(asking for a friend) annulment and coming to america

[Awesome22 9]

A friend( who is in the philippines) of mine was married to a japanese citizen. they got married in the philippines Year 2007. she flew to japan 2008 and stayed there until 2010. they never saw each other since 2010. Her ex husband filed a divorced in japan Year 2011. She met her boyfriend( U.S Citizen) on 2012. they were college classmates. Now her boyfriend who is now back in new york wants to petition and bring her here. My friend is now in the process of completing her documents to file an annulment from the previous married ( took her this long due to financial problem). Some people says it will take her years to get the final decision for the annulment. does she have a chance of coming her withour any complications? 

[Happyfamily03 29]

I thought the ex-husband filed divorced already in 2011? has it not been finalize? 

[Awesome22 9]

Just now, Happyfamily03 said:

I thought the ex-husband filed divorced already in 2011? has it not been finalize? 

yeah she said that the ex husband filed it in japan. but now the attorney in the philippines won't recognize it

[Happyfamily03 29]

Does she have the divorced paper? Why wont the attorney not recognize it? I would advise for your friend to check around and search some information as well. She might not need to file annulment if she is already divorced. But then again i am not sure about Philippines government. 

 

The attorney or lawyer might be ripping her off too. For K1 visa, she doesnt really need a lawyer for that. Just follow the instructions. Unless she doesnt have divorced paper. 

[Hank_ 9,174]

11 minutes ago, Awesome22 said:

A friend( who is in the philippines) of mine was married to a japanese citizen. they got married in the philippines Year 2007. she flew to japan 2008 and stayed there until 2010. they never saw each other since 2010. Her ex husband filed a divorced in japan Year 2011. She met her boyfriend( U.S Citizen) on 2012. they were college classmates. Now her boyfriend who is now back in new york wants to petition and bring her here. My friend is now in the process of completing her documents to file an annulment from the previous married ( took her this long due to financial problem). Some people says it will take her years to get the final decision for the annulment. does she have a chance of coming her withour any complications? 

If you have copies of the divorce decree, get it translated into English and complete the Recognition of Divorce.  Annulment not needed.

 

2 minutes ago, Happyfamily03 said:

Does she have the divorced paper? Why wont the attorney not recognize it? I would advise for your friend to check around and search some information as well. She might not need to file annulment if she is already divorced. But then again i am not sure about Philippines government. 

 

The attorney or lawyer might be ripping her off too. For K1 visa, she doesnt really need a lawyer for that. Just follow the instructions. Unless she doesnt have divorced paper. 

The Recognition of Divorce requires a court process, a lawyer is best to have.

[Awesome22 9]

3 minutes ago, Happyfamily03 said:

Does she have the divorced paper? Why wont the attorney not recognize it? I would advise for your friend to check around and search some information as well. She might not need to file annulment if she is already divorced. But then again i am not sure about Philippines government. 

 

The attorney or lawyer might be ripping her off too. For K1 visa, she doesnt really need a lawyer for that. Just follow the instructions. Unless she doesnt have divorced paper. 

yeah she have the divorced paper but the attorney said it will take long and that she doesn't have the right documents😕

[Hank_ 9,174]

8 minutes ago, Awesome22 said:

yeah she said that the ex husband filed it in japan. but now the attorney in the philippines won't recognize it

 

Find a different attorney.    It is up to the COURT to recognize the divorce decree... not some attorney.  The attorney only needs to complete the petition for recognition.

1 minute ago, Awesome22 said:

yeah she have the divorced paper but the attorney said it will take long and that she doesn't have the right documents😕

Right documents?  She doesn't have the final divorce decree?

[Happyfamily03 29]

1 minute ago, Hank_ said:

If you have copies of the divorce decree, get it translated into English and complete the Recognition of Divorce.  Annulment not needed.

 

The Recognition of Divorce requires a court process, a lawyer is best to have.

I see. This might help her. I was just curious why annulment is needed.

[Hank_ 9,174]

Just now, Happyfamily03 said:

I see. This might help her. I was just curious why annulment is needed.

Annulment is only needed when the foreigner didn't initiate the divorce process, in this situation

[Awesome22 9]

2 minutes ago, Hank_ said:

 

Find a different attorney.    It is up to the COURT to recognize the divorce decree... not some attorney.  The attorney only needs to complete the petition for recognition.

