Bringing Spouse/Partner of Permanent Resident to US

[Mae Harry 0]

Good day to all!

 

This forum has been really helpful po to me.   Here is my situation po and I hope meron same situation as me.

 

I am single po, never married.

 

My Pinoy BF was married here in the Philippines to a Pinay wife.  

Last 2008, the Pinay wife, through work visa, went to the US, BF followed (visa as dependent of the wife)

 

2013 - due to personal marital reasons, BF went home to Philippines, leaving the wife in US.

2014 - BF went back to US, in the process of staying in the US, he got his Green Card.

2015 - BF went home again due to personal marital reasons

2016 - wife filed for divorce in the US

2017 - BF went back to US as green card holder, and is working there up to present.

 

BF filed for annulment here in the Philippines last August 2016. 

However, even now, 2018, no movement pa rin po =( 

 

BF has the copy of the divorce decree.

 

1.  Since hindi pa po US citizen ang BF ko, he cannot file for a fiance visa for me.

     We also cannot get married here in the Philippines since he is still married, and wala pang annotation ang marriage certificate niya as annulled.

 

2.  Option is to go to US and get married there. (I have a tourist visa)  then I come back here, then he will file a petition for me i-130.

     This seems ok however:  1.  Ang tagal pa po ng filing process, 2 years pa po and we are not getting any younger po =( (nasa 40's na po and God willing we hope to start our own family)

                                                  2.  US embassy requires Cenomar or annulment with finality for his marriage here in the Philippines.  (tama po ba ito? I checked sa website po nila)

 

I read a post po by sir RJ29 somewhat same scenario po but wala na po siyang updates.

 

Need all the help po.  BF still has 4 years para ma citizen.  While nandito lang ako naghihintay =(

 

God bless to all!

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

1 minute ago, Mae Harry said:

Good day to all!

 

This forum has been really helpful po to me.   Here is my situation po and I hope meron same situation as me.

 

I am single po, never married.

 

My Pinoy BF was married here in the Philippines to a Pinay wife.  

Last 2008, the Pinay wife, through work visa, went to the US, BF followed (visa as dependent of the wife)

 

2013 - due to personal marital reasons, BF went home to Philippines, leaving the wife in US.

2014 - BF went back to US, in the process of staying in the US, he got his Green Card.

2015 - BF went home again due to personal marital reasons

2016 - wife filed for divorce in the US

2017 - BF went back to US as green card holder, and is working there up to present.

 

BF filed for annulment here in the Philippines last August 2016. 

However, even now, 2018, no movement pa rin po =( 

 

BF has the copy of the divorce decree.

 

1.  Since hindi pa po US citizen ang BF ko, he cannot file for a fiance visa for me.

     We also cannot get married here in the Philippines since he is still married, and wala pang annotation ang marriage certificate niya as annulled.

 

2.  Option is to go to US and get married there. (I have a tourist visa)  then I come back here, then he will file a petition for me i-130.

     This seems ok however:  1.  Ang tagal pa po ng filing process, 2 years pa po and we are not getting any younger po =( (nasa 40's na po and God willing we hope to start our own family)

                                                  2.  US embassy requires Cenomar or annulment with finality for his marriage here in the Philippines.  (tama po ba ito? I checked sa website po nila)

 

I read a post po by sir RJ29 somewhat same scenario po but wala na po siyang updates.

 

Need all the help po.  BF still has 4 years para ma citizen.  While nandito lang ako naghihintay =(

 

God bless to all!

I am moving this to the Philippines subforum because there is supposed to be English only in the Upper Forums. I will respond to your post after I do that. 

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

3 minutes ago, Mae Harry said:

Good day to all!

 

This forum has been really helpful po to me.   Here is my situation po and I hope meron same situation as me.

 

I am single po, never married.

 

My Pinoy BF was married here in the Philippines to a Pinay wife.  

Last 2008, the Pinay wife, through work visa, went to the US, BF followed (visa as dependent of the wife)

 

2013 - due to personal marital reasons, BF went home to Philippines, leaving the wife in US.

2014 - BF went back to US, in the process of staying in the US, he got his Green Card.

2015 - BF went home again due to personal marital reasons

2016 - wife filed for divorce in the US

2017 - BF went back to US as green card holder, and is working there up to present.

 

BF filed for annulment here in the Philippines last August 2016. 

However, even now, 2018, no movement pa rin po =( 

 

BF has the copy of the divorce decree.

 

1.  Since hindi pa po US citizen ang BF ko, he cannot file for a fiance visa for me.

     We also cannot get married here in the Philippines since he is still married, and wala pang annotation ang marriage certificate niya as annulled.

 

2.  Option is to go to US and get married there. (I have a tourist visa)  then I come back here, then he will file a petition for me i-130.

