Married in Philippines or Married in US? Which is legally?HELP!!!!

[David & Diana R 1,005]

The reason he wants to marry and take my cousin to US because they have kids. The ist wife dont have kids. And they are not together anymoore.

Okay, so don't you see something terribly wrong with this situation?? Even if he gets away with it what kind of a "man" is he? And by the way. A marriage in the Philippines is a marriage that is recognized worldwide, certainly in the US, thats for sure. The NSO in the Philippines keeps very good records of marriages and I guarantee you his, well I won't say ex-wife because he is still married to her can get a copy of the marriage contract (from NSO) and make lots of trouble for your cousin in the future. Wake your cousin up and ask her what the heck she is thinking. What kind of a man marries, then splits with his legally married wife and shacks up with another, before being divorced anyway? OMG!! And by the way an annulment in the Philippines can cost upward of 1,000,000 pesos. That's probably why he does not want to get the first marriage annulled.

Your cousin is in for a world of hurt if she packs up and moves off with this d*^@!he bag...

Aloha Ke Akua

Edited September 11, 2013 by David & Zoila

[David & Diana R 1,005]

The foreign guy should terminate the marriage properly if he wants to bring another woman to his county for marriage. It can really cause trouble to both of them. Irregardless of what country he was married, he is MARRIED. Period. The second woman won't be considered a legal wife because the first marriage is not terminated properly. It seems she is the mistress. if in case they wont be discovered immediately, later on they will and it might cause the woman to be deported and banned maybe for having a fraud relationship.

I agree with you 100%!!

[David & Diana R 1,005]

And there is no divorce in Philippines is my understanding and you have get it annulled and takes a lot of time correct me if i'm wrong just what I've heard

Lot's of time and lots of Pesos!!! Annulment is the ONLY way to go in Philippines.

[David & Diana R 1,005]

The guy said he is still single in US Public record. The marriage of first wife NOT Registered in US. When the guy petition her. I think it will not track that he already married in Philippines.

Unlike the Philippines and some other countries the United States DOES NOT have a national database covering births, deaths, marriages, divorces, etc.... All the current wife has to do to ruin the new girlfriends life is to submit a copy of the Philippines marriage certificate to the US authorities and boom! Bigamy!! And that's Bigamy with a capital B!

Aloha Ke Akua

[David & Diana R 1,005]

The reason he wants to marry and take my cousin to US because they have kids. The ist wife dont have kids. And they are not together anymoore.

OMG!!

[LSnBigBear 61]

It is really simple for him. Have him check with his local state, county and city where his residence was when he married his wife. They will let him know if he needs to have it recoignized prior to getting a divorce. Once he has done this he can fill out an uncontested divorce papers for his the wife he married in the RP. If he can afford to bring his live in partner now and their kids to USA then he can afford to do the above first. This will make it clean and easy. I knew a guy that married in the Phils. His wife there cheated on him with another guy. He returned to USA and had his divorce. He then returned and did just what your friend is wanting to do. DId a K! Visa and brought his new love to the States.

[David & Diana R 1,005]

It is really simple for him. Have him check with his local state, county and city where his residence was when he married his wife. They will let him know if he needs to have it recoignized prior to getting a divorce. Once he has done this he can fill out an uncontested divorce papers for his the wife he married in the RP. If he can afford to bring his live in partner now and their kids to USA then he can afford to do the above first. This will make it clean and easy. I knew a guy that married in the Phils. His wife there cheated on him with another guy. He returned to USA and had his divorce. He then returned and did just what your friend is wanting to do. DId a K! Visa and brought his new love to the States.

Wow that really would suck. I mean having your spouse cheat on you. (Your friend) But I did not know you could file for divorce from here in the US. I was under the impression that there was no such a thing as divorce in the Philippines. I had read about annulment and if you have enough money, 1,000,000 pesos or more you could essentially pay off the Catholic Church in the Philippines to annul your marriage. Oh, thank God for organized religion. (Now that's an ironic statement)

Aloha Ke Akua

[aurpol 17]

The only option would be divorcing his first wife and petitioning your sister via K1 visa or fiance visa (the kids would be K3 or K4 i think or derivatives), then they can marry in the US. They cannot marry in the Phil since divorce is not allowed there unless it will be annulled.

[En-oh-eh-to now 147]

Be advised: do not go the uncontested divorce route. If the Filipino citizen agrees to an uncontested divorce, it would never be recognized in the Philippines. The Filipino citizen would then be trapped in limbo...forever. Furthermore, the American citizen and the second spouse may be liable for bigamy in the Philippines, as the original marriage would still continue to exist according to Philippine law.

The best route for all parties involved is a legal divorce with a petitioner (US citizen) and respondent (Filipino citizen). The divorce would then be recognized in both countries (after a somewhat costly judicial recognition on the Philippine side) and all parties would be free to marry, anywhere. This would require patience and money, but peace of mind is priceless.

Edited September 12, 2013 by En-oh-eh-to now

[aurpol 17]

Be advised: do not go the uncontested divorce route. If the Filipino citizen agrees to an uncontested divorce, it would never be recognized in the Philippines. The Filipino citizen would then be trapped in limbo...forever. Furthermore, the American citizen and the second spouse may be liable for bigamy in the Philippines, as the original marriage would still continue to exist according to Philippine law.

The best route for all parties involved is a legal divorce with a petitioner (US citizen) and respondent (Filipino citizen). The divorce would then be recognized in both countries (after a somewhat costly judicial recognition on the Philippine side) and all parties would be free to marry, anywhere. This would require patience and money, but peace of mind is priceless.

Divorce is not recognized in the Philippines unless you were referring to ANNULMENT of marriage, which is indeed very costly.

[En-oh-eh-to now 147]

Divorce is not recognized in the Philippines unless you were referring to ANNULMENT of marriage, which is indeed very costly.

Correction: Divorce is not recognized in the Philippines unless you file a petition for judicial recognition of foreign judgement in the Philippines. Note that if the Filipino citizen is the petitioner of the divorce, or if the divorce is uncontested, it will never be legally recognized. Judicial recognition is not quite as costly as an annulment in terms of time and money.

[aurpol 17]

Correction: Divorce is not recognized in the Philippines unless you file a petition for judicial recognition of foreign judgement in the Philippines. Note that if the Filipino citizen is the petitioner of the divorce, or if the divorce is uncontested, it will never be legally recognized. Judicial recognition is not quite as costly as an annulment in terms of time and money.

Well, this is a good option but costly as well.

[JA_Martinez 81]

The reason this whole process is so long and gruelling is because people do stuff like this...fraud is fraud...makes the rest of us trying to do this the right and legal way have to wait longer so everyone's application get scrutinized because some bonehead thought they would try to beat the system. I gotta say, as gruelling as this is, I feel more comfortanle every that our country may make us all jump througj alot of hoops, but they are gpod and thorough. There are stop gaps all over the place....people can't hide forever!

[Scot_Roselyn 7]

I agree with the advice here as everyone does. But I just want to add that an annulment does not cost that much. It does cost quite a bit, but not as much as said here. Annulments typically cost around 5 to 8000.00 dollars. Around 300,000 pesos. Just thought I would chime in and give my .02 worth.

Scot

[jan22 3,043]

_{I skimmed the previous responses, so if I missed this, sorry.}

_{But, while everyone here has commented on the fraud he is proposing (and it is clear, as others have already said, what he is proposing is fraud), the other part that I don't think anyone has comment on -- more important, IMHO -- is that, should your cousin go along with this, since she knows he is already married, she, too, will be committing fraud. When it is discovered, she will end up with a permanent ineligibility for a visa.}