Just starting out

[stevegarcia2 0]

Okay I havent even asked her yet, but I am doing my research now. I will be travelling back to Phils at the end of the month and want to get an idea of the whole process before i go. So here are a number of questions (I cant ask her yet -haha)

1.) Can the church marry you independently of the state. or Can we have the ceremony in the church and not be legally married?

2.) She is a member of the Philippine independent Church. How long is the "seminar" they will require before conducting a wedding ceremony? I have been told in some instances for the catholic church - a week?

3.) Is anyone certain that websites like cebuanas are not considered international marriage brokers - This was a question I had and in another post it was passed off as not -but the definition by INS sounds like it is?

http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-129finstr.pdf

I want to do the fiance visa and then have a ceremony before she leaves for US. I dont want a legal marriage in the phils to jeopardize anything on this side - as far as filing for green card and marriage certificate here. Is this a good plan?

[Used to be broken 147]

3.) Is anyone certain that websites like cebuanas are not considered international marriage brokers - This was a question I had and in another post it was passed off as not -but the definition by INS sounds like it is?

http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-129finstr.pdf

I think you should err on the safe side here, it appears cebuanas deals exclusively with Phillipine dating, as evidenced by the title of the site. Reading the plain language of the I129 instructions as you did, why not just comply with the question?

[Tahoma 2,292]

The dating web sites are not marriage brokers, so don't worry about that one.

I don't know, but I imagine that you could hold a ceremony in the Philippines and then make it official once she arrives in the U.S. It sounds like a good plan to me. If you have a ceremony in the Philippines, you probably could avoid the license and the counseling requirements. Maybe some others will chime in.

[Filipinawife0210 15]

I agree with Tahoma. But, as for havinig a civil ceremony there, I wouldn't advise it. Normally a ceremony that is considered a legal ceremony in any other country, where you take vows, exchange rings and such, is viewed by the US government as being a legal marriage ceremony. I know that for some religions though, that an engagement ceremony or something like it are not viewed by the US as a legal marriage ceremony. In those cases, it is recommended that pictures of that event not be included with the 129F package to avoid confusion as to whether or not it is an actual wedding ceremony.