Need Some Advice For My Fiancee and I She is 17

[one...two...tree 2,762]

I just hope that maybe someone on here has had experience with a fiancee who was 17 when starting the visa process, and turned 18 at the end or in the middle of the process. However, as you suggested, I may have to talk to an attorney in the Phi. to find out our best options with the issue of her being only 17 at this point in time, with regards to getting the process started and making some progress over the next few months.

Two years ago, there was a VJ member who petitioned a 17-year old Filipina. She was issued a K1 visa by the US Embassy but our CFO (Commission on Filipinos Overseas) refused to issue his fiancee the stamp even if she had parental consent so she was not able to leave the country.

Philippine law states that parental consent given to a minor less than 18 years of age is null and void (Art. 35, Chapter 3 of the Family Code of the Philippines x x x "The following marriage shall be void from the beginning: (1) those contracted by any party below eighteen years of age even with the consent of parents or guardians".

Eventually, the girl was allowed to leave after she turned 18.

To answer your question, yes, the visa process may be jumpstarted but she would have to wait until she is 18 before the Philippine government allows her to leave the country for purposes of marriage.

Good post. I miss Patiently Waiting...she was always diligent about finding Philippine Law for situations like this.

[knowledge 0]

wait a minute...you said YOUR aunt who introduced you is HER cousin? If that's the case, blood related people are one of the important inelligibility rules for the USCIS if I recall well. Please check those instructions first to be sure, because if it's the case and you apply, that might put you and or her with families in trouble for the futur.

[Pinay Wife 47]

Good post. I miss Patiently Waiting...she was always diligent about finding Philippine Law for situations like this.

Hey Jabberwocky aka Mr. Fancypants aka Steven,

It's me! I've changed my screen name from PatientlyWaiting to Pinay Wife (PW still) because someone from Manila also used "patiently waiting" as her screen name. Since I'm waiting no more, I thought it was also time to change my name.

Your baby Joshua is so cute. Say hello to Jinky for me.

PW

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Good post. I miss Patiently Waiting...she was always diligent about finding Philippine Law for situations like this.

Hey Jabberwocky aka Mr. Fancypants aka Steven,

It's me! I've changed my screen name from PatientlyWaiting to Pinay Wife (PW still) because someone from Manila also used "patiently waiting" as her screen name. Since I'm waiting no more, I thought it was also time to change my name.

Your baby Joshua is so cute. Say hello to Jinky for me.

PW

Oh my!!!! Hahahahaha! Big HUG, sis!!!! Good to see you still posting! Thank your for the compliments about da baby...hehehe. I will tell Jinky 'hello'. Peace to you and your family!

[bevs 0]

love can wait! why rush and do it at the rigth time. does gf done on school? did she finish highshool? did she went to college? maybe while waiting send her to some short course if that shes not done with schooling yet and with that she can kill the waiting time.

[Stibnite 0]

A few things to consider here in your situation.

First and foremost, I recall in one of your posts that her aunt is your cousin.

In order for that to happen, that means your fiancee's parents are your cousins also. In addition, her parents or aunt are the children of one of your parent's brothers or sisters. That means you are planning to marry your second cousin.

If you mention this in any way to the consulate, you can watch yourself get denied on the spot--or some issues if they find out later somehow. They are not going to allow you to marry a member of your family--especially when one or more of the relatives are already in the United States. They will assume you are trying to bring a family member into the US using a quicker VISA method, rather than petitioning the correct way for a family member.

Perhaps I understood you incorrectly, but if you are serious about marrying her and love her, then take my advice and never mention she's related to you again. remove it from your vocabulary.

Next, when my wife and I went through the Fiancee Visa process, we were in communication with a number of other couples and we did what we could to assist them--just as others had assisted us.

One couple was young--actually both were 17 when they filed, and were 18 at the time of the processing. They filed with notarized documents offering parental consent on behalf of them both.

