Hi, everyone. Welcome, I'm Attorney Megan Pastrana.
Will it be a minus for my case if I don't do the religious ceremony
or wedding reception? I only did the civil ceremony. That's a really great question and we'll
have to put this on the YouTube channel as well so everybody can benefit from this information.
It looks like the same individual had some follow-up. It says, "We initially planned a
small wedding with just our close family members, parents, and siblings but my family cannot attend
that and being unable to work yet made me depressed and I don't want a reception anymore."
I'm really sorry to hear that. I know that the long wait times and then also, even when you're
together, that limbo of not being able to to work or really engage in day-to-day life, it's hard.
Please hang in there. First of all, and I'm sorry to hear that you're feeling that way,
but to answer your question, not necessarily so for immigration, it's your burden to
prove you have a real relationship. There are certain things that immigration will look at
that they consider to be important aspects of proving whether or not your relationship is real.
That's broken down into different categories. There is this category
of commingling of finances which means you have financial things together. Joint bank accounts
or joint financial obligations, that you're living together. Depending on your case type,
you might be living together. A joint lease or a home that you've purchased together. There's
what I like to call lovey-dovey relationship evidence. Photos and letters and cards and gifts
and things like that you've exchanged. Having that religious ceremony or that wedding reception, that
party with family and friends goes more into that category of that lovey-dovey relationship
evidence. That category is important but it's not the strongest type of evidence.
Immigration looks at that but it doesn't necessarily mean that they would deny your case
just because you didn't have a wedding ceremony or reception. We have lots of couples and we tell
all of our couples immigration has a cookie cutter way that they look at your relationship
and not every couple fits into that cookie cutter mold. What we do in our office is we work
with what you decide to do with your relationship and then we work with that to make sure we have
evidence that can help immigration see that you're in love. A lot of couples decide,
"Our family is in two different countries and we would rather use this money to buy a home instead
of having this religious ceremony." There's a lot of reasons why couples would decide to not have
that religious ceremony or that big party rather. Immigration might ask about that at the interview
and you just need to be prepared to tell the truth about why you decided to not have that ceremony.
Some couples decide, just like you were saying you said you feel depressed because you're in limbo.
Your family can't be there and there's just so many things that go into that feeling of
"I just don't feel like it". Please know you're not alone. A lot of individuals feel that because
the immigration process is stressful but I hope that you can look at it as you can always have
that party later. For a lot of my couples who tell me something like this, I asked them why don't we
talk about some other options and another option would be you have a celebration of your wedding,
of your love and of receiving your green card when you're done with the case. That's a celebration
that you can have with all of your family. Renew your vows and by then, when you are out of that
state of limbo, you'll be able to enjoy having that wedding ceremony, have your family there and
then also celebrate receiving your green card. I know that was a long explanation and that gave you
some life advice that went beyond the attorney hat that I wear but I hope that that's helpful
for both of you. Alright. I hope you feel better soon and I really hope that you get a decision
on your case soon. Alright, best of luck to you and keep us posted in the Facebook group.