K2 -invalid date of marriage on birth certificate

[Sundance48 0]

My Filipino fiance was never married to the father of her child who is now 19 and a part of our K1/K2 petition.  The father, who is now deceased, put a fictitious marriage date on the birth certificate in order to give the child his last name and hide the illegitimacy.  USCIS has noted the discrepancy, and we received an RFE requesting proof of termination of a marriage that never existed.   Will an explanation, the death certificate, and my fiances public record suffice in response to the RFE?  Do we need to legally remove the date of marriage from the birth certificate as well?

[JFH 12,189]

Proving a negative (that the marriage never happened) is one of the hardest things to do. I would assume his death certificate would suffice it I would think the best thing to do right now would be to contact a lawyer who has experience in immigration matters that specifically affect Filipinos (who understands the stigma of illegitimate children there).

[HP+IC 292]

So, how did you respond to question 43, has the Beneficiary ever been previously married? I'm afraid, if you put it as 'no' (or at least not to that man), the birth certificate is at least questionable. If you hopefully will be able to proceed to embassy stage, they will request marriage certificate for sure. Notwithstanding Philippines being very specific (in my country birth certificates are not concerned with whether the parents were married, there simply is no such information), you may want to discuss the situation with a US immigration lawyer to avoid misrepresentation which may be extremely serious.

Edited September 28, 2018 by HP+IC

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

20 minutes ago, Sundance48 said:

My Filipino fiance was never married to the father of her child who is now 19 and a part of our K1/K2 petition.  The father, who is now deceased, put a fictitious marriage date on the birth certificate in order to give the child his last name and hide the illegitimacy.  USCIS has noted the discrepancy, and we received an RFE requesting proof of termination of a marriage that never existed.   Will an explanation, the death certificate, and my fiances public record suffice in response to the RFE?  Do we need to legally remove the date of marriage from the birth certificate as well?

She needs a CENOMAR ASAP and send that in. Also include the explanation and the death certificate. 

[HP+IC 292]

3 minutes ago, Cyberfx1024 said:

She needs a CENOMAR ASAP and send that in. Also include the explanation and the death certificate. 

But, how will doing so assist with the birth certificate which bears false statement as to marriage of the parties involved?

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

41 minutes ago, HP+IC said:

But, how will doing so assist with the birth certificate which bears false statement as to marriage of the parties involved?

They already have questions about a possible marriage. So just changing the birth certificate at this point in time will NOT suffice right now. She needs the CENOMAR(Certificate of No Marriage), the letter, and his death certificate. 

 

Edit. Also just changing the birth certificate may be a problem with our efficient the Philippines is. 

Edited September 28, 2018 by Cyberfx1024

[HP+IC 292]

A member from my country was just issued a 221g slip for similarly unclear family situation and requested to provide clarification. She got NOA2 on time and with no issues whatsoever.  However, all her documents were true and could be even further supported with an extended extract from the civil register. Now that the OP admits to having deliberately filed a faulty birth certificate, why would the CO accept it in view of local difficulties?

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

26 minutes ago, HP+IC said:

A member from my country was just issued a 221g slip for similarly unclear family situation and requested to provide clarification. She got NOA2 on time and with no issues whatsoever.  However, all her documents were true and could be even further supported with an extended extract from the civil register. Now that the OP admits to having deliberately filed a faulty birth certificate, why would the CO accept it in view of local difficulties?

That's why I said the letter of explanation and the CENOMAR should suffice. 

[HP+IC 292]

1 hour ago, Cyberfx1024 said:

That's why I said the letter of explanation and the CENOMAR should suffice. 

Unfortunately, for whatever reason the OPs fiancee and her then partner actually lied to Philippines authorities and caused a false statement to be incorporated into a birth certificat, thus making it partly falsified. Normally, such document must not and shall not be accepted. I am very much in doubt that a written explanation and CENOMAR will help.

[Ontarkie 14,190]

~~Moved to the PI Forum, from K1 P&P - As fixing the error will involve country specific answers.~~

[John & Rose 7,239]

The death certificate and an explanation will help.  In my limited experience and the experience from friends, they may question the relationship to the child.  That is serious.  If the Embassy believes that this is fraud in order to bring un unrelated child it may be considered human trafficking.  That will require DNA testing and if that is found to be insufficient, that can end up as a permanent ban.  I know this because a fellow June 2017 K-1 filer went through a very similar situation.  His fiancee tried to bring her sister's daughter on a K-2.  She raised this girl from birth and the child did not know that the fiancee was not her mother.  When they filed this time (7 years after first petition that was denied) they were refused and told of the permanent ban.  The child in question was not part of the latest petition.  There was no way to appeal the decision.  The petitioner did not know about the details of the first petition.  He knew she had a failed K-1 but not the details.

