Desertion by Spouse

[Boiler 46,362]

Cr1 is not a 2 year visa.

[GaryKO 49]

CR-1 is issued to people married less than 2 years, and it expires 2 years after the POE date. Must file to remove conditions to extend to a 10 yr. visa.

[alone1 1]

I wonder what would happen if she does not present the divorce to the Philippine court, I move there and attempt to remarry ? This is a very real possibility..

[dvc 11]

I wonder what would happen if she does not present the divorce to the Philippine court, I move there and attempt to remarry ? This is a very real possibility..

That should not be an issue for the US Citizen. As long he has the divorce decree available for the Affidavit in Lieu everything should be in order.

[Caryh 5,206]

The amount of wrong information you posted is incredible. The only negative of a Philippine citizen filing for divorce in a country they live in, outside the Philippines is they cannot marry in the Philippines again without an annulment, or get any new marriage recognized. No other country in the world recognizes that person as married except the Philippines. A person with a two year green card need not return to the Philippines in order to marry another American if they've divorced in the USA. They can remove conditions on their own with the divorce option checked. They also certainly do not need to return to the Philippines to get their divorce recognized there before they can marry in the USA again.

A Filipino becoming a USA citizen after a divorce has been obtained by a Philippine citizen, does not invalidate the original marriage in the eyes of the Philippine government. The same process of getting that divorce recognized is required. Also a Philippine citizen for quite a few years now, does not lose citizenship in the Philippines by becoming a citizen of another country, but they do want their citizens to reaffirm that citizenship before renewing a Philippine passport.

My comment was to the OP situation. He married a Filipino citizen in the Philippines. If they get a divorce in the USA, he will be divorced from her, but she will still be married to him because she is a citizen of the Philippines, and then what she can do legally, if she does marry another US citizen.

The key words here are "citizen of the Philippines". There is no divorce in the Philippines. No matter where she lives and who granted the divorce, She is still legally married according to Philippine law. She cannot legally be married again in the USA or any other country until, she has her marriage annulled, recognized by the courts in the PH, or is no longer a citizen of the PH. Then she will be free to marry again.

What happens most of the time, is the Filipino citizen waits until they are granted a 10 yr. card and the USCIS is out of the picture to get married again. Then when they become a US citizen the marriage in the PH is no longer valid. Here in the USA, they are considered married and all is ok.

The problem getting married again while the marriage in the Philippines is still on the books is if the couple goes back to the PH to visit, or live. The Filipino citizen can be arrested for a bigamous marriage, and the non citizen could be deported, banned from entry into the PH again. This can happen and does happen, all its takes is for the first spouse to file a NBI complaint.

No there is no issue bringing a divorced Filipina to the USA as long as she can prove she is free to marry , if she is already in the USA on a 2yr. visa "divorced", and is out of status then she will most likey need to return to the PH get her divorce recognized there, before another visa can be approved.

[GaryKO 49]

The amount of wrong information you posted is incredible. The only negative of a Philippine citizen filing for divorce in a country they live in, outside the Philippines is they cannot marry in the Philippines again without an annulment, or get any new marriage recognized. No other country in the world recognizes that person as married except the Philippines. A person with a two year green card need not return to the Philippines in order to marry another American if they've divorced in the USA. They can remove conditions on their own with the divorce option checked. They also certainly do not need to return to the Philippines to get their divorce recognized there before they can marry in the USA again.

A Filipino becoming a USA citizen after a divorce has been obtained by a Philippine citizen, does not invalidate the original marriage in the eyes of the Philippine government. The same process of getting that divorce recognized is required. Also a Philippine citizen for quite a few years now, does not lose citizenship in the Philippines by becoming a citizen of another country, but they do want their citizens to reaffirm that citizenship before renewing a Philippine passport.

What is incredible is on VJ when people post information about the Philippines it's what they think the laws are, or repeat bad information they read here, and think it's correct.

