petitioner married in the phil, but got divorced in US.

[Hank_ 9,174]

I don't think they will ever ask for a CENOMAR for the petitioner as he is/was married in the app. If anything, the CO may ask for an annullment.

OP, there is this site that is very helpful. It is owned by this young but pretty blilliant lawyer in the Philippines. Go to the forums and ask for the validity of your fiancee's Philippine marriage and US divorce. See what he says.

http://www.pinoylawyer.org/

The USC divorce may not be valid in the Philippines but WHO CARES?? (besides you)

If anything....????? Hardly, the CO is not going to care about an annullment for the USC... he has a valid divorce decree....

Checking a website for Philippine law has nothing to do with a USC unless he were getting married in the Philippines.

You need to take thinking about Philippine law out of the equation.... it has no validity in the United States.... and that is where this WHOLE process is taking place.

[sonicgihad 4]

Under the CIVIL CODE of the Philippines

Art. 15. Laws relating to family rights and duties, or to the status, condition and legal capacity of persons are binding upon citizens of the Philippines, even though living abroad. (9a)

http://jlp-law.com/blog/divorce-annulment-philippines/

1. Divorce is not recognized under Philippine laws. If you’re a Filipino, it doesn’t matter where you get a divorce: such divorce is invalid/void in the Philippines. This is because under the nationality principle (Art. 15, Civil Code), all Filipinos – where they may be in the world – are bound by Philippine laws on family rights and duties, status, condition, and legal capacity. Yes, folks, you can run, but you can’t hide.Nevertheless, divorce decrees secured outside the Philippines are recognized in certain instances. This is provided in Article 26 (Paragraph 2) of the Family Code, which reads in full:

ART. 26. All marriages solemnized outside the Philippines in accordance with the laws in force in the country where they were solemnized, and valid there as such, shall also be valid in this country, except those prohibited under Articles 35(1), (4), (5) and (6), 36, 37 and 38.

Where a marriage between a Filipino citizen and a foreigner is validly celebrated and a divorce is thereafter validly obtained abroad by the alien spouse capacitating him or her to remarry, the Filipino spouse shall have capacity to remarry under Philippine law.

The twin elements for the application of this provision are:

1. There is a valid marriage that has been celebrated between a Filipino citizen and a foreigner; and

2. A valid divorce is obtained abroad by the alien spouse capacitating him or her to remarry.

After complying with the procedure in having the foreign decree of divorce judicially recognized (through a court action) here in the Philippines, the Filipino spouse may validly remarry.

At first glance, Article 26 seems to apply only to a marriage between a Filipino and a foreigner. This was raised by a respected commentator in family law, Justice Sempio-Diy, who noted that Art. 26 does not apply:

…to a divorce obtained by a former Filipino who had been naturalized in another country after his naturalization, as it might open the door to rich Filipinos’ obtaining naturalization abroad for no other reason than to be able to divorce their Filipino spouse (Handbook on the Family Code of the Philippines, 1995 Ed., p. 30).

***However, this provision was later interpreted by the Supreme Court to include cases involving parties who, at the time of the celebration of the marriage were Filipino citizens, but later on, one of them becomes naturalized as a foreign citizen and obtains a divorce decree. The reckoning point is not the citizenship of the parties at the time of marriage, but their citizenship at the time a valid divorce is obtained abroad by the alien spouse capacitating the latter to remarry. (Philippines vs. Orbecido III, G.R. No. 154380, 5 October 2005).

Yes I get it, I get it,the petinioner is a USC... NOW but not during the divorce when by virtue of the fact that they were both Filipino citizens still fell under the jurisdication of Philippine laws and were bound by it when it comes to marriage and the dissolution of it. A foreign divorce is only valid when the marriage was between a Filipino national and a USC (for example) and the USC, not the Filipino citizen acquires the divorce. Per the Supreme Court's interpretation, this can also be valid if the Filipino national becomes naturalized and filed for a divorce AFTER becoming a USC. The OP's fiancee and ex-wife did not meet any of those criterias for a valid divorce therefore making their divorce invalid. US Laws acknowledges valid foreign marriages. The petitioner and his ex's marriage is unfortunately still valid in the Philippines rendering it still valid in the US until it gets terminated properly.

...hence my opinion that they may be able to get through on a loophole or technicality. The question is, are the adjudicators and CO's trained to lookout for these kinds of things? They gave me an RFE for my divorce decree missing a very obvious statement so who knows!!!

Good luck to the OP, consult a local family/immigration lawyer if you want to be certain. I am not a lawyer, the information I have were from my research and personal experience having had to file for an annulment/Dissolution of Invalidity of Marriage in the US. I was born and raised in the Philippines, naturalized, married a Filipina and attempted to have that marriage annulled in the Philippines. I later on discovered through speaking to several Philippine lawyers that Article 26 applied to me being that I was already naturalized during the marriage and am considered a foreign national so I was able to file for an annulment in the US on my own without the aid of a lawyer.

Edited April 25, 2012 by sonicgihad

[sonicgihad 4]

I didn't realize reginakrys already covered my above post. My apologiesfor the redundancy

[Hank_ 9,174]

Lights on, no one home?