     This seems ok however:  1.  Ang tagal pa po ng filing process, 2 years pa po and we are not getting any younger po =( (nasa 40's na po and God willing we hope to start our own family)

                                                  2.  US embassy requires Cenomar or annulment with finality for his marriage here in the Philippines.  (tama po ba ito? I checked sa website po nila)

 

I read a post po by sir RJ29 somewhat same scenario po but wala na po siyang updates.

 

Need all the help po.  BF still has 4 years para ma citizen.  While nandito lang ako naghihintay =(

 

God bless to all!

I have a couple things for you to ponder and ask your BF about:

 

1. Why hasn't your BF filed for citizenship yet, and what visa does your bf have na? 

 

2. Why hasn't your bf filed for divorce yet here in the USA? He can do that because he is here legally. 

 

3. If you get married to him here in the USA he can file for you but the process would take 2 years because he is a PR not a citizen. 

[Mae Harry 0]

Thank you Cyberfx.

 

1. Why hasn't your BF filed for citizenship yet, and what visa does your bf have na?   - He still needs technically 3 years until he can file for citizenship.  

 

2. Why hasn't your bf filed for divorce yet here in the USA? He can do that because he is here legally. - His ex-wife filed for divorce in the US, BF already has a copy of the divorce decree.

 

3. If you get married to him here in the USA he can file for you but the process would take 2 years because he is a PR not a citizen.  - Yes, that is what I am concerned about since it takes much time and we are not getting any younger.  

 

 

[Mae Harry 0]

Good day to all!

 

This forum has been really helpful to me.   Here is my situation and I hope some have the same situation as mine.

 

I am single, never married.

 

My Pinoy BF was married here in the Philippines to a Pinay wife.  

Last 2008, the Pinay wife, through work visa, went to the US, BF followed (visa as dependent of the wife)

 

2013 - due to personal marital reasons, BF went home to Philippines, leaving the wife in US.

2014 - BF went back to US, in the process of staying in the US, he got his Green Card.

2015 - BF went home again due to personal marital reasons

2016 - wife filed for divorce in the US

2017 - BF went back to US as green card holder, and is working there up to present.

 

Technically, BF still has around 3 years until which he can file for citizenship (he stayed more than 6 months here in the Philippines, with re-entry permit, thus counting of his years towards citizenship went back to zero)

 

BF filed for annulment here in the Philippines last August 2016. 

However, even now, 2018, there is still no movement in the annulment process.

 

BF has the copy of the divorce decree.

 

1.  Since BF is still not a US Citizen, he cannot file for a fiance visa for me.

     We also cannot get married here in the Philippines since he is still married here.

 

2.  Option is to go to US and get married there. (I have a tourist visa)  then I come back here, then he will file a petition for me i-130.

     This seems ok however:  1.  The filing process is 2 years we are not getting any younger  (we are in our 40s and God willing,  we hope to start our own family)

                                                  2.  US embassy requires Cenomar or annulment with finality for his marriage here in the Philippines.  (I checked the website and I am not quite sure if this document pertains to me or him or to both of us)

 

I read a post by sir RJ29 with somewhat the same scenario but he does not have any updates.

 

Need all the help.  BF still has 3 years for him to become a citizen while I wait for him here not knowing what to do.

 

God bless to all!

 

 

*Thank you Sir Cyberfx for the help

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

I’ll leave it up to someone else to disentangle the immigration details, but I just wanted to point out that you don’t need to be married to start a family. It’s not at all unusual these days to do child first marriage later.

[Ontarkie 14,549]

~~Moved to the PI forum, from Bringing Family or PR - As the OP main questions are country specific.~~

[Hank_ 9,174]

7 hours ago, Mae Harry said:

Good day to all!

 

This forum has been really helpful po to me.   Here is my situation po and I hope meron same situation as me.

 

I am single po, never married.

 

My Pinoy BF was married here in the Philippines to a Pinay wife.  

Last 2008, the Pinay wife, through work visa, went to the US, BF followed (visa as dependent of the wife)

 

2013 - due to personal marital reasons, BF went home to Philippines, leaving the wife in US.

2014 - BF went back to US, in the process of staying in the US, he got his Green Card.

2015 - BF went home again due to personal marital reasons

2016 - wife filed for divorce in the US

2017 - BF went back to US as green card holder, and is working there up to present.

 

BF filed for annulment here in the Philippines last August 2016. 

However, even now, 2018, no movement pa rin po =( 

 

BF has the copy of the divorce decree.

 

1.  Since hindi pa po US citizen ang BF ko, he cannot file for a fiance visa for me.

     We also cannot get married here in the Philippines since he is still married, and wala pang annotation ang marriage certificate niya as annulled.