What I said was if a Filipino citizen married in the PH that marriage is recognized anywhere in the world. If they divorce while still a Filipino citizen then that marriage is still valid in the PH. Yes the divorce will be recognized in the country outside the PH. But because they were still a Filipino citizen when divorced they are still subject to Philippine law. So legally they are still married. Can they get remarried outside the PH again if they are still a citizen of the PH? Yes they can, but they cannot do it legally, because to get a marriage license they must lie and swear they are free to marry.

You assume that all conditional visa holders are able to adjust their status. You also assume that all Filipino citizens just forget about their marriage in the PH and get married again. When a citizen of the PH becomes a US citizen they lose their rights as a citizen of the Philippines, and are no longer subject to the family code of the Philippines. The marriage in the Philippines is no longer a issue, they are like you and I now, they are US citizens and the family code laws no longer apply to them, unless they reacquire Philippine citizenship.

There can be a problem and it happens a lot, the Filipino citizen already owns property in the PH, or they may own a business there, or there are many other reason that they need to keep their Philippine citizenship. So they do things legally, They get a annulment, or have their foreign divorce recognized by the court, before getting married again. Yes the moment they become a US citizen they lose all rights and privileges of a Philippine citizen. To become a Philippine citizen again they must reacquire their Philippine citizenship, then they will be subject again to all Philippines laws, including the family code of the Philippines.

Again when it comes to a Philippine citizen getting a divorce and getting married again what they can do, and what they can legally do are two different things. I was married to a Filiipina for 20 years, I lost her to cancer in 2008, I am married to a Filipina now, and I have a Immigrant visa to the PH. I live part time in Cebu, and plan to move and live there full time soon. I been dealing with the government and the laws there for a long time, and it makes my head hurt when I do.

[GaryKO 49]

I wonder what would happen if she does not present the divorce to the Philippine court, I move there and attempt to remarry ? This is a very real possibility..

Well I am going to be honest with you. You should be able to do what you did before when you married there. When you apply for a marriage license with the Local Civil Registrar you will give them certified copies of your divorce papers. Hopefully they will know the law and you will not have any problems. There has been a problem with some Local Civil Registrars not understanding the family code laws, so you may need to hire a lawyer, you should as least make plans for this in case you need lawyer.

[Caryh 5,206]

I'm not quoting from what I've read on VJ, I'm giving information relative to the actual laws and constitution of the Philippines.

On the matter of citizenship, Filipinos do not lose citizenship in the Philippines if they also become a citizen of another country, and this has been the case since 2003, when the Republic Act No 9225 was passed.

Section 2. Declaration of Policy - It is hereby declared the policy of the State that all Philippine citizens of another country shall be deemed not to have lost their Philippine citizenship under the conditions of this Act.

A lot of confusion comes in here, because those that became citizens of another country before RA#9225 had to re-acquire citizenship. The law was created to make existing laws come into compliance with the 1987 Constitution which stated,

Under the 1987 Philippine Constitution, Article IV, Section 1, it states that:

"Section 1 The following are citizens of the Philippines:

1. 1. Those who are citizens of the Philippines at the time of the adoption of this Constitution;

   2. Those whose fathers or mothers are citizens of the Philippines;

   3. Those born before January 17, 1973, of Filipino mothers, who elect Philippine citizenship upon reaching the age of majority; and

   4. Those who are naturalized in accordance of law

Evidence of the difference of retention as opposed to re-acquisition can be found on the Philippines department of immigration's web site here

http://immigration.gov.ph/index.php/faqs/citizenship

"I am a natural born Filipino who was naturalized in another country; can I re-acquire my Filipino citizenship without losing current my citizenship?

Former natural-born Filipino who has been naturalized in another country who wishes to retain or re-acquire their Philippine citizenship may apply for Retention/Re-acquisition of Philippine Citizenship pursuant to RA 9225. "

As you can see, they refer to the retention, which applies to cases of citizenship acquired in another country after 9225 was passed.

There is also plenty of case law that can be looked up to see exactly how all this affects the Family Act in the Philippines in regards to when a marriage divorce is automatically accepted in the Philippines by dual citizenship Filipinos. And getting divorced before that second citizenship is acquired does not wipe clean a divorce filed by a Filipino in a third country. But it still only affects them in the Philippines and it does not make them married in any other country, but the Philippines.