They met when they were 16 in the Botanicals of Baguio City when the boy's parents took the family for a vacation into the Philippines. Love at first sight, etc., etc.

They filed while still both 17, and only 2 months remaining until turning 18. By the time everything went through the system, the age seemed to not make any difference to either of them. All documents were approved with only 1 RFE, and they received their interview date.

The shock came when I took my now wife to the CFO office. That young couple was there also, along with both sets of parents who came along for support, and we spoke to them briefly before the officers made us guys go sit in the waiting room. No offense to the kid, but he really didn't look a day over 14, and his fiancee looked to be about 12 in my opinion. I personally have no idea how a couple that young could succeed in modern day United States, but that's not for me to judge thankfully. Even the officer thought the "kids" were just there while the adults were attending, and they started by asking the children to go to the waiting room--until they specified they were the ones petitioning--not their parents.

It was comical, I won't hesitate to say, but understand they were not at all interested in either of the parents accompanying the 18 yr old girl. They told them all to go sit in the waiting room.

After waiting a good hour, my wife comes back and is done with the first portion and was requesting a document she had left with me accidentally. While she was there, she whispered to me that the young girl was having problems and was crying.

She went back to the CFO upstairs, and upon hearing this I spoke to the boy and let him know his fiancee was crying and he should probably make sure she is OK. Unfortunately for him, he jumps up and starts causing a scene--acting quite immature *cough*, and gets his parents worked up into a frenzy. Everyone tries to calm him down, and all 5 of them went out the door and upstairs to find out what was wrong. You can only imagine the thoughts going through the minds of the filipino security guards when 3 Americans and 2 Filipinos charge up toward the office. They refused to let them up, so they went around the building and entered into the front door.

Long story short, the CFO refused to give her any stamp and scolded her harshly for making any attempt at getting married at 18 to an 18 year old boy. They did not care about her parents consent or presence, and suggested that she wait until she's 21 or older before making such a life altering commitment. They also told her since she had just so recently turned 18, then she must have petitioned while she was 17, and that was considered an unacceptable practice, etc.

The girl was obviously devastated, and they were forced to leave that day without the stamp.

The parents of the girl actually went as far as to get an authorized letter from the Philippine Governor or such, and they came back a couple of weeks later. According to them, they went through the process the second time and didn't even have to present the letter. This time the CFO was nice to her, and they just gave her doomsday stories about american marriages.

Bottom line is, you can petition while 17, but you are opening up a door of potential problems and headaches down the road. They "could" even go as far as to say that you were both ineligible to file when you started the petition and force you to file over again--but chances are they won't catch that.

I know another couple who simply dated all of the petitioning documents the day after the girl's birthday, and by the time their case went into the works, the date and age was accurate and the issue never came up. I'm not sure whether to advise that plan of action or not.

The CFO seems to be hit or miss, so perhaps it depends who is there that day.

I will tell you this one secret, though. If ever you file, try to time it so that your process all falls around a holiday. That way, the normal workers are off on vacations and there are fill-ins taking their place temporarily. My wife and I were fortunate to have ours on New Years, and as a result, EVERY single person we spoke with was a VERY kind, fill-in individual who didn't seem to be troubled like the normal workers will be. They seemed "less" experienced, if you get my drift.

Anyhow, why are you marrying your second cousin? I'm guessing you were raised in Alabama, sadly.

j/k

[dbears 1]

A few things to consider here in your situation.

First and foremost, I recall in one of your posts that her aunt is your cousin.

In order for that to happen, that means your fiancee's parents are your cousins also. In addition, her parents or aunt are the children of one of your parent's brothers or sisters. That means you are planning to marry your second cousin.

Anyhow, why are you marrying your second cousin? I'm guessing you were raised in Alabama, sadly.

j/k

In his first post on vj (http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...t&p=1843593)he mentioned his uncle marrying this aunt so in essence he is only related to the aunt (the fiancee's cousin) by marriage, therefore he doesn't have any blood relation to his fiancee at all.