Will a Hong Kong Divorce be accepted in Manila USE?

[Steven Shirley 0]

My fiancee lives and working in Hong Kong, and hearing of the problems / difficulties with obtaining an anullment in Philippines, she filed for divorce in Hong Kong. The divorce was completed entirely legally.....But will the US Embassy in Manila grant her K1 Visa with the Hong Kong divorce?

We have already filed and recieved NOA1...any comments or suggestions will be helpful!

have a blessed day!

[N360 0]

My fiancee lives and working in Hong Kong, and hearing of the problems / difficulties with obtaining an anullment in Philippines, she filed for divorce in Hong Kong. The divorce was completed entirely legally.....But will the US Embassy in Manila grant her K1 Visa with the Hong Kong divorce?

We have already filed and recieved NOA1...any comments or suggestions will be helpful!

have a blessed day!

She and her husband were married in the PI and I'm assuming they're both Filipino citizens. I dont know how a foreign government can have a legal jurisdiction over her marriage. I'm sure what she did in Hongkong was legal but I'm not sure if its legal in the Philippines which I believe matters more.

You might need to consult an immigration attorney on this one. Or hopefully someone else had a very similar experience.

It'll be very interesting to know how the USCIS and/or US embassy will take a look at this case.

You indicated that you've already filed for K1. There's really not much you can do here but wait to see if USCIS will approve the petition.

Good luck

Edited March 5, 2008 by NoelandTintin

[manilagirl 0]

You should've asked first before filing for a K-1 petition.your fiancee i bet is just working in Hongkong so her citizenship is still Filipino and since divorce is not being acknowledged here in the Philippines,it'll not be honored.she still has to file for an annulment in order to be legally free to get married again.

check this out : Philippines

and just like what noelandtintin said,you might want to consult a lawyer for legal advice.

good luck

[N360 0]

You should've asked first before filing for a K-1 petition.your fiancee i bet is just working in Hongkong so her citizenship is still Filipino and since divorce is not being acknowledged here in the Philippines,it'll not be honored.she still has to file for an annulment in order to be legally free to get married again.

check this out : Philippines

and just like what noelandtintin said,you might want to consult a lawyer for legal advice.

good luck

Thanks for the link. Very informative. Just realized that even if Steven_Shirley gets past USCIS, they might not get past the embassy which requires a CENOMAR (Certificate of No MArriage)

[jom 4]

My fiancee lives and working in Hong Kong, and hearing of the problems / difficulties with obtaining an anullment in Philippines, she filed for divorce in Hong Kong. The divorce was completed entirely legally.....But will the US Embassy in Manila grant her K1 Visa with the Hong Kong divorce?

We have already filed and recieved NOA1...any comments or suggestions will be helpful!

have a blessed day!

Divorce is not recognized in the Philippines, and since she got married in the Philippines, the marriage must be annulled there. In the NSO records, she remains married even with the divorce obtained abroad.

[raquel_1208 1]

Or she needs to become a chinese citizen in order for the divorce to be recognized.

[RonMay 1]

i agree to the ppl who wrote above... unless if she married a foreigner back then, then the foreigner filed a divorce then its ok "but" it has to be reported in the the phil govt to make it legal... but if both filipino then it has to be annulment in phil.

my understanding...

[walls1010 3]

I got my divorced in HK, too. The difference was, my papers was proccessed in HK US Embassy instead in Manila US Embassy. Everything went well in HK US Embassy...so can't give you any advice how they proccess the papers in Manila US Embassy. They didn't ask my CENOMAR (certificate of no marriage record) coz' I showed my divorced papers as well my marriage records from my ex-husband (he is a filipino) from NSO. If the beneficiary was single they have to present CENOMAR. I guess she'll be fine coz' she can't have the divorce done if her ex-husband didn't sign those document before filing it in the HK court for divorce.

Goodluck!

[Chantel 0]

If you file while she's in PI she need to be annulled if filed while she's in HK no need for annulment then.......

[ilovecookies 0]

I got my divorced in HK, too. The difference was, my papers was proccessed in HK US Embassy instead in Manila US Embassy. Everything went well in HK US Embassy...so can't give you any advice how they proccess the papers in Manila US Embassy. They didn't ask my CENOMAR (certificate of no marriage record) coz' I showed my divorced papers as well my marriage records from my ex-husband (he is a filipino) from NSO. If the beneficiary was single they have to present CENOMAR. I guess she'll be fine coz' she can't have the divorce done if her ex-husband didn't sign those document before filing it in the HK court for divorce.

Goodluck!

very interesting. so you filed for divorce in HK and processed the K1 visa there and got the approval??? no annulments or anything from the philippines? sorry if i'm being redundant here....but that gives my friend some hope! thanks for the info!!

