ceremonial wedding

[shining_angel 1]

Do you think we wont have any problem if we will have a ceremonial wedding?

Shaun and I decided to have a wedding (ceremonial) 4-5 months from now. We will have complete entourage with matching primary sponsors, etc, excpt that there are no legal papers involved. im so excited..searching online for wedding program designs, wedding gown designs, etc. We dont want a big celebration..just a small intimate celebration with few friends and family (we are both on a tight budget) before we go to the US. I am hoping that we will be able to finalize our "wedding" preps prior to my interview at the embassy...and hopefully we will not be stressed out with the wedding preps and the K1 visa thing. i need suggestions..but i dont know about what..hehehe..im crazy...

[patiently_waiting 0]

in the past, i have seen where people have been refused visa on here because they had a ceremonial wedding. if USCIS has any doubts or reason to doubt you may already be married, you will be denied. having a ceremony may lead them to question if you are already married. like i said, i've seen it here in the past. do a search for psat posts and u may find them. it was within the last year.

[jom 4]

I have read a lot threads with the same question. If you look for these threads here, you will find lots of answers there. goodluck on your visa journey

[shining_angel 1]

thanks for the reply...ok will do an intensive research...

[pushbrk 14,333]

thanks for the reply...ok will do an intensive research...

Yes, it seems like we discuss this weekly. The discussions tend to boil down to "married is married". If you're not married, don't make the mistake of giving any indication you are, like referring to a husband or wife, or providing wedding pictures at the interview as proof of your undying love. (bona fide relationship)

[Yodrak 8]

shining_angel,

What are the marriage laws of the place where this ceremonial wedding will take place?

Are you sure?

Yodrak

Do you think we wont have any problem if we will have a ceremonial wedding?

Shaun and I decided to have a wedding (ceremonial) 4-5 months from now. We will have complete entourage with matching primary sponsors, etc, excpt that there are no legal papers involved. im so excited..searching online for wedding program designs, wedding gown designs, etc. We dont want a big celebration..just a small intimate celebration with few friends and family (we are both on a tight budget) before we go to the US. I am hoping that we will be able to finalize our "wedding" preps prior to my interview at the embassy...and hopefully we will not be stressed out with the wedding preps and the K1 visa thing. i need suggestions..but i dont know about what..hehehe..im crazy...

[shining_angel 1]

i will ask my friend how did they do it..she was on a K1 visa and she had a wedding (minus the legality stuff). i was there at her wedding but never got the time to talk about the fiancee visa thing. She is in US now..she left the country a month ago. 3 months after her "wedding". now i am having 2nd thoughts about doing this ceremonial wedding thing. but if ever we do it, im sure we will not show the photos to the immigration pips to give them reason to doubt.

[pushbrk 14,333]

i will ask my friend how did they do it..she was on a K1 visa and she had a wedding (minus the legality stuff). i was there at her wedding but never got the time to talk about the fiancee visa thing. She is in US now..she left the country a month ago. 3 months after her "wedding". now i am having 2nd thoughts about doing this ceremonial wedding thing. but if ever we do it, im sure we will not show the photos to the immigration pips to give them reason to doubt.

You are wise to look into it further and have a definite plan you have confidence in.

Let me just give you an example of how a local marriage law can be a problem. In most US States, a couple can be considered married by "common law" if they have cohabitated a minimum period of time. Usually this is some number of years. (7 is common)

However, in Texas the statute has no time frame. If you have ever been known to represent yourselves as "married" or as "wife" or "husband", then you are common law married, even if it was just to check-in to a motel for the night or literally, at a social event one time. Of course, this isn't the law in the PI but you will want to know what is.

[shining_angel 1]

wow...the replies are overwhelming..and looks like all replies are against the ceremonial wedding thing...*sigh* thank you everyone for giving us insights about this subject.

[pushbrk 14,333]

wow...the replies are overwhelming..and looks like all replies are against the ceremonial wedding thing...*sigh* thank you everyone for giving us insights about this subject.

I would read the responses as "cautionary" not "anti". Make a fully informed decision and then, no matter what the decision is, don't represent yourselves as husband and wife, ever, until you are.

[shining_angel 1]

u are right pushbr. i hope after 4 or 5 months this subject is still here for us to let fellow VJers know what option we acted upon.

[NeverSeen 0]

Well... i''ll let you now how it goes for me. I had a ceremonial wedding with the family and then a party afterwards with about 100+ guests. We did not do any paperwork. We are going to show pictures but they will not see the ones that have words like "Wedding" on them heheh. A buddy of mine had his wife come over on a k1 and did the same thing, no issues. I think you should just be careful. If my wife(fiance) is asked "why did you have one" she will more than likely respond "so my parents and family could see me married because they can not come to America" or something along those lines. Just remember.... no lying. But no volunteering information either.

Mind you i'm speaking for Vietnam.

[Jasman0717 9]

As long as the wedding isn't reported and registered with the NSO you shouldn't have a problem. Others have done this to satisfy the Filipino family while still not affecting the K-1 process.

Good luck

[eric_and_teresa 10]

Civil law (marriage law) is different from country to country. In some countries religious weddings are not legally binding, in some others they are. If someone wants to have a religious ceremony or ceremonial wedding in the fiance's country before entering the U.S. wiht a K-1 they need to make sure such ceremonies are not considered legally binding in the place were the ceremony is celebrated. If this type of ceremony is not recognized by the country's authorities then they should be safe entering the US with your K-1 visa. If the marriage is not valid in the place were it took place it wont be considered valid for the US authorities either. Now this is all in theory, as someone mentioned above if you make a mistake like referring to each other as husband and wife or bring your wedding pictures at the interview you'll be in trouble!

Edited August 13, 2007 by eric_and_teresa

[chris4gretchen 1]

i think one of the other worries is the crab mentality. If anyone is jealous of your girl or spiteful and went to the "ceremonial" wedding and got a few pics, at any time they can send it to the embassy saying you are lying on your visa etc. You'll have a hard time explaining if the consul has your pics with the word wedding in it. it has happened that so called friends have caused problems.

Chris