Their Wedding Was Delayed by COVID-19 Travel Bans. Now They Don't Know When They'll See Each Other Again

On a Wednesday in March, Savannah Malakoff was on the way to pick up her wedding dress from a shop in Danville when a flurry of text messages started to come in. "Have you checked the news?" her friends and family wanted to know. President Donald Trump had just announced a travel ban on 26 European countries.

The napkins had arrived in the mail with the wedding date printed on them; the final alterations on the bridesmaid dresses were complete; the flowers, the caterer, even the honeymoon in Mendocino was paid for. Everything was on track for the ceremony on April 14.

But Malakoff’s fiance, Malte Schmidt, was stuck in Germany and wouldn’t make it to San Francisco in time for their wedding day. The travel ban barred him and other foreigners from entering the United States if they had been in any of the 26 banned countries during the previous 14 days.

The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted life in innumerable ways — with major tragedies such as job loss, illness and death, as well as less drastic aggravations, including canceled summer vacations, uncertain school plans, and the inability to be close to family and friends.

Countless American couples have had to rethink their wedding plans, as social distancing requirements have shut down hotels, restaurants and other venues. But for those getting married to a sweetheart from a different country, the pandemic has caused even greater obstacles.

As the virus began surging early this year, Trump announced a series of increasingly stringent travel restrictions against other countries. In January, any foreigner who had been in China was banned from entry into the U.S. A month later, the ban was extended to Iran. As COVID-19 took hold in Europe, travel from those countries was prohibited in mid-March. At the end of May, Brazil was included in the travel ban. At the same time, the Trump administration has halted most work visas and new green cards for would-be immigrants outside the U.S. through the end of the year.

The U.S. is not the only nation shielding itself from the outside. Countries around the world have imposed restrictions or completely shut their borders, in an attempt to curb the spread of the disease. And with no cure in sight, it’s unclear when those borders will open again.

Some analysts believe Trump and other world leaders are using COVID-19 as a pretext to close borders. A crisis like this allows governments to advance agendas in ways they could not in normal times, says Muzaffar Chishti, a senior fellow with the Migration Policy Institute.

“We're not surprised that immigration restrictions are being put in place, because they have been part of the President's narrative almost since he took office and certainly during his campaign,” said Chishti. “The instinct in this administration is to be more careful. There is much more emphasis on screening people.”

When Malakoff, 19, and Schmidt, 23, learned of the travel restrictions on March 11, they still had hope. The ban wouldn’t take effect until Friday, which would give Schmidt 48 hours to make the trip from Germany to the U.S. But then they realized he would only be able to enter as a tourist. His K-1 “fiance” visa hadn’t yet been approved by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and without it, the government wouldn’t allow him to become a legal permanent resident based on their marriage.

So Schmidt reluctantly canceled his plane ticket and the couple postponed the wedding. The florist returned their money and so did the men’s clothing store where Schmidt was purchasing his suit. The hotel for the honeymoon offered a credit, not a refund, one they hope to eventually cash in.

“My wedding dress we’re keeping, of course,” said Malakoff.

More than 25,000 people were admitted on K-1 visas in 2018, based on the most recent data available, though the number dropped by 35% from just two years earlier. Couples like Malakoff and Schmidt have to pass a rigorous review in order to obtain the visa. In addition to providing police records, a medical examination and evidence of financial support, they need to show that their relationship is real.

Proving they were in love wasn’t hard for the young couple. They met at a bible school in Quebec in late 2017 and started dating the following summer. They stayed in touch when they returned to their respective countries and visited back and forth for the next two years, staying with each others’ families.

“They require you to write out your whole love story with every detail to show that it's an authentic relationship,” Malakoff recalled.

For her it included presenting photos, private text messages and boarding passes from their flights to visit each other. “People say that you do crazy things for love. But [you’ll do it] if that's what it takes,” she added.

It took Malakoff about a month to complete the petition, which she submitted in early December. Many couples hire an immigration lawyer to help fill out the form, something she and Schmidt couldn’t afford. She’s taking college classes and teaching math, and he worked in sales for a construction machinery business in Germany. The fiance visa petition alone cost $535, plus another $265 for Schmidt’s travel document and additional fees for things like his medical exam, birth certificate, passport and document translation.

Schmidt’s fiance petition was approved March 27 and, if not for the coronavirus, the couple would be married by now. Once Schmidt arrives in the U.S., they will have 90 days to tie the knot. But as long as the travel ban remains, they are still in limbo.

“The uncertainty is just extremely difficult for us,” said Schmidt by phone from his village outside Siegen, a university town in central Germany. “If we at least knew that the [COVID-19] restrictions would be over in three months or in half a year, that would make things much easier.” It has been eight months since he and Malakoff saw each other last.

Couples all over the world find themselves in similar circumstances. Border restrictions, shuttered embassies and other coronavirus disruptions have forced some engaged couples apart and turned plans upside down for others.

“To postpone our wedding for a whole year puts our life on hold,” said Faten Bushehri, a woman from Bahrain who’s engaged to a man in the Netherlands. “There are some things we just can’t reverse. In my culture, I’m not really allowed to have kids before we’re married. This whole year that we’re waiting worries me because I always wanted to be a young mom.”

Others are more philosophical. “I think you just need to understand that there’s nothing you can really do. It’s beyond your control,” said Antonello Russo, an Italian man engaged to a Czech woman. “There are so many people who are actually suffering much more than a young couple who wants to get married.”

For Malakoff in California and Schmidt in Germany, there’s nothing to do but wait and hope. The fiance petition was approved in late March, but it will expire July 26. And as long as international travel restrictions are in place, Schmidt still can’t enter the U.S. If the petition expires, they’ll have to file paperwork all over again.

“We finally have permission,” said Malakoff. “The only thing standing in our way now is this travel ban.”

For Malakoff and Schmidt, the wedding was supposed to be the starting point of a life together in California. For now, not only is the wedding postponed, but so is their ability to be together at all.