Civil vs Church Marriage in the Philippines

[Caryh 5,206]

We're both catholic and I'm single with a clean record We're going to wait until her annulment case is completely finished before we get married.

That's one of my fears, that we get married in the Pi, register everything legally...but then somehow get denied at her interview! Hopefully my lawyer can handle this..

Isn't K-1 more difficult than Spousal visa? Because they want to make sure that you are a legitimate couple. I figured if we were married over there, then the Spousal interview might not be as bad, and they may even grant us a Green card on the spot...

Oh, I didn't know you could do that.. K-1, get married in US, then get married again in the Philippines. Hmm I'll have to take that into consideration..

But she's doing the legal annulment? That is not the same as a Catholic church annulment.

You're not really getting married legally when you return. It would probably better be called a delayed church wedding ceremony.

Very few people actually get denied a K-1 and even fewer get denied a CR-1 visa in the Philippines. Usually the denial comes about because of a rather serious issue, like the immigrant is already married to someone else, or the petitioner doesn't make enough income to qualify. Being afraid to answer the questions, or not knowing their fiancee or spouse well at all, can also be an issue that leads to denial. But it sounds like you and your fiancee know each other pretty well.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

But she's doing the legal annulment? That is not the same as a Catholic church annulment.

You're not really getting married legally when you return. It would probably better be called a delayed church wedding ceremony.

Very few people actually get denied a K-1 and even fewer get denied a CR-1 visa in the Philippines. Usually the denial comes about because of a rather serious issue, like the immigrant is already married to someone else, or the petitioner doesn't make enough income to qualify. Being afraid to answer the questions, or not knowing their fiancee or spouse well at all, can also be an issue that leads to denial. But it sounds like you and your fiancee know each other pretty well.

Good post. Most newbies think it is hard to get a K-1. As you said unless there is a big red flag and it's usually someone not legally divorced, bad NBI check and I think number one is the petitioner not meeting income requirements, it's basically an admin procedure.

As the usual newbie I hired a lawyer (who was worthless) Tried to maintain a truckload of evidence. Both were absurd on my part.

[xwind 10]

But she's doing the legal annulment? That is not the same as a Catholic church annulment.

You're not really getting married legally when you return. It would probably better be called a delayed church wedding ceremony.

Very few people actually get denied a K-1 and even fewer get denied a CR-1 visa in the Philippines. Usually the denial comes about because of a rather serious issue, like the immigrant is already married to someone else, or the petitioner doesn't make enough income to qualify. Being afraid to answer the questions, or not knowing their fiancee or spouse well at all, can also be an issue that leads to denial. But it sounds like you and your fiancee know each other pretty well.

I didn't know there was a difference between a legal annulment and church annulment. When applying for a marriage license I believe you have to present any annulment papers, and that license is what you give the pastor for a church wedding...so I thought they were the same thing. Our lawyer over there said we could get married as long as the legal paperwork is done and registered at the NSO, but maybe he just meant civil wedding?

Good post. Most newbies think it is hard to get a K-1. As you said unless there is a big red flag and it's usually someone not legally divorced, bad NBI check and I think number one is the petitioner not meeting income requirements, it's basically an admin procedure.

As the usual newbie I hired a lawyer (who was worthless) Tried to maintain a truckload of evidence. Both were absurd on my part.

I originally wasn't going to hire a lawyer, but due to the annulment, I just wanted to make sure I got everything correct -- a very expensive person to double check my work. And yeah he's doing the same with me, truckload of evidence, he's been requesting all sorts of info not even required by any of the K1 or I-130 forms! He's also been difficult to deal with, hard to get a hold of when I have questions or uncertainties, and when he responds to my questions it's usually a very short 1 line answer. If I didn't already downpay half of our contract, I'd end our agreement.

Since you guys went through the K-1, how was the interview like? Were you able to attend the interview with your fiance or are beneficiaries required to be alone? My fiance can't speak English, maybe just a little bit, I don't know if that'd be a factor against us. I guess that was another reason why I wanted to go the Spousal route, so I could be at the interview and answer everything. We basically decided to go Spousal because we're afraid of the K1 interview, even though we have no red flags or anything to hide/cover. We have a son too, who we've already obtained his US citizenship at the US embassy in Manila... I thought that'd even be further proof that we're a legit couple, but I wasn't sure if he'd be able to attend on a K1 interview..

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

I didn't know there was a difference between a legal annulment and church annulment. When applying for a marriage license I believe you have to present any annulment papers, and that license is what you give the pastor for a church wedding...so I thought they were the same thing. Our lawyer over there said we could get married as long as the legal paperwork is done and registered at the NSO, but maybe he just meant civil wedding?

I originally wasn't going to hire a lawyer, but due to the annulment, I just wanted to make sure I got everything correct -- a very expensive person to double check my work. And yeah he's doing the same with me, truckload of evidence, he's been requesting all sorts of info not even required by any of the K1 or I-130 forms! He's also been difficult to deal with, hard to get a hold of when I have questions or uncertainties, and when he responds to my questions it's usually a very short 1 line answer. If I didn't already downpay half of our contract, I'd end our agreement.

Since you guys went through the K-1, how was the interview like? Were you able to attend the interview with your fiance or are beneficiaries required to be alone? My fiance can't speak English, maybe just a little bit, I don't know if that'd be a factor against us. I guess that was another reason why I wanted to go the Spousal route, so I could be at the interview and answer everything. We basically decided to go Spousal because we're afraid of the K1 interview, even though we have no red flags or anything to hide/cover. We have a son too, who we've already obtained his US citizenship at the US embassy in Manila... I thought that'd even be further proof that we're a legit couple, but I wasn't sure if he'd be able to attend on a K1 interview..

I did not go to the interview, i did not have time and she would be here shortly after.

Several in here did go, it's just a personal choice.

It is my understanding that they can do the interview in Tagalog.

[Caryh 5,206]

I didn't know there was a difference between a legal annulment and church annulment. When applying for a marriage license I believe you have to present any annulment papers, and that license is what you give the pastor for a church wedding...so I thought they were the same thing. Our lawyer over there said we could get married as long as the legal paperwork is done and registered at the NSO, but maybe he just meant civil wedding?

The legal annulment process isn't that much different than legal annulment here in many states in the USA. Of course they put their own twist on it, with paid headshrinks to claim conditions on why there can be one. Without legal divorce, do they have any other choice?

The lawyer is referring to legally getting married, or a civil wedding. Yes you can get a license to marry, but that doesn't mean a church has to marry you. I know at least in the USA, a catholic cannot remarry in the church without a catholic annulment. I can't imagine the Philippine Catholic church being any different in that regard, given its a dictate out of Rome, and if anything the church there is even more conservative than it is here.