Under the CIVIL CODE of the Philippines - Doesn't mean jack squat for the USC Petitioner.... he lives in the USA!! Is marrying in the USA!!! Is petitioning for a K-1 visa in the USA.

Being concerned about Philippine civil code has the same value as being concerned about civil code in India, it doesn't pertain to him.... Got it?

[sonicgihad 4]

There are 2 countries involved in both processes... of course the Philippine civil code matters. It's not all about America! So typical but whatever man!

[Hank_ 9,174]

There is only one process going on and in this case a K-1 visa, there is only one country involved in the visa process (and that is the country issuing the visa), the embassy does require the beneficiary to acquire documentation from NBI & NSO but the Philippine government is not involved in the visa process itself.

[Caryh 5,206]

He may always be married to his first wife in the Philippines, but that does not make him married in the rest of the world or the USA. Just because the USA recognizes marriages taking place in other countries, does not mean the USA has given up its right to have jurisdiction on its own soil or its own citizens. The divorce was granted in the USA, the Philippines can cry and yell all it wants, it has no jurisdiction to say the divorce is not valid in the rest of the world. Should he return to the Philippines, they can say he's married all they want. They can ignore his new marriage and refuse to recognize it. In the rest of the world, this USC will be married to his second wife. Should he return to the Philippines, technically the Philippines government could charge him with bigamy after he remarries. If he plans to spend time in the Philippines, it might be a good idea for him to get an annulment there. But any repercussion about having divorced in the USA while still a Philippine Citizen is only valid on Philippines soil, in actions by the Philippine Government. As far as the USCIS and the US Embassy in the Philippines is concerned, he's a divorced man by virtue of US law. Had his fiancée gotten divorced in the USA under the same conditions then returned to the Philippines and try to return on a K-1, she would be unable to come because there, she would not be free to marry because she is currently on Philippines soil.

[Leatherneck 693]

He may always be married to his first wife in the Philippines, but that does not make him married in the rest of the world or the USA. Just because the USA recognizes marriages taking place in other countries, does not mean the USA has given up its right to have jurisdiction on its own soil or its own citizens. The divorce was granted in the USA, the Philippines can cry and yell all it wants, it has no jurisdiction to say the divorce is not valid in the rest of the world. Should he return to the Philippines, they can say he's married all they want. They can ignore his new marriage and refuse to recognize it. In the rest of the world, this USC will be married to his second wife. Should he return to the Philippines, technically the Philippines government could charge him with bigamy after he remarries. If he plans to spend time in the Philippines, it might be a good idea for him to get an annulment there. But any repercussion about having divorced in the USA while still a Philippine Citizen is only valid on Philippines soil, in actions by the Philippine Government. As far as the USCIS and the US Embassy in the Philippines is concerned, he's a divorced man by virtue of US law. Had his fiancée gotten divorced in the USA under the same conditions then returned to the Philippines and try to return on a K-1, she would be unable to come because there, she would not be free to marry because she is currently on Philippines soil.

[Tahoma 2,292]

...will his past marriage w/his ex wife be a problem to us?

He's now divorced, but Im worrying that the US embassy in MANILA, Philippines will give us a hard time with this matter.

Please tell us your stories and/or opinions. Thanks!

I don't think you will have a problem getting approved for a K-1 visa.

However, you could have a problem with the CFO. The CFO can require you to submit a CENOMAR or some other proof of your fiancé's singleness.

The proof-of-singleness issue has come up several times in this forum. I can't remember any cases where a CENOMAR was required for the U.S. citizen, but it's a possibility since the CFO can require it. The few proof-of-singleness cases that come to mind were resolved by submitting the U.S. citizen's income tax return which showed that he had filed as single.

After all the stress of going through the K-1 visa process, especially if you end up with a visa and with no CFO sticker, you might want to take a short vacation to Hong Kong.

On the other side of the same coin, have you thought about processing your K-1 visa through the U.S. Embassy in another country?

[Hank_ 9,174]

Serious doubt CFO will ask for a CENOMAR for a USC.

I was at PRISM a couple weeks ago with my fiancee and the only things they required regarding me was a copy of my birth certificate, passport bio page and divorce decree. And of course the other odds 'n' ends from her.

[Tahoma 2,292]

Serious doubt CFO will ask for a CENOMAR for a USC.

I would have to agree with you, Hank. I doubt the CFO would ask for a CENOMAR. However, I believe it's not out of the realm of possibility, especially since he's a former Filipino citizen who was married in the Philippines and was divorced in the U.S. while he was still a Filipino national. You never know what's going to catch the CFO's eye.

It's certainly an interesting case.

[Hank_ 9,174]

.... racial profiling at CFO...say it isn't soooooooooooooo !!

[Tahoma 2,292]

^^^ Are Filipinos asians or are they pacific islanders?

[Hank_ 9,174]

Good question.... and I still can't answer that one. Too much Spanish and American influence here to make that call.

[Tahoma 2,292]

For those who are still following this thread, you might find this other thread interesting.

While the other thread isn't entirely relevant to this thread, it is related to this discussion. Take note of the posts by VJ member Pinay Wife. I respect her opinions.