If you truly want to understand how the law is being interpreted in the Philippines and clear up some of the misconceptions you have, this article will help you.

http://www.hg.org/article.asp?id=20090

I can understand your confusion though, there is more misinformation that actual facts being spoken about around the confusing Filipino marriage and termination of marriage issues.

What is incredible is on VJ when people post information about the Philippines it's what they think the laws are, or repeat bad information they read here, and think it's correct.

What I said was if a Filipino citizen married in the PH that marriage is recognized anywhere in the world. If they divorce while still a Filipino citizen then that marriage is still valid in the PH. Yes the divorce will be recognized in the country outside the PH. But because they were still a Filipino citizen when divorced they are still subject to Philippine law. So legally they are still married. Can they get remarried outside the PH again if they are still a citizen of the PH? Yes they can, but they cannot do it legally, because to get a marriage license they must lie and swear they are free to marry.

You assume that all conditional visa holders are able to adjust their status. You also assume that all Filipino citizens just forget about their marriage in the PH and get married again. When a citizen of the PH becomes a US citizen they lose their rights as a citizen of the Philippines, and are no longer subject to the family code of the Philippines. The marriage in the Philippines is no longer a issue, they are like you and I now, they are US citizens and the family code laws no longer apply to them, unless they reacquire Philippine citizenship.

There can be a problem and it happens a lot, the Filipino citizen already owns property in the PH, or they may own a business there, or there are many other reason that they need to keep their Philippine citizenship. So they do things legally, They get a annulment, or have their foreign divorce recognized by the court, before getting married again. Yes the moment they become a US citizen they lose all rights and privileges of a Philippine citizen. To become a Philippine citizen again they must reacquire their Philippine citizenship, then they will be subject again to all Philippines laws, including the family code of the Philippines.

Again when it comes to a Philippine citizen getting a divorce and getting married again what they can do, and what they can legally do are two different things. I was married to a Filiipina for 20 years, I lost her to cancer in 2008, I am married to a Filipina now, and I have a Immigrant visa to the PH. I live part time in Cebu, and plan to move and live there full time soon. I been dealing with the government and the laws there for a long time, and it makes my head hurt when I do.

[GaryKO 49]

Well we are saying the same things, just disagree on a few points. My first Filipino wife had to reacquire her Philippine citizenship in 2005 before she could purchase a house and property in the PH. You don't lose your citizenship, you lose some rights and privileges of citizenship when you become a citizen of another country. It's not a big deal to reacquire all the rights and privileges. One of the rights you lose is to petition the court. When dealing with Philippine laws, the law is what ever they say it is. This is what is so confusing for many, what they do in Manila, may be completely different what is standard in other parts of the PH. Until you have personal experience in matters there you only know what you read. The Philippines mostly use a passport as means to determine if you are a citizen. If you have a current passport then your all set, if you don't, or if you have let it expire then in order to get a new PH passport, your first must go through the process to reacquire citizenship. The Philippines is all about doing things there legal, if you don't it can come back one day to bite you in the butt. All I am saying is there are ways to do things, and then there are the legal ways to do things. For example if you have full citizenship rights you can live or visit the PH as long as you want too. If you do not then you can only visit there for 1 year. Of course you lose other rights until you reacquire full citizenship . Right to own real property in the Philippines;
Right to engage in business or commerce as a Filipino;
Right to practice one’s profession in accordance with law;
Right to acquire a Philippine passport; and
Right to vote in Philippine elections.

[Jawaree 718]

At this point all U can try to do is report it as fraud

but really U have no proof; 1.5 yrs & not consummated seem

to be unreal, as a CO I would see it as a business arrangement

since U did say she lived in the guest room....2 sides to every

story & dude I feel bad for U but consummation comes B4 walking

the aisle in the 21st Century...no, not a lack of respect but one

has to make sure if U know what I mean, also U will support her until

she is naturalized or put yrs of work in...