marriage and K3 issues/concerns

[Riggs 0]

Hello all,

I am planning on going to the philippines next month to marry my fiancee there. I have read about the process. However, I have a question I hope someone can help me with: I can only go there for 1 week, unlees I take an additional week off off work without pay to amke it 2 weeks. I am concerned about the 10 waiting peroid after applying for the marriage liscence. Someone told me to try and contact the Mayor's office there to see if they can make special arrangements to speed up the waiting peroid, maybe by posting in advance or something.

Does anyone know how I could go about accomplishing this? Because if the 10 days is 10 working days, I won't even be able to get married in 2 weeks. I was hoping to be able to marry in one week, to avoid losing a weeks pay.

I don't even know how to go about contacting the Maypr's office and would there even be anyone there that could speak english?

I have been trying to figure out how to accomplish this for weeks now and it is driviing me crazy, as i can't seem to find any answers or assisitance on this.

I am so glad that I found this site--it appears to be very informative and helpful. I was even planning on paying an attorney to process the k3 visa, but after reading thew info here, I will probaly apply myself.

Also, I read about this requiremnet with the I-130 application that seems troublesome:

Note: Evidence of a Bonifide Marriage

The USCIS now requires that when filing an I-130 for a spouse that you include evidence of a bonifide marriage. They list examples of acceptable evidence as:

1. Documentation showing joint ownership or property; or

2. A lease showing joint tenancy of a common residence; or

3. Documentation showing co-mingling of financialresources; or

4. Birth certificate(s) of child(ren) born to you, thepetitioner, and your spouse together; or

5. Affidavits sworn to or affirmed by third parties havingpersonal knowledge of the bona fides of the maritalrelationship (Each affidavit must contain the full nameand address, date and place of birth of the person makingthe affidavit, his or her relationship to the petitioner ofbeneficiary, if any, and complete information and detailsexplaining how the person acquired his or herknowledge of your marriage); or

6. Any other relevant documentation to establish that thereis an ongoing marital union.

How are you supposed to meet this requirement if you just married and returned to the US to apply for her visa? It does not make sense to me--since you will have a valid marriage certificate.

I hope someone can help me figure this out, I really wanrt to marry while there next month.

I wasn't sure were to post this, so I alo posted it under the K3 topic as well.

Thanks much!

Steve

[gooberlove 0]

hello,

I can only answer about the proof of bonafide marriage. You do not need to send all that. It says "examples". I could not send all of that of course, but sent what I had (not much - don't remember exactly), and that was enough. Do not think that everybody sends all that.

Good luck.

[ao_cons 1]

On working around the 10-day waiting period:

Have your fiancee go to the Mayor's Office and appeal to the folks there. Tell her to bring family and/or a barangay official willing to help out. One good thing about the Philippines is you can "talk it out" if necessary. If the regular staff won't make an exception, they might refer you to a higher-up and the latter will decide. Just explain the special situation. You may need to provide your fiancee with a document showing you have a legal capacity to marry. If you've been married before, show proof that it has been terminated also. I don't know if you can get the legal capacity to marry document certified in the Philippine embassy of your region, or in the US embassy in Manila. You also want to send a picture of you for posting the notice.

See, what they can do is to post the notice BEFORE you arrive in the Philippines. Wait for 10 days and when it's done, you can marry. Now I don't know if that would be an issue later (passport showing your date of entry into the Phils and then marriage cert. showing you married in less than 10 days), so I don't know what to say about that.

On proof of marriage:

Since you're going to be together for only a week after the wedding, get as much evidence as you can, such as...

- Photos of yourselves in the Phils

- Photos with family, the wedding, etc.

- Bank transfers, money transfers, etc.

- Joint bank account

- Joint ownership/lease of anything

We only sent a joint lease contract, bank transfer records and marriage certificate. The rest of the stuff (the non-legal stuff) we will save for the interview. No RFEs so far.

I would suggest that after you get married, wait a bit longer before ifling the I-130. Use the time to send her money, open a joint account, get chats and mails and phone transcripts, etc. Maybe you can even schedule a second visit if you can afford it.

Good luck.