border officers, that you had a wedding, it could cause problems even if it was not legal. Just treat it as an engagement party. She is not your not yet legal wife, she is your fiancee.

[pushbrk 12,174]

I just got home from the airport. I was in Peru to get married. We had a "religious" wedding BUT no "civil" wedding. My not yet legal wife needed to have her middle name removed (I won't go into why this had to be done) before we could have the civil wedding. This process of having the name change took a lot longer then expected, so we could not have the civil wedding before I returned home today.

Now, what should I do? Go back to Peru in 2 months and get legally married or start the K-1 K-2 ????Which would be the FASTEST way? The main reason we wanted to get married in Peru was so her family could attend the wedding, which they did, as well as my family. So now where we get legally married is not important.

Just want to know what might be the fastest way to get her here!!!!

Well it depends, if you want the least trouble, just get legally married. It will take a little longer but you shouldn't have any problems.

As far as doing K-1/K-2, it depends on how much information you give. If you tell the CO or border officers, that you had a wedding, it could cause problems even if it was not legal. Just treat it as an engagement party. She is not your not yet legal wife, she is your fiancee.

You're not married. As long as you don't represent that you are, the K1 will be faster because you don't have to wait 2 months to file the petition. If it's going to take you that long to put the petition and supporting documentation together then just do what suits you.

[TinTin and Samby 11]

As far as doing K-1/K-2, it depends on how much information you give. If you tell the CO or border officers, that you had a wedding, it could cause problems even if it was not legal. Just treat it as an engagement party. She is not your not yet legal wife, she is your fiancee.

Excellent Advise!!

-Samby

[Maju 3]

Thank you. I realize she is not my wife legally and is still considered my fiancée. But I did NOT know that I might want to keep the religious wedding a secret. I thought this might have helped.

[HuffyTheSlayer 22]

Maju, the reason this won't help if you are going to take the K1 route is because they may believe that you are actually legally married, and therefore do not qualify for the K1, which is a fiancee visa.

[maya62 7]

I would check very thoroughly to be sure you are not legally married in Peru. If you are not, both avenues are still open.

As a wise person here once said "it is much easier to prove that you are married, than to prove that you are not married."

I can't advise on which is faster, but if you choose K1 (so you can start immediately), you are going to have to be careful. On the one hand, lying or trying to hide anything (eg, about the ceremony that has already taken place) would be a BIG mistake. On the other hand, there have been posts here about fiance(e)s being turned around at the POE for using the word "wife" or "husband" when trying to enter on with a K1. So you need to understand about the process, the people involved, what their authority/role is, and how you and your fiancee need to behave.

We did essentially the same thing as you, but in Nepal.... we had a religious ceremony to please my husband's family. We then realized we had put ourselves in a bit of a quandry, consulted a BUNCH of people, including attorneys here and an attorney on a list recommended by the US Consulate in Kathmandu. Ultimately, we were cautious but truthful. We tried to avoid giving them photos where we were wearing our rings, but we didn't have many photos and they asked for more, so at the interview my (now) husband did give them photos with the rings in them. Whether because of our inquiry with the lawyer, or because of the photos perhaps, my husband was asked at the Consular interview whether or not we had had a ceremony, and he answered truthfully that we had. He was asked a few more questions about it, and his answers were apparently satisfactory because he and our son were granted visas.

We also took the precaution of not wearing our rings through the POE, and we mailed photos of our ceremony home to ourselves rather than carry them in our luggage through the POE.

Best wishes, whatever you decide, and remember to always tell the truth (and tell your partner to do the same).

Maya

[TimsDaisy 0]

You aren't married. Either route is open. You can file the K1 today. To file a K3, you need to return and legally marry, in whatever form required by local laws. K1s seem to process faster generally. Plus, no delay in filing.

Determining whether or not you are legally married, and what level of risk you're comfortable with, is nothing we can help with here.

Suffice to say that apparently, people in the real-non-VJ world have religious/cultural celebrations prior to emigrating all the time, with not concerns at the border.

Don't be a moron about it when you try to come in. If the question "are you married" comes up, your answer is "no." Any other information is not an answer to the question and needn't be offered.

But if you're a worrier, then go back to Peru, legally marry, and file the K3. Fairly easy decision once you remove the fear.

[Maju 3]

OK things have gotin more complicated. My fiancee has told me her name won't be change until maybe November. We both can't wait that long. SO, I want to start the K-1/2 Visa. Some documents were submitted to the city hall in Peru. I asked my fiancee to see if this would be a problem. This is what she wrote me in an email.

"I will try to get the documents back from the City Hall, I'm not sure it's possible. I asked the City Hall about the Civil Wedding, I wanted to know if they consider that the process is already started since they gave us the wedding edict, but they said it's not considered in the process until the documents are complete .. So, there won't be any record of marriage from us at the city hall. "

So should just not say anything about the religous wedding( unless asked )?

Or should I submit a paper with the K-1 petition explaining everything?

"Who" will and how much looking will "they" do to see if we are already married?

THANK YOU

[1Cor13 0]

OK things have gotin more complicated. My fiancee has told me her name won't be change until maybe November. We both can't wait that long. SO, I want to start the K-1/2 Visa. Some documents were submitted to the city hall in Peru. I asked my fiancee to see if this would be a problem. This is what she wrote me in an email.

"I will try to get the documents back from the City Hall, I'm not sure it's possible. I asked the City Hall about the Civil Wedding, I wanted to know if they consider that the process is already started since they gave us the wedding edict, but they said it's not considered in the process until the documents are complete .. So, there won't be any record of marriage from us at the city hall. "

So should just not say anything about the religous wedding( unless asked )?

Or should I submit a paper with the K-1 petition explaining everything?

"Who" will and how much looking will "they" do to see if we are already married?

THANK YOU

It is your call. My fiancee and I will get married religiously in Peru, so that her family and friends can be there. We are then going to fly to the US and have the Civil Wedding. We filed the paperwork back in July and believe that the process will be complete by the end of February.

I spoke with a Lawyer here in the US about having the Religious Wedding in Peru and she stated that since you are not legally married outside the US then you can still TRUTHFULLY state that you are not married when entering the US. In order to be legally married in Peru you must have the Civil Wedding! The religious ceremony is not legally binding nor recognized in Peru.

I hope this info helps at least a little bit.

Good luck,

Matt