 

2.  Option is to go to US and get married there. (I have a tourist visa)  then I come back here, then he will file a petition for me i-130.

     This seems ok however:  1.  Ang tagal pa po ng filing process, 2 years pa po and we are not getting any younger po =( (nasa 40's na po and God willing we hope to start our own family)

                                                  2.  US embassy requires Cenomar or annulment with finality for his marriage here in the Philippines.  (tama po ba ito? I checked sa website po nila)

 

I read a post po by sir RJ29 somewhat same scenario po but wala na po siyang updates.

 

Need all the help po.  BF still has 4 years para ma citizen.  While nandito lang ako naghihintay =(

 

God bless to all!

 I have a question:   Was the EX wife a USC when she filed for the divorce?

 

Based on your current situation, your fiance has a divorce decree so he is free to marry, you are single, plus with you having a tourist visa ....  so YES you can go to the USA and get married, then return to complete the I-130 petition process.

 

Your fiance does not need an annulment from the Philippines to complete the visa process for you to get a spouse F2 visa, the divorce decree is proof of singleness for him at time of marriage to make USCIS and the embassy happy.  Even with him showing married status in the Philippines.  (only need for the annulment is if the EX wife was NOT a USC when she filed for divorce**, and/or you want to be able to update marital status in the Philippines)

 

 

** Divorce decree is accepted in the Philippines if the EX wife was a USC at the time of filing for the divorce (still need a court process at the RTC for recognition of the divorce decree)

 

You fiance will need 5 years before he can file for USC, being he was not married to a USC.

 

 

[Mae Harry 0]

Hello Sir Hank.

 

Ex-wife was not a US Citizen at the time the divorce was filed.  

If this is the case, can BF still petition me for I-130 if ever we get married in the US? (Him as legal resident and me having US Tourist visa)

If yes, will the US embassy still require that HIS marriage here in the Philippines be annulled, with annotation?

 

Thank you Sir Hank.

 

 

[Hank_ 9,174]

7 hours ago, Mae Harry said:

 

 

7 hours ago, Cyberfx1024 said:

I have a couple things for you to ponder and ask your BF about:

 

1. Why hasn't your BF filed for citizenship yet, and what visa does your bf have na? 

 

2. Why hasn't your bf filed for divorce yet here in the USA? He can do that because he is here legally. 

 

3. If you get married to him here in the USA he can file for you but the process would take 2 years because he is a PR not a citizen. 

 

1.   3 year rule only applies when married to a USC, for all others it is 5 years.

 

2.   He is already divorced, EX wife filed for the divorce .. fiance should have a copy of the divorce decree.

 

3.  Fiance can file the I-130 for the F2 spouse visa, then if the I-130 is still in process when he becomes a USC he can inform USCIS of his change of status and the I-130 petition can now be changed to an IR/CR-1 visa ... NO more waiting.

[Mae Harry 0]

4 minutes ago, Hank_ said:

 

 

1.   3 year rule only applies when married to a USC, for all others it is 5 years.

 

2.   He is already divorced, EX wife filed for the divorce .. fiance should have a copy of the divorce decree.

 

3.  Fiance can file the I-130 for the F2 spouse visa, then if the I-130 is still in process when he becomes a USC he can inform USCIS of his change of status and the I-130 petition can now be changed to an IR/CR-1 visa ... NO more waiting.

Sir Hank:

 

Ex-wife was not a US Citizen at the time the divorce was filed.  

If this is the case, can BF still petition me for I-130 if ever we get married in the US? (Him as legal resident and me having US Tourist visa)

If yes, will the US embassy still require that HIS marriage here in the Philippines be annulled, with annotation?

 

Thank you Sir.  (Apologies if double post)

 

[Hank_ 9,174]

11 minutes ago, Mae Harry said:

Hello Sir Hank.

 

Ex-wife was not a US Citizen at the time the divorce was filed.  

If this is the case, can BF still petition me for I-130 if ever we get married in the US? (Him as legal resident and me having US Tourist visa)

If yes, will the US embassy still require that HIS marriage here in the Philippines be annulled, with annotation?

 

Thank you Sir Hank.

 

 

 

Thank you for the update.

 

OK.  Divorce decree can not be accepted in the Philippines because neither party was a foreigner at the time of the divorce.

 

Yes your fiance can still marry you ... anywhere but in the Philippines.    Fly to the USA, get married, fly home and wait for the I-130 petition process to be completed.     

 

NO the embassy will not require an annulment to be completed in the Philippines, your fiance has a divorce decree ... divorce is accepted in the USA         Yes your fiance will still  be "married" in the Philippines being they will not recognize his divorce, and he will have to submit a CEMAR for the visa interview but he will also have the divorce decree .. and that trumps everything in regards to the embassy and the visa process.