[N360 0]

If you file while she's in PI she need to be annulled if filed while she's in HK no need for annulment then.......

I thought it had something to do with one of the couple's citizenship and not where one files a K1 visa application.

Lets say, Im a filipino married to a filipina. You mean I can just go to any country, get divorced, File a I-129F for my fiance?

And as long as the benificiary is outside the Philippine when that K1 is filed, its ok? It doesnt seem right to me.

First of all, one files the I-129F application in the US. Not Hongkong or Manila, unless its a DCF.

Secondly... a Philippine citizen, married in the Philippines (where divorced is not allowed) to a Philippine citizen, filed for divorced in Hongkong (where neither one of the married couple is a citizen of), so her US citizen fiance can file for her I-129F application. I'm not a lawyer but there seems to be a lot of holes in this logic.

[Chantel 0]

I said if he filed while she's in HK working it will be fine,I didn't say he will file in HK or in Manila cause obviously you should file at USCIS there's lot of Pinays in the other forum who processed their papers in HK while working in HK, if this is possible since she's staying in HK now the divorce decree is then recognize, just my opinion, consult a lawyer for sure

But if she's in PI annulment is needed for sure cause of the NSO name check

[jom 4]

I got my divorced in HK, too. The difference was, my papers was proccessed in HK US Embassy instead in Manila US Embassy. Everything went well in HK US Embassy...so can't give you any advice how they proccess the papers in Manila US Embassy. They didn't ask my CENOMAR (certificate of no marriage record) coz' I showed my divorced papers as well my marriage records from my ex-husband (he is a filipino) from NSO. If the beneficiary was single they have to present CENOMAR. I guess she'll be fine coz' she can't have the divorce done if her ex-husband didn't sign those document before filing it in the HK court for divorce.

Goodluck!

This is very interesting. And very lucky for you that the US embassy in Hongkong recognized the divorce decree issued there. It only means that the embassy is not aware of our laws regarding divorce. Under Philippine laws, you are still married to your filipino husband since you are both Filipino citizens and divorce is not recognized in the Philippines. But , filing the divorce in HOngkong and the K1 visa worked good for you and you are here now so thats all that matters.

[walls1010 3]

I got my divorced in HK, too. The difference was, my papers was proccessed in HK US Embassy instead in Manila US Embassy. Everything went well in HK US Embassy...so can't give you any advice how they proccess the papers in Manila US Embassy. They didn't ask my CENOMAR (certificate of no marriage record) coz' I showed my divorced papers as well my marriage records from my ex-husband (he is a filipino) from NSO. If the beneficiary was single they have to present CENOMAR. I guess she'll be fine coz' she can't have the divorce done if her ex-husband didn't sign those document before filing it in the HK court for divorce.

Goodluck!

This is very interesting. And very lucky for you that the US embassy in Hongkong recognized the divorce decree issued there. It only means that the embassy is not aware of our laws regarding divorce. Under Philippine laws, you are still married to your filipino husband since you are both Filipino citizens and divorce is not recognized in the Philippines. But , filing the divorce in HOngkong and the K1 visa worked good for you and you are here now so thats all that matters.

The US Embassy was aware about the Philippine family law...it would be fraud if my foreign husband and I got married in the Philippines knowing my divorce decree is not applicable there....that's why I came here as a K1 visa. The US Embassy recognized my divorce decree because it was issued by the HK court (gov't) where they recognize divorce, too.

[N360 0]

I said if he filed while she's in HK working it will be fine,I didn't say he will file in HK or in Manila cause obviously you should file at USCIS there's lot of Pinays in the other forum who processed their papers in HK while working in HK, if this is possible since she's staying in HK now the divorce decree is then recognize, just my opinion, consult a lawyer for sure

But if she's in PI annulment is needed for sure cause of the NSO name check

Recognize by who? The US government?

There's a case here of a man who got is I-130 denied because his marriage wasnt recognized in the UK. It make sense since the US govt needs to respect the laws of other countries.

If what you're saying about the OP's case is true, it seems like a blatant dis-regard of US government of Philippine laws. If this is true, this is a big loophole. I didn't know one can just say... OK, since you're married to someone else and divorced is not allowed there, go to Hongkong, file for a divorce there, and live there for a while while I file your I-129F.

If this is true, at what point in the process can she safely go back to Philippines? And when the interview date comes, where is she having it? Hongkong or Manila?

Sorry for the 20 questions. I can't find anything in the family code of the Philippines that allows divorced between two filipinos so I know for a fact that the OP's fiance is "still" married in the Philippines. I'm just trying to get my little head around this seemingly big loophole where once can "just" go to Hongkong or anywhere divorced is recognize. It seems awfully easy. Too easy.