Joel C

Thanks again everyone for the very helpful feedback, and I'm sorry that this thread ended up causing a bit of tension between members. I think it is quite clear that having any sort of engagement party/celebration/ceremony prior to V-1 issuance could be construed as a marriage and therefore will increase the risk of denial. It is a quite frustrating that even though a cultural ceremony is not a valid marriage in Turkey (and therefore not a valid Marriage to the U.S. government), that the consulate would consider my fiance and I to be married. Anyhow, we'll take the advice of the experienced members here and not risk it.  Please wish us luck!

Sorry wrong thread!

Thanks everyone for the solid advice. I honestly didn't expect this response; I figured it wouldn't be a big deal given that the ceremony would not be legal in Turkey and therefore not officially recognized in the U.S., either. We also received feedback from the a U.S. consulate affairs officer in Turkey that it would be better to pursue a K-1 rather than CR-1 (she did not explain why). So I think we will still have an engagement party but hold off on any type of formal or informal wedding celebration in Turkey until after we get married officially in the U.S. Thanks again, and wish us luck!

Quick question about how USCIS/Consulate views Turkish wedding ceremonies in relation to a K1 visa application. We are just starting the K-1 process (submitted the I-129F last week), and while that process is pending we would also like to have a ceremony in Turkey with her family. It would be a cultural ceremony only with no official marriage paperwork filed with the Turkish civil authority, but I’m not sure if USCIS would view that ceremony as an official marriage, and if so, how that would impact our K-1 application. Is there any chance that USCIS would consider us to be “married” and we would therefore need to apply for the spouse visa instead of K1?

Under Turkish law religious ceremonies have no legal effect, and weddings must be performed according to the civil marriage code of Turkey.  

And, USCIS states that a marriage is valid if:

• The marriage is valid under law in the place where the marriage happened.

Therefore it would follow that we will not be officially married and we can still apply for K-1 fiance visa. Does that sound accurate?

Hi All – I am new here so my apologies if this question has already been answered. I am a petitioner working on form I-129F and I have a quick question about previous addresses to include (or not) on my I-129f. In 2013 I worked for 3 weeks in Thailand and for 5 weeks in Uganda, each time I stayed at a hotel. My primary address remained at my home in Vermont during those visits. But the I-129f instructions state “Provide the addresses for the places you have resided over the last five years”. I’m not sure if spending 3/5 weeks in Thailand/Uganda would qualify as residing in those countries. So my question is, should I list the addresses of the hotels where I stayed during those short-term visits? Or is it better to not include them? Thanks very much for any insight!