Right documents?  She doesn't have the final divorce decree?

yes she has it. 

[Hank_ 9,174]

29 minutes ago, Awesome22 said:

yes she has it. 

 

Then I would get all the documents translated to English, and look for a different attorney

Edited July 21, 2017 by Hank_

[Awesome22 9]

48 minutes ago, Hank_ said:

Annulment is only needed when the foreigner didn't initiate the divorce process, in this situation

even if he filed in japan?

[Awesome22 9]

On 7/18/2017 at 10:53 AM, cyberfx1024 said:

You need to check the laws of that country. What country is he from and what country's passport is he traveling on?

 

1 hour ago, Hank_ said:

Annulment is only needed when the foreigner didn't initiate the divorce process, in this situation

the marriage was also registered in the philippines. they got married there

[Grant PDX 183]

For the Recognition of the Divorce, she will need the official copy of the divorce decree.  She may also need to have it "Red Ribbon"ed which means the official divorce decree is sent to the Philippines Consulate in the foreign country, in this case Japan, who confirms it is a legitimate document.  That "Red Ribbon" may be what the attorney is suggesting is required.  My understanding is that all may proceed ok with out it, but it also might not, depending on the judge, and not having the Red Ribbon could delay or stop the recognition.

 

Annulment right now takes 2 years (used to be faster but they curbed that, from what I can tell) and costs around $3,000 US (or a little more or less), and in some cases has been rejected by a judge, which wouldn't likely happen here.  Recognition takes only about 1 year and costs a bit less, maybe $2,000 to $2,500 depending on the attorney.

 

Try another attorney or get the "Red Ribbon" complete in Japan then try again.  With an official divorce, definitely go the Recognition route, not the Annulment.  Even if you have to go through the Red Ribbon process it will be cheaper, less time consuming, and is ultimately the right process in this case.

 

Yeah, the Philippines doesn't make ending a marriage easy.

[Hank_ 9,174]

2 hours ago, Awesome22 said:

even if he filed in japan?

Can't get a divorce in the Philippines  (with a small exception which isn't relevant here) so he HAD to file for the divorce in Japan.

 

 

1 hour ago, Awesome22 said:

 

the marriage was also registered in the philippines. they got married there

That is the core of this situation.     Sort of.....

 

 

I do have one question to ask and a little rambling.

 

Does your friend want to get married IN the Philippines?   Is that the reason for them pursuing the "recognition" or "annulment" ??  Because you DON'T need to do anything further if you are only concerned about getting a visa to the USA, the embassy recognizes the divorce from Japan.. your friend meets the requirement to be FREE TO MARRY for a K-1 visa already.  

 

This is ONLY a issue if you want to get MARRIED IN THE PHILIPPINES.

 

Don't need the recognition of divorce or an annulment to marry anywhere else in the world (except the Philippines), your friend has a valid divorce decree .....   Tiime to go chase a VISA!!

 

50 minutes ago, Grant PDX said:

For the Recognition of the Divorce, she will need the official copy of the divorce decree.  She may also need to have it "Red Ribbon"ed which means the official divorce decree is sent to the Philippines Consulate in the foreign country, in this case Japan, who confirms it is a legitimate document.  That "Red Ribbon" may be what the attorney is suggesting is required.  My understanding is that all may proceed ok with out it, but it also might not, depending on the judge, and not having the Red Ribbon could delay or stop the recognition.

 

Annulment right now takes 2 years (used to be faster but they curbed that, from what I can tell) and costs around $3,000 US (or a little more or less), and in some cases has been rejected by a judge, which wouldn't likely happen here.  Recognition takes only about 1 year and costs a bit less, maybe $2,000 to $2,500 depending on the attorney.

 

Try another attorney or get the "Red Ribbon" complete in Japan then try again.  With an official divorce, definitely go the Recognition route, not the Annulment.  Even if you have to go through the Red Ribbon process it will be cheaper, less time consuming, and is ultimately the right process in this case.

 

Yeah, the Philippines doesn't make ending a marriage easy.

YES.. forgot about the certified RED RIBBON for the document.