HELP, Annulment & the USCIS

[j N j 50]

I provided with the I-129F form a copy of my fiances annulment papers. To both of our surprise, it came to our attention that the paperwork was not filed in the countries court system, BUT was at the local level. My question is: at what point in this process do those papers get checked for being available to marry? The USCIS, before the Embassy interview? I thought I had this question posted one other time, but couldn't find it. Again, the annulment is legit and we've hired a local lawyer to follow through with getting the paperwork filed (correctly). We know its a long enough process to begin with and this clusterf*** doesnt help matters any. Our worries are that we get a RFE for this at the USCIS level, or it works itself out with time before it gets to the embassy stage.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Suss&Camm 2,213]

You have to be legally free to marry at the time of filing (even though the paperwork for the fiance is not required until embassy interview).

[geowrian 22,337]

Exactly. The annulment needs to be complete before you can submit your I-129F.

[j N j 50]

2 hours ago, Suss&Camm said:

You have to be legally free to marry at the time of filing (even though the paperwork for the fiance is not required until embassy interview).

 

2 hours ago, geowrian said:

Exactly. The annulment needs to be complete before you can submit your I-129F.

Thanks for replies, to me, sounds like I need to wait it out. The long processing times buys me time until the interview..

[Villanelle 4,122]

You should ask to move this to the PI subforum.

 

The issue people are bringing up is "was the marriage annulled when you filed?" Not when you interview, but way back when you filed the 129f. Its unclear because you stated it was legal at the local level but not registered with the country. Does that make it not legal until the country recognizes it? I dont know.Some one in the PI forums probably knows the answer to this.

 

Also at some point the fiance has to get that NSO thing for the Philippines. That would be where they verify (cenomar) and again I dont know if that would come back clear, or show you filed the 129f before she was free to marry making this petition void and unapprovable. 

[j N j 50]

4 hours ago, Damara said:

You should ask to move this to the PI subforum.

 

The issue people are bringing up is "was the marriage annulled when you filed?" Not when you interview, but way back when you filed the 129f. Its unclear because you stated it was legal at the local level but not registered with the country. Does that make it not legal until the country recognizes it? I dont know.Some one in the PI forums probably knows the answer to this.

 

Also at some point the fiance has to get that NSO thing for the Philippines. That would be where they verify (cenomar) and again I dont know if that would come back clear, or show you filed the 129f before she was free to marry making this petition void and unapprovable. 

I havent posted it there, but its a good idea. Yea, there are some unknowns here, Im just just fishing for some answers. WHo or how would I go about having this thread moved?

 

Thanks.

Edited September 14, 2017 by j N j

[milimelo 4,478]

~Topic moved to the Philippines forum. ~ 

[Hank_ 9,174]

10 hours ago, j N j said:

I provided with the I-129F form a copy of my fiances annulment papers. To both of our surprise, it came to our attention that the paperwork was not filed in the countries court system, BUT was at the local level. My question is: at what point in this process do those papers get checked for being available to marry? The USCIS, before the Embassy interview? I thought I had this question posted one other time, but couldn't find it. Again, the annulment is legit and we've hired a local lawyer to follow through with getting the paperwork filed (correctly). We know its a long enough process to begin with and this clusterf*** doesnt help matters any. Our worries are that we get a RFE for this at the USCIS level, or it works itself out with time before it gets to the embassy stage.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

You MUST BE FREE TO MARRY AT THE TIME OF FILING the I-129F.  USCIS may not catch this, but USEM will and they will kick your petition back to USCIS...  it will be a DO OVER .  

 

You must have the court documents of finality, and after that you need the PSA copies .. THEN you are free to marry.

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

17 minutes ago, Hank_ said:

You MUST BE FREE TO MARRY AT THE TIME OF FILING the I-129F.  USCIS may not catch this, but USEM will and they will kick your petition back to USCIS...  it will be a DO OVER .  

 

You must have the court documents of finality, and after that you need the PSA copies .. THEN you are free to marry.

Where is the link to your guides on what to do after getting the MNL Hank? I am trying to help someone. Sorry I had to move to laptop to find it.

 

I got it na thanks. 

Edited September 14, 2017 by cyberfx1024

[Hank_ 9,174]

In my signature below..  got it OK ...   

[j N j 50]

8 hours ago, Hank_ said:

You MUST BE FREE TO MARRY AT THE TIME OF FILING the I-129F.  USCIS may not catch this, but USEM will and they will kick your petition back to USCIS...  it will be a DO OVER .  

 

You must have the court documents of finality, and after that you need the PSA copies .. THEN you are free to marry.

Do over? as in starting all over again in addition to the application filing fees? 

[Hank_ 9,174]

7 minutes ago, j N j said:

Do over? as in starting all over again in addition to the application filing fees? 

Pretty much so.  They must be free to marry at the time of filing the I-129F petition, which they are not.. annulment is not completed.

[j N j 50]

7 minutes ago, Hank_ said:

Pretty much so.  They must be free to marry at the time of filing the I-129F petition, which they are not.. annulment is not completed.

Thanks Hank..

 

[j N j 50]

On 9/13/2017 at 11:57 PM, Hank_ said:

You MUST BE FREE TO MARRY AT THE TIME OF FILING the I-129F.  USCIS may not catch this, but USEM will and they will kick your petition back to USCIS...  it will be a DO OVER .  

 

You must have the court documents of finality, and after that you need the PSA copies .. THEN you are free to marry.

Lots of things going through my head right now, and just trying to figure out my options, if there are any. "What If" the USCIS catches this? I understand that if the USEM does, it will kick it back. Will the USCIS send a RFE? At this point, is there any way of salvaging the case? Last ive heard, my fiances lawyer has had this case pushed up to #2 in the queue to be processed and was to take approx. 3 months. Those 3 months were to be in August or September.. Is all this a moot point considering all the information mentioned?

[Hank_ 9,174]

If USCIS catches that the annulment is not complete they will not approve the petition.  Two main requirements for filing the I-129F are; 1) You are BOTH free to marry at the time of filing the petition.  2) You have met in  person within the past two years.   You can't say YES to both of those you should not be filing the I-129F.