shymira

They should be filing the CR-1 not K-3.

CR-1 grants green card on entry and is MUCH cheaper than K-3. K-3 you have to file AOS and wait around for the green card after, is more expensive and is basically obsolete at the NVC stage.

OP - only 1 wedding can be a legal wedding, you will have to figure which one will be the legal wedding. Generally marriage certs in Canada can take months to get. Where as in the US can take as little as a day or a couple of weeks. You will need the marriage certificate to file for the CR-1.

You will need a visa before you can permanently move to the USA.

You can however visit during the process and if you marry legally in the USA you can stay and visit while filing the CR-1 but do not over stay your time.

The wedding in Canada will be the legal one. The lawyer I talked to said it would be cheaper in the long run if we had the legal wedding in Canada, so my fiance and I decided on that. I just want to know if it's okay to have a 2nd ceremony in the USA a week after the legal one. I wouldn't be moving to the USA right after the 2nd ceremony; it's just not possible at this point, and it'd be pretty sketchy without having the paperwork done! I was planning on going back to Canada and waiting for all the paperwork and whatnot to be completed. However, I want to spend a few weeks or months with my husband after 2nd wedding. If we can't have that wedding right away, then that solves that problem.

I was also looking at the information on the visa types, and the CR-1 looked really helpful. I've never heard of the CR-1 until today, and neither has my fiance. He said he asked the lawyer if there were any options for us other than K-1 and K-3; apparently, the lawyer said no, and that K-3 was the proper visa for our situation. Guess I'll be asking about that if/when I get a call back from him.

If I'm not being clear enough on some points, just let me know and I'll try my best to explain things better. Thanks again!

Hello,

I wish I could have found this site and forum sooner; there's a lot of info here I didn't know! Anyway, my fiance (American citizen) and I (Canadian citizen) are getting married in July. We are having the first wedding in British Columbia and the second one a week later in New York. We wanted to do this so all our relatives could attend, since some of them can't travel long distances. The lawyer my fiance spoke with said it was fine to have 2 ceremonies; however, I don't think my fiance mentioned the wedding dates. I've been trying to contact the lawyer again, but he's extremely busy and I don't think I'll be getting a call back from him for a few days.

I had a few questions regarding this:

1. Can we have 2 weddings that close together, or will we have to delay the 2nd wedding in order for me to get a visa (we were thinking K-3, but now I see people saying that's a bad idea)?

2. If we CAN do the weddings a week apart, would I be able to remain in the USA for a few months before we start the visa paperwork?

Thank you very much for your time, and any help you can give us.