Married in PI 2013-Divorced in USA 2021- Marry Again?

[Chancy 6,239]

Does your fiancee already have a passport?  If not, I suggest booking a passport appointment ASAP.  Depending on the DFA branch office, it could take 3 months from booking to appointment date, plus another month to get the passport.

[David & Diana R 1,005]

1 hour ago, Chancy said:

Does your fiancee already have a passport?  If not, I suggest booking a passport appointment ASAP.  Depending on the DFA branch office, it could take 3 months from booking to appointment date, plus another month to get the passport.

She's already begun the passport process and of course leave it to the Philippines there are NO appointments available.  You can't go o the office you have to keep checking the website until appointments open up.  Of course no one can say when that will be.  This is one of the thousands of reasons I decided NOT to retire in the Philippines.  Bureaucratic red tape up the #######.  And we just discovered she is one year older than she thought.  Philippines record keeping at it's best!  I have discussed with her and her parents and it looks like we will either go to Taiwan, Indonesia or Bali and get married.  Then return to the Philippines (after the wedding) and have a reception.  Then the long wait begins for the CR-1.  Or we will just meet up and spend time together and I will return to US and files K-1.  It looks to me like K-1's are not much faster that CR-1's.  Is that correct?

[David & Diana R 1,005]

1 hour ago, Chancy said:

Does your fiancee already have a passport?  If not, I suggest booking a passport appointment ASAP.  Depending on the DFA branch office, it could take 3 months from booking to appointment date, plus another month to get the passport.

Thank you very much

 

[RO_AH 1,656]

45 minutes ago, David & Zoila said:

It looks to me like K-1's are not much faster that CR-1's.  Is that correct?

David, K-1's are pretty much non existent right now. Only expedites (which is very hard to get) are being processed. There is a freeze on all non-immigrant visas. When the do return to normal processing there will be a huge backlog to go through. They are still processing CR-1's at a reduced pace, so the backlog will probably not be as bad.

[Chancy 6,239]

21 minutes ago, David & Zoila said:

I have discussed with her and her parents and it looks like we will either go to Taiwan, Indonesia or Bali and get married. 

 

You're going to have to wait until travel restrictions are lifted because all foreigners without special permit are barred from entering Taiwan and Indonesia until further notice.  For Taiwan, even transit is currently not allowed.

 

In the meantime, how about doing some research on traveling to Costa Rica or Brazil or the Maldives?

 

26 minutes ago, David & Zoila said:

It looks to me like K-1's are not much faster that CR-1's.

 

I do not recommend going for K1, unless there are logistical or emotional hurdles stopping you from pursuing CR1 instead.  K1 in Manila would be much slower now than CR1 processing, except if you have a valid reason for expedite.

 

The US embassy in Manila issued the highest number of K1 visas worldwide pre-COVID.  Since COVID hit, USEM has suspended routine K1 processing.  It's been more than a year now, so imagine the backlog at USEM which used to issue hundreds of K1 visas per month.  Meanwhile, the CR1/IR1 issuance rate at the embassy has been slightly above pre-COVD levels for many months now.

 

[Joe Kano 327]

6 hours ago, David & Zoila said:

She's already begun the passport process and of course leave it to the Philippines there are NO appointments available.  You can't go o the office you have to keep checking the website until appointments open up.  Of course no one can say when that will be.  This is one of the thousands of reasons I decided NOT to retire in the Philippines.  Bureaucratic red tape up the #######.  And we just discovered she is one year older than she thought.  Philippines record keeping at it's best!  

It is a 3rd World Country, you must keep that in mind.

 

Just a few years ago it was possible to get fake passports from the Phiippines Governemnt, the requirements were not strict and people would file for passports using incorrect information.  

[Joe Kano 327]

7 hours ago, Chancy said:

Does your fiancee already have a passport?  If not, I suggest booking a passport appointment ASAP.  Depending on the DFA branch office, it could take 3 months from booking to appointment date, plus another month to get the passport.

Is this the standard wait time? Or Covid wait time?

 

I have a friend she going to try to get a passport and just starting process this week

[payxibka 10,045]

3 hours ago, Joe Kano said:

Is this the standard wait time? Or Covid wait time?

 

I have a friend she going to try to get a passport and just starting process this week

A little bit of both I imagine.   When my wife was going to get her passport,  we could not get an appointment in Cebu City or Dumaguette because of the "fixers" having  gobbled up all the appointments.  We ended up flying to Palawan.   They allegedly changed the appointment system to make it harder for the "fixers" but then covid hit, reducing the overall appointment capacity, I presume. 

[David & Diana R 1,005]

Okay so call me crazy but...When I go to PI (if and when it ever opens up again for tourists) we can travel together to another country to be married She can then go back to PI, I come back to USA and I file a CR-1?  (Remember, I can't get married in the PI because I was married there in 2013, then later divorced in USA in 2020.)  I'm sorry I may be asking the same question again but I need to have it clear in my mind which direction to take.

 

SIDE NOTE: Just one more thing;  My brother, back in 2012 got his Pinay a Philippines passport.  He wanted to travel with her for a vacation to Thailand.  When they got to the PI airport Philippine personal would not allow his GF to leave the country with him. If I recall they alleged concern that my brother was taking his gf to Thailand to be a sex worker.(Of course that wasn't the case but who cares when it comes to any third world country?