 

 

Being still married in the Philippines does cause a small snag for later .. for you.  You will not be able to get the marriage in the USA recorded at PSA, so you will not be able to get your passport changed to your married name (minor issue).    

 

If he continues the annulment process then one day your should be able to get everyone's status updated and then get your marriage recognized in the Phils plus ....   get a Philippine passport in your married name.

 

 

Edited September 7, 2018 by Hank_

[Mae Harry 0]

Sir Hank:

 

All the while I interpreted the requirements in the US embassy website incorrectly.  Thank you for clarifying that Sir.  Below is the requirement from the US embassy website. (which I incorrectly interpreted)

Now, if we do want to pursue marriage in the US, processing of I-130 takes 2 years, by then, having kids may be out of the question given our age =(

 

By chance, does anyone have any idea of "Judicial Acknowledgement"  (not judicial recognition which is for the foreign spouses) .  A lawyer friend said that it can be done here in the Philippines, with an annotation in the marriage certificate. 

1. MARRIAGE RECORDS (if applicable): For Philippine marriages, the copy of the marriage certificate must be printed on National Statistics Office (NSO) security paper. If the marriage ended by divorce, annulment, disappearance or death of the spouse, legal and/or civil documentation must be presented attesting to the termination of the marriage (annulment decree, death certificate issued by NSO and printed on security paper, a foreign divorce decree, or foreign death certificate).

[Hank_ 9,174]

1 hour ago, Mae Harry said:

Sir Hank:

 

All the while I interpreted the requirements in the US embassy website incorrectly.  Thank you for clarifying that Sir.  Below is the requirement from the US embassy website. (which I incorrectly interpreted)

Now, if we do want to pursue marriage in the US, processing of I-130 takes 2 years, by then, having kids may be out of the question given our age =(

 

By chance, does anyone have any idea of "Judicial Acknowledgement"  (not judicial recognition which is for the foreign spouses) .  A lawyer friend said that it can be done here in the Philippines, with an annotation in the marriage certificate. 

1. MARRIAGE RECORDS (if applicable): For Philippine marriages, the copy of the marriage certificate must be printed on National Statistics Office (NSO) security paper. If the marriage ended by divorce, annulment, disappearance or death of the spouse, legal and/or civil documentation must be presented attesting to the termination of the marriage (annulment decree, death certificate issued by NSO and printed on security paper, a foreign divorce decree, or foreign death certificate).

First.. waiting 2 years before having children.   Why wait??    Once married there is nothing to stop you from having children .. except ... welllll ... you know.        You do not need the visa process to be completed to be pregnant.  If you have a child before the visa process is completed, that child can be added to the petition as a derivative.

 

Acknowledgement and Recognition are sort of the same.     In your case your fiance can not complete this because neither party to the divorce was a foreigner .. your lawyer friend seems to be glassing over that vital part.   (as you noted the EX was not a USC at the time of the divorce)

 

As for:   MARRIAGE RECORDS (if applicable): For Philippine marriages, the copy of the marriage certificate must be printed on National Statistics Office (NSO) security paper. If the marriage ended by divorce, annulment, disappearance or death of the spouse, legal and/or civil documentation must be presented attesting to the termination of the marriage (annulment decree, death certificate issued by NSO and printed on security paper, a foreign divorce decree, or foreign death certificate).

 

<<  There are two topics, 1)  is regarding your fiance's past marriage, which is addressed by the divorce decree.  Nothing from PSA (no longer NSO) regarding the termination of marriage is needed, but he will need to provide a CEMAR for the actual visa application at the embassy. And a copy of his divorce decree.   2)  in regards to your (future) marriage in the USA, this can not be reported to the Philippine consulate/PSA (as his previous marriage has not been terminated), thus you can not provide a PSA certified copy of your marriage certificate  - but then that "language" was written with the attitude that the marriage takes place IN the Philippines, thus the wording follows the typical process or reporting the marriage to PSA ... which is not valid in your case.  So you will not be able to provide a PSA copy of your marriage certificate, but you WILL provide a certified copy of your marriage certificate from the USA (for which ever state you marry) and that will suffice.

 

 

[You Don't Know Me 6]

4 hours ago, Hank_ said:

Acknowledgement and Recognition are sort of the same.     In your case your fiance can not complete this because neither party to the divorce was a foreigner .. your lawyer friend seems to be glassing over that vital part.   (as you noted the EX was not a USC at the time of the divorce)

That is no longer the case!

 

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/04/24/1809011/sc-philippine-courts-now-recognize-divorce-obtained-filipino-foreign-spouse

 

Now a filipino can initiate the divorce and still have it recognized in PH!