Civil Marriage and Spouse Visa

R

ratrat

Registered Users (C)
I have a case scenario to pose and welcome and thoughts/comments...

Suppose my fiance is in India but is due to come to the USA on a work visa (L-1, B-1, etc.). While he is here, can we have a civil marriage and immediately start on the AOS process? I can show history of the relationship and all that, but will they require actual wedding pictures, details of the wedding etc. like they do when you interview in India for AOS/DCF?

Will a "quickie" civil marriage cause any suspicion in the minds of USCIS and prevent the AOS process from running smoothly?

Also, while the AOS is happening, does anyone have any personal experiences to share on how easy it was to obtain Advanced Parole/Travel Document so that we could go back to India and have the traditional wedding as well?

If I should be posting this in an alternate forum, please let me know. Now that I am at the tail end (hopefully) of my N-400 process, I was just looking ahead to next steps...

Thanks!

Ratrat
 
Hmm never thought of it like that :)

I will talk to a lawyer, but it seems to me like going back to India and trying for DCF or having my fiance apply for K-3 might be a cleaner option...

Ratrat
 
I think JoeF is right. Its the 'intent' which can cause problem. In this case, the intent is quite obvious.
 
ratrat said:
Hmm never thought of it like that :)

I will talk to a lawyer, but it seems to me like going back to India and trying for DCF or having my fiance apply for K-3 might be a cleaner option...

Ratrat
Click to expand...

Please keep the following in mind if you go DCF in India. It is still the fastest. However, they have the discretion to accept or not accept the application. Some things they look for:

(1) Big wedding
(2) Couple is traditional from indian standard

So if you are not traditional couple as defined by Indian custom. You could potentially have some hassle from INS New Delhi. I have heard experiences from one end to another. In my case, it was very smooth. But I just wanted you to take these into consideration.

Sundar
 
Rahul Kumar said:
Sundar,

Could you please share some experiences where DCF was denied to someone, if you know ?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Rahul,
I have seen one post on Britishexpats where they refused to accept the application because the wedding was small. I also read a second case where the DCF interview was rough. In both cases, the people going through felt and I agree to some extent that the issue was that it was not a traditional Indian marriage.

Also, note they are not rejecting your application. They are refusing to accept it. THis means that there is no adverse comment on your application if they do not accept. So you have to come back to states and apply for I-130 followed by I-129F for K3 visa.

Sundar

Sundar
 
Sundar_vaidya said:
(1) Big wedding
(2) Couple is traditional from indian standard
Click to expand...

Good to know - I was just trying to convince my mom to cut the guest list but I shall stop doing that :D My wedding will be big and is a traditional community affair so I think I will be OK. :p

I found this website (http://www.usaimmigrationattorney.com/DCFandnoDCFcountries.html) that states the following:

"Countries with U.S. Consulates Which Do Not Allow DCF by Non-Resident Visitor U.S. Citizens includes India. However, India appears to be a special case. The general rule is that the U.S. Consulate in New Delhi technically requires that the USC be a "resident" of India for one year, but also advises that they follow this rule "at their discretion". Some non-residents have been successful in applying for DCF. Contact the Consulate directly for more discussion. New Delhi is the only Consulate in India which will entertain DCF in those cases which they agree to accept."

Is this true? Did any of you guys live in India for an extended period of time before the wedding?

Thanks,

Ratrat
 
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