[Joe Kano 327]

3 hours ago, payxibka said:

A little bit of both I imagine.   When my wife was going to get her passport,  we could not get an appointment in Cebu City or Dumaguette because of the "fixers" having  gobbled up all the appointments.  We ended up flying to Palawan.   They allegedly changed the appointment system to make it harder for the "fixers" but then covid hit, reducing the overall appointment capacity, I presume. 

Yes, I remember reading your story when it was happening.

[Joe Kano 327]

20 minutes ago, David & Zoila said:

Okay so call me crazy but...When I go to PI (if and when it ever opens up again for tourists) we can travel together to another country to be married She can then go back to PI, I come back to USA and I file a CR-1?  (Remember, I can't get married in the PI because I was married there in 2013, then later divorced in USA in 2020.)  I'm sorry I may be asking the same question again but I need to have it clear in my mind which direction to take.

 

Yes, or you could just meet her in another country and not wait until they lift the tourist ban, which could be 6 to 12 more months

[David & Diana R 1,005]

Okay, so Hong Kong looks like a good place to get married...but in doing my research I find this:

WE’RE MARRIED. THAT’S IT. WHY MUST WE REPORT OUR MARRIAGE TO THE PHILIPPINE CONSULATE?

If this has ever crossed your mind at once, please try to think of this: UNREPORTED MARRIAGES OUTSIDE THE PHILIPPINES WILL NOT BE RECOGNIZED. Unless you both just want to do it like they do in Las Vegas, that “just for fun and you can change your mind tomorrow” thing, then you might as well do so as you pleased.

According to the Office of the Solicitor General of the Philippines:

“A marriage where one or both of the contracting parties is a Filipino citizen must be reported to the Consulate in order for the said marriage to be properly registered and recorded with the Office of the Civil Registrar General in Manila.”

Why report your marriage? It is as simple as:

NO ROM = NO MARRIED STATUS + NO PSA COPY OF ROM & CEMAR + NO VISA APPLICATION

So if we marry in Hong Kong, the Philippines still requires the marriage to be reported to them. If we are doing a CR-1 visa how will this affect us?  Do we really report it to them?(Remember, I cant get married in the Philippines again) I know it is the US that is processing our CR-1 but will there be any problems with her doing the CFO class if her marriage is not registered in the Philippines? Are we actually "required" to register the marriage in Philippines because if we are will they not see that I cannot be married again according to Philippines law. CFO?

 

Oh the tangled web we weave for love.  Okay, I admit it.  I am a hopeless romantic.

 

Any help will be greatly appreciated,      Mahalo from Maui, David O

[Chancy 6,239]

11 hours ago, David & Zoila said:

When I go to PI (if and when it ever opens up again for tourists) we can travel together to another country to be married She can then go back to PI, I come back to USA and I file a CR-1?

 

That can work.  Just to be clear -- you file the I-130 petition.  After the petition is approved, your wife can apply for a CR1 visa.

 

8 hours ago, David & Zoila said:

So if we marry in Hong Kong, the Philippines still requires the marriage to be reported to them. If we are doing a CR-1 visa how will this affect us?  Do we really report it to them?

 

Filipinos who marry anywhere outside the Philippines (not just in Hong Kong) are required by the PH government to report their marriage via ROM process IF they want their marriage to be registered to PSA.  In your case, I suspect you and your wife will not be able to complete ROM because PSA will see your existing marriage record.

 

With regard to the CR1 process, the US consul officer may ask to see the ROM paperwork.  If I recall correctly, @Paul & Mary were married in Hong Kong and were asked for their ROM during the visa interview.  Even so, it's not likely to be a deal-breaker for CR1 since you can present your US divorce decree.  I know of one VJ member who did not do ROM, yet his wife was recently granted a spouse visa.

 

One more thing, without ROM, your wife will not have the option to use her married name on her PH passport.  She'll have to use her maiden name for all legal paperwork in the PH and for booking international flights.  Not an issue for the CR1 process.

 

10 hours ago, David & Zoila said:

I know it is the US that is processing our CR-1 but will there be any problems with her doing the CFO class if her marriage is not registered in the Philippines?

 

The CFO counselor may grumble about the lack of ROM, but again, I don't think it will be a deal-breaker.  Just submit your divorce decree.  It's not CFO's job to enforce the PSA reporting requirement.

 

Still, if all this uncertainty about ROM and PSA records is an issue for you, the K1 route might be a better fit.  If so, you'll have to be prepared for a really long wait for a visa for your fiancee.

 

[top_secret 2,307]

17 hours ago, payxibka said:

A little bit of both I imagine.   When my wife was going to get her passport,  we could not get an appointment in Cebu City or Dumaguette because of the "fixers" having  gobbled up all the appointments.  We ended up flying to Palawan.   They allegedly changed the appointment system to make it harder for the "fixers" but then covid hit, reducing the overall appointment capacity, I presume. 

I know a girl who recently renewed a passport in Luzon and used a fixer to get an immediate appointment.  I'm not sure what she paid or the exact details except I know she considered the fixers fee to be reasonable and she got straight in and accomplished her passport renewal in about 10 day total till new passport in hand. All during COVID.  Sometimes its easiest to just work within "the system". It's just how things function.

[Joe Kano 327]

5 hours ago, top_secret said:

I know a girl who recently renewed a passport in Luzon and used a fixer to get an immediate appointment.  I'm not sure what she paid or the exact details except I know she considered the fixers fee to be reasonable and she got straight in and accomplished her passport renewal in about 10 day total till new passport in hand. All during COVID.  Sometimes its easiest to just work within "the system". It's just how things function.

Ballpark estimate price to get a passport without a fixer fee?