Philippines, religious ceremony, CENOMAR

[David & Diana R 1,005]

12 hours ago, Naes said:

They could instead get their visas with a no marriage state, and do their little celebration before going to us to have their marriage certificate.

 

this way again everyone is happy. You have a wedding looking celebration. You're not lying or hiding anything.  

WRONG!          Question: How do you spell FRAUD?       Answer: Omission

[Naes 12,205]

4 minutes ago, David & Zoila said:

WRONG!          Question: How do you spell FRAUD?       Answer: Omission

I have no clue from which part of that thing you quoted you got the idea that it says "omit"

 

and obviously didnt read read one bit of another information as I was trying to explain for pages how omitting would be the problem itself.

 

im done with this thing which obviously is turning into a let's attack game. 

[RO_AH 1,663]

13 hours ago, Bill&leah said:

i didnt mean "work out" as in, to do something and "Get away" with it...not trying to commit fraud...just wondering if the officers in manilla tend to deny if they found evidence of some engagement party / religious ceremony thing even with knowing that there is no legal marriage and it was just that, only a ceremony, not a catholic one at that. Most immigration lawyer websites are all saying it is ok to have a ceremony, just probably not the best idea to go producing pictures of it during your interview as then things start to confuse the officer and then you just shot your self in the foot, not that you admitted fraud, or that there was fraud because your not actually married, but that you just swayed the officers mind into the not so sure about this one and this looks fishy to me so then your denied told to go get a marriage visa instead because sorry, your little party looked like a wedding to me. you know? 

You seem pretty determined to do this no matter what the advice is that you are getting. Anything you do that could possibly give the impression to the CO that you are married (official or not) will get a denial on the K-1. I like to say too married for a K-1 but not married enough for a CR-1. I struggled with my options as well and decided that it would be best to get married in the Philippines and file for a CR-1.

 

You can make any justification you want. You can even convince yourself that it will all be okay and you will get approved. But consider what happens if you do get denied. You will need to go back to the Philippines and officially get married (since your ceremony without the paperwork will not be good enough for a CR-1) and then file for a CR-1. This will add over a year to being together and cost you a lot more money. When thinking about that scenario it made me choose the CR-1. 

[David & Diana R 1,005]

14 minutes ago, RO_AH said:

You seem pretty determined to do this no matter what the advice is that you are getting. Anything you do that could possibly give the impression to the CO that you are married (official or not) will get a denial on the K-1. I like to say too married for a K-1 but not married enough for a CR-1. I struggled with my options as well and decided that it would be best to get married in the Philippines and file for a CR-1.

 

You can make any justification you want. You can even convince yourself that it will all be okay and you will get approved. But consider what happens if you do get denied. You will need to go back to the Philippines and officially get married (since your ceremony without the paperwork will not be good enough for a CR-1) and then file for a CR-1. This will add over a year to being together and cost you a lot more money. When thinking about that scenario it made me choose the CR-1. 

 

I agree with you 100% Ruben.  This guy is gonna do what he wants to do regardless of the advice he receives.  He might get his wife here sometime in 2019 or 2020 if he's lucky.  Why do people ask if they refuse to accept the advice given to them?    I, for one am out of this thread now that it is obvious what we say doesn't matter to this guy.

[Lemonslice 4,968]

Nothing shows true love like a fake wedding.

[CEE53147 559]

Why not just get married and immigrate as a spouse?

[usmsbow 802]

22 hours ago, Bill&leah said:

I know this question may have been asked a million times already but i have not found any that involve discussion of the CENOMAR or Certificate of No Marriage.

My fiance is from the Philippines. We want to hold a religious ceremony, but not have it registered with the government, so its more like an engagement party. But it would be nice to be able to wear the wedding dress and do the whole wedding reception thing, as my fiance currently is pregnant and we cant do the back and forth once the k1 comes through because of a newborn child and possibly her still being pregnant.

Many strongly advise to not hold any sort of religious ceremonies and all this because it may be viewed as an actual wedding and get denied, even though there is no marriage certificate.

But the Philippines has the CENOMAR which is a certificate for no marriage.

If we have this ceremony, and dress it up like a wedding so that everyone is happy and we dont have to return to the PI for this after we have a newborn, wouldnt it be ok?

I would think given that she would arrive to the interview with a current CENOMAR to prove that she ISNT married, she could be approved.

Does anyone have actual experience with this, not just be careful and i wouldnt suggest it, but has anyone had this sort of circumstance work out for them?

Thank you!

 

I have no experience and am not familiar with CENOMAR, but I did have a fake wedding ceremony with many guests.  My 2 cents:

 

1. Be 100% on the same page with the priest. If you have any sense of doubt that he's not fully understanding, I'd kill the idea right there. I know nothing about what one has to do in the Philippines to get married, but I know in Indonesia, a church usually sends in any record of a marriage ceremony into the government. The couple has other steps to take to get a marriage certificate and to be legally married, but if the church has sent in that record, there is now a "paper trail." 

 

2. Both you and your future spouse should deactivate your social media accounts, especially Facebook and Instagram. Here's a bigger challenge: ask your wedding vendors to not post photos of your wedding on their social media. Good luck with that one. At a minimum, tell them to at least not list your names in the posting. 

 

3. Do not show any pictures from that ceremony in your interview. I'm sure you have plenty of other evidence that should suffice. 

 

4. Last and certainly not least: be sure you really know the law and requirements to get legally married. Make sure you're not fulfilling a single one of those requirements (except holding a ceremony I suppose).  

 

 

[geowrian 22,338]

20 minutes ago, usmsbow said:

2. Both you and your future spouse should deactivate your social media accounts, especially Facebook and Instagram.

While not common with USEM, this has a risk as well. They have been increasingly requesting a DS-5535 from visa applicants, which requires disclosing social media accounts used. Having accounts that were recently deactivated (or sudden stop of activity) during or directly prior to applying for a visa will look fishy.

Edited December 5, 2017 by geowrian

[Ontarkie 14,501]

~~As the Op has been online and has not posted any more question. Plus the off topic posts it's time to lock this thread. The OP has received all the advice that can be given on this topic. He is able to search the forums for similar topics that ended in denials to help him make the best decisions. Do not restart this thread, if the OP has additional questions on this topic he can report this thread and ask to reopen it for that purpose.~~