 

The CENOMAR and Death Certificate should suffice in proving legal capacity but if the question was answered incorrectly (been there done that) you may need to get married there and file a CR-1.  Did you send a CENOMAR with the original petition?  It is required paperwork.

Edited September 28, 2018 by John & Rose

[Sundance48 0]

The Civil Registrar notes a subsequent legal marriage and divorce which is not in question, which should be as good as a CENOMAR, as there is no record of the common law relationship.  My fiance is the legal mother on the birth certificate, so I'm not worried about that.  It's just the Catch-22....while explaining the fraudulent date of marriage on the birth certificate clears the legal impediment, it discloses a mistake on the birth certificate which likely then won't be accepted.  If we attempt to perfect the birth certificate to show good faith and due diligence, we may still be denied anyway.  The CR-1 is our back-up plan.  Many thanks for your response.

Edited September 28, 2018 by Sundance48
forgot word

[John & Rose 7,239]

17 minutes ago, Sundance48 said:

The Civil Registrar notes a subsequent legal marriage and divorce which is not in question, which should be as good as a CENOMAR, as there is no record of the common law relationship.  My fiance is the legal mother on the birth certificate, so I'm not worried about that.  It's just the Catch-22....while explaining the fraudulent date of marriage on the birth certificate clears the legal impediment, it discloses a mistake on the birth certificate which likely then won't be accepted.  If we attempt to perfect the birth certificate to show good faith and due diligence, we may still be denied anyway.  The CR-1 is our back-up plan.  Many thanks for your response.

Nope.  A CENOMAR is from the PSA.  Local documents will not satisfy that requirement.  Also, since there is no divorce in the Philippines a local registrar showing a previous marriage with a divorce will raise a lot of serious red flags.  We got an RFE for certified PSA annulment docs when we sent the local registrar docs.  They will need the PSA CENOMAR.  Just have a plan B in case.  If they suspect a fake birth certificate it won't matter who's name is on it.  I'm so sorry you are in this situation.  It is not easy once they get a whiff of something that doesn't seem quite right.

 

Marriage there will also be a challenge as they will still have the same requirements when it comes to a CENOMAR.  I even had to have a CENOMAR run for me and I am the US petitioner.  I would consult a lawyer that understands the details of Philippine law.  We did not need the kids birth certificates for the marriage license but we did for the CR-1 filing.  

[Hank_ 9,174]

5 hours ago, Sundance48 said:

My Filipino fiance was never married to the father of her child who is now 19 and a part of our K1/K2 petition.  The father, who is now deceased, put a fictitious marriage date on the birth certificate in order to give the child his last name and hide the illegitimacy.  USCIS has noted the discrepancy, and we received an RFE requesting proof of termination of a marriage that never existed.   Will an explanation, the death certificate, and my fiances public record suffice in response to the RFE?  Do we need to legally remove the date of marriage from the birth certificate as well?

Get a PSA copy of the death certificate, send that to USCIS.   Get extra copies of the death certificate, you will need one to bring to the interview as the embassy for sure will catch that.

 

Don't try to explain the "creative" birth certificate for now.

 

Not sure you can easily correct the birth certificate.   But the death certificate makes all of it a moot topic anyway. 

Edited September 28, 2018 by Hank_

[John & Rose 7,239]

On 9/28/2018 at 10:53 AM, HP+IC said:

A member from my country was just issued a 221g slip for similarly unclear family situation and requested to provide clarification. She got NOA2 on time and with no issues whatsoever.  However, all her documents were true and could be even further supported with an extended extract from the civil register. Now that the OP admits to having deliberately filed a faulty birth certificate, why would the CO accept it in view of local difficulties?

NOA2 is from Homeland Security.  The 221g is from the State Department.  They are two very different and separate entities.  One has very little impact on the other.  Either can deny or approve.  In my case Homeland approved and the State Department denied.

 

If NVC or the Embassy find the fraud, the beneficiary can be banned for anything from 5 years to a permanent ban, depending on the fraud.

Edited October 1, 2018 by John & Rose