Annulment

[John & Rose 7,239]

On 8/4/2019 at 7:21 AM, Sarge2155 said:

Humm that's strange because with us it was just the opposite. If both parties agree then that's a good thing, what some Filipinos do is when they find out that their separated partner has a foreigner  for a boyfriend or girlfriend they try to extort money to agree to the annulment. If the separated spouse who wants the annulment does not pay then the other spouse refuses to sign and agree to the annulment.

 

I think what you may be referring to is a word we are all to familiar with collusion. If it is found (and they check) if there is any collusion between the parties wanting to annul then the case can not proceed. This is all as of 2018. Again both parties must agree to the annulment before it can proceed. If one does not want the annulment then there is a gridlock until one of the parties agrees. That's Pinoy revenge, as there is NO no fault annulments!!!!!! Check it out

 

In this case collusion meaning that there are no grounds for annulment and both parties just want to annul for the sake of moving on etc!!!

I can only go by what I hear as I am not an expert on the Philippines.  I barely understand what I think I understand.  All I know is that they were almost done but when the husband showed up to say he doesn't contest it the lawyers all said that means that the odds of having it approved are very slim and that they should expect another year or two to get it done.  It has already been almost two years.  

[Dman2019 0]

Thanks everyone for all the helpful information!

So to the ones that have been through this would you share what attorney or firm you used and your experience please?

i will be in Manila first week of September to get the process going and would be helpful to have some suggested attorneys.

thanks again everyone!

[RekYan 7]

Depends on where. Some courts are backed up for months. Been 2 yrs and counting for us.

 

[JE57 239]

My wife is in the process of going thru it now.   We are using, De Borja Lamorena and Duano.   We have been happy so far.  We are approaching 2 years at this point and are finally seeing a potential light at the end of the tunnel and we consider it fast.  They had a payment plan for the initial fee which I think was 350K pesos.  We paid monthly for 10 or 12 months and they started the process while we were making the payments.  Then there are court appearance fees, Phys test fees etc.  We are happy that there has been no 'grease the wheels' payment suggestions made. We had read that anything less than a year requires an Appellate court to review the decision which you don't want.  Also make sure you have a talk with your future wife.  It is a long process, it can be emotionally exhausting as she will be required to dredge up all the bad stuff from her marriage and may have to endure the implication that the marriage was always valid and that no matter what he did it was her fault that they were not together.  Also, as others have said it is not guaranteed.  To be granted you have to convince the court that the marriage was never valid in the first place.. There are reasons that are easier such as the person who performed the wedding was not legally allowed to do so or that she was less than 18 at the time without parent permission but most of the time the argument is that one of the parties was physiologically incapable of fulfilling the requirements of the marriage AT THE TIME the marriage took place. If she's the one that was physiologically incapable then she may face another Physiological test after the annulment at St. Lukes medical to prove that she is not still Physiologically incapable of marrying you! (I guess that's usually a formality but it's another potential snag to be aware of)   So you could wait for usually 2 years and then have the court reject it.   And ideally this will all be a complete and utter surprise to her husband otherwise you have the possibility that the court will find that the parties colluded and at that point it's either no go or a lot more lawyer time fees etc.   Also, try to understand something about her Husband.. If he's vindictive, bitter or a money grubber or just a major pita then he could come after you and your GF for adultery while you are in the Philippines.  
I won't go so far as to say that you should re-consider since you love this woman and it's not fair to either one of you that the laws of the Philippines prevent a divorce but you want to make sure that you are both on the same page that this will be a very very long process if you then include the time it will take to process a K-1 or CR-1.   
Others have suggested Guam for a 7 day divorce that would get her eligibility to process the K-1 or get married outside the philippines and process the CR-1.  But I haven't seen anyone on this forum that has ever said it worked for them and there's the whole needs a tourist visa problem.  Hong Kong Divorce is a valid option and many have used it successfully but there is a fairly long residence requirement.  (3 years).  I know nothing about your future spouse but if she has interest / ability to be an OFW in Hong Kong (basically a Maid) then she might consider starting that process as a backup plan should the annulment not work out.  Of course it's 3 years before she could file for divorce 7 months later she'd probably have it and then you start the immigration process.  

The other option you may have is if you have the ability to move to a 3rd country then perhaps you can get her a Visa to that third country as well and then she gain the right for with residency to get a divorce in that country.   You'd have to do ALOT of research on that.  
In short figure before you could live together legally in USA or in the Philippines your probably 2 years out and at the very least 5000+ USD

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God Bless you and your significant other.  

PM me if you like but I think I've given you everything I have above.

[Hank_ 9,174]

That suggestion for a divorce in Guam made me laugh .. Guam is a U.S. terrority ..    

 

2 hours ago, JE57 said:

Others have suggested Guam for a 7 day divorce

 

Glad you are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel!

Edited February 18, 2020 by Hank_

[JE57 239]

1 hour ago, Hank_ said:

That suggestion for a divorce in Guam made me laugh .. Guam is a U.S. terrority ..    

 

 

Glad you are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel!

Yeah anytime someone in this forum asks about annulment in the Philippines someone always seems to say oh go to Guam and get a divorce in 7 days aside from the Unlikely US visa I've never seen anyone post Yeah that's what worked for me ! 

[Hank_ 9,174]

5 minutes ago, JE57 said:

Yeah anytime someone in this forum asks about annulment in the Philippines someone always seems to say oh go to Guam and get a divorce in 7 days aside from the Unlikely US visa I've never seen anyone post Yeah that's what worked for me ! 

 

I tell you the Philippines really needs to come out of the stone ages.  "The church" leans hard on the politicians every time a bill is presented for allowing divorce .. and every time the politicians ignore the wish of the people and cave to the pressure from "the church", they seem to forget who they should be serving.

 

OK .. my rant is over.