Can I do a quick, legal K1 marriage, then have a 2nd fancier wedding later?

[American 1911]

My brother is getting married around the time I want to bring my fiance over for K1 marriage.

Is it considered marriage fraud if we have a quick wedding now and then a second, fancier wedding later?

My second question is: would it be better to have a 'renewing of the vows' ceremony in place of a second wedding for the sake of legality?

If your response is: get a lawyer, then please explain why.

Thank you.

[samlynn]

Wedding

So just to be clear; you are saying that the fiance will come on K1 and then you have a quick wedding then later have another wedding?
As long as she arrives as your fiance and THEN you get married, even a quick one, that's fine. There is no rule that the wedding has to be a large event. Having another ceremony later is also no big deal. The larger wedding can be a wedding celebration. doesn't matter that the paperwork was already done.

And no, you don't have to get an attorney.

[American 1911]

Thanks Samlynn.
Yes, you are correct. Sorry, I can't edit the original post for clarity or else I would.

I was also considering just extending the K1 visa so that we could get it all done in 1 event after my brother has his wedding first. But, I've been reading that extensions can be risky because you might not get them in time.

So now the follow up question I have is this: How long can a person with my excuse get an extension for? Is an additional 3 months possible or has no one ever been given that much before? That would be a total of 180days. And it would be very helpful to know this ahead of time.

Also can my fiance work on a k1 extension?

I don't suppose I could ask for an extension immediately when I petition for the K1?

[newacct]

Thanks Samlynn.
Yes, you are correct. Sorry, I can't edit the original post for clarity or else I would.

I was also considering just extending the K1 visa so that we could get it all done in 1 event after my brother has his wedding first. But, I've been reading that extensions can be risky because you might not get them in time.

So now the follow up question I have is this: How long can a person with my excuse get an extension for? Is an additional 3 months possible or has no one ever been given that much before? That would be a total of 180days. And it would be very helpful to know this ahead of time.

Also can my fiance work on a k1 extension?

I don't suppose I could ask for an extension immediately when I petition for the K1?

Not sure what you mean by "extending" a visa. A US visa is only for entry and the visa's validity just means the period you can use it to enter, and K1 is single-entry anyway so it doesn't make any sense to extend the validity of the visa because you would just get the visa so that its validity covers the date of entry.

Maybe you mean extension of status? It's not possible to get extension of status for K1. If the marriage takes place more than 90 days after entry on K1, your spouse can still do AOS with no problems, but you will need to file an extra I-130 with the I-485 (because they no longer qualify for AOS based on the fiance petition which requires the marriage take place within 90 days of entry), which will mean a few hundred more dollars and more forms to fill out and more evidence of bona fide marriage that will need to be attached with the I-130.