Manila k1 visa

[July_ 0]

My fiance is divorced (in the US) to his ex Filipina wife. His case for divorce recognition was not filed until last month. We are prepared for a 1.5-2.5 year process for the divorce to be recognized and PSA updated. 
 

We were planning to file for a CR1 visa, but this timeline is now much longer than we expected. We are aware that we cannot complete the CR1 process (NVC stage forward) without the PSA being updated. Correct? 

 

We are now considering filing for a K1. But we have issues with him meeting the financial requirement. 

 

He has chronic health problem for past two decades that prevent him from working. His father supports him through a living trust in his name that pays him $5500 monthly (66k yearly) he also has assets which slightly exceed the 3x requirement for the AOS. His father is willing to co-sponsor, but is close to retired, and main income is now social security. His father also has a very significant amount of assets/investments.

 

We keep reading that Manila will accept a joint sponsor on a case by case basis. It does not make sense to us why his income (non taxable as it is) cannot be considered sufficient, or his assets, when it is more than enough to support both of us. It is clear that he or his father can financially support me. 
 

The situation has us trapped in that we cannot file the CR1 because of rules for PSA being needed, but the K1 has question marks as well. The idea of sitting around and waiting on the court system here for two more years is heartbreaking to both of us.

 

Please do not judge him, or sarcastic replies. We have been through a lot like everyone with Covid, and we just want to be together. We have spent many months together in Philippines this year. He is mature and lives independently, he just is always in a lot of pain.

[Palawan 131]

Why isn't he free to marry you today?

 

Why does he have to his divorce recognized by PSA?

[Boiler 45,516]

Could he move?

[Palawan 131]

Your Fiance is free to marry

 

Either do the K1, do the Utah Online Marriage, or get married in Philippines

 

I would look at the first two options, Under Philippines law he is free to marry as well, he will just have to have                Affidavit of Legal Capacity to contract marriage notarized in the Philippines if you want to get married inside Philippines.  I would look at Utah Online Marriage since the US Embassy has to take a cosponsor for that one.

 

Message for U.S. Citizens: Change in Notarization Requirements for Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage, April 6, 2021 - U.S. Embassy in the Philippines (usembassy.gov)

 

[JeanneAdil 6,505]

Condusing post

who is the USC?

he divorced in USA so is he USC as you talk about him supporting you

he has the assets so why a financial issue?

where do u live?   

Who had US residency?

[July_ 0]

11 hours ago, Palawan said:

Why isn't he free to marry you today?

 

Why does he have to his divorce recognized by PSA?

He is. We can legally marry right now anywhere besides the Philippines. 

 

The PSA CEMAR is required by USEM at interview. If he is still married in Philippines, we cannot get a CEMAR for the CR1.

10 hours ago, Palawan said:

Your Fiance is free to marry

 

Either do the K1, do the Utah Online Marriage, or get married in Philippines

 

I would look at the first two options, Under Philippines law he is free to marry as well, he will just have to have                Affidavit of Legal Capacity to contract marriage notarized in the Philippines if you want to get married inside Philippines.  I would look at Utah Online Marriage since the US Embassy has to take a cosponsor for that one.

 

Message for U.S. Citizens: Change in Notarization Requirements for Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage, April 6, 2021 - U.S. Embassy in the Philippines (usembassy.gov)

 

The K1 is what we are looking at, but the financial requirement issues give us pause. 

 

He cannot get married in the Philippines, that requires a CENOMAR which he cannot provide as in the PSA he is still married. Even if CENOMAR is not required, we cannot have the ROM recognized by the PSA because in there he is already married. 

 

If we were going to do a Utah Marriage, it still has to be reported to PSA, which we cannot because he is considered married here. 

10 hours ago, JeanneAdil said:

Condusing post

who is the USC?

he divorced in USA so is he USC as you talk about him supporting you

he has the assets so why a financial issue?

where do u live?   

Who had US residency?

The USC is my fiance. He lives in the US. I live in the Philippines.

 

The issue is that I read assets are not considered for K1. He has the income, but it is from a trust and non-taxable. Also, cosponsor in Manila is case by case basis. 

 

 

Thank you for the replies. 

[Palawan 131]

7 hours ago, July_ said:

 

 

He cannot get married in the Philippines, that requires a CENOMAR which he cannot provide as in the PSA he is still married. Even if CENOMAR is not required, we cannot have the ROM recognized by the PSA because in there he is already married. 

 

ROM is not required to be done, its optional. I know many who never did it.

[Palawan 131]

7 hours ago, July_ said:

If we were going to do a Utah Marriage, it still has to be reported to PSA, which we cannot because he is considered married here. 

The USC is my fiance. He lives in the US. I live in the Philippines.

 

For immigration purpose and the US Embassy in Manila his divorce decree will over ride any Phillippines rules regarding getting a CENOMAR.

 

What you are thinking is if both people were Philippines citizens and they wanted to marry in Philippines then you would have to get the divorce recognize, but since he is American there is no need.

[hunny&me 274]

Get married anywhere than Philippines.  (We did via Utah .. we called it Destination Wedding.. I went back to Philippines to marry my childhood classmate, we were together and the officiant is in Utah).  Processed CR1 all the way.

I am USC.  I have CEMAR, but I also have Divorce Decree.  So in US law, am free to marry.  CR1 approved, NVC processed, Visa acquired, CFO acquired - hubby is here (US) with me now.  On a separate processing, we filed for ROM.. and by CFO time, the ROM has not made it to PSA, but we just had to explained that to Counselor.  Hubby got his CFO in 4 days (rather than within a day) coz a supervisor needs to confirm our plea of ROM on PSA doc not yet available.  But we do have the registered ROM copy, and that is the one we submitted to CFO.  Hope this helps!

 

Just addition - the ROM/PSA is not needed in CR1 processing (USCIS, NVC nor USEM).  We only thought needing it for CFO, but you will hear from others that they did not file ROM at all.  I suggest filing (if you marry outside Philippines) just in case the CFO becomes strict with the process.  At least you can say, it is in process.    We now have PSA MC, but have no use for it yet.

Edited September 30, 2022 by hunny&me

[July_ 0]

3 hours ago, Palawan said:

For immigration purpose and the US Embassy in Manila his divorce decree will over ride any Phillippines rules regarding getting a CENOMAR.

 

What you are thinking is if both people were Philippines citizens and they wanted to marry in Philippines then you would have to get the divorce recognize, but since he is American there is no need.

This is what makes sense to us too, but we have been confused by reading different opinions.

 

It doesn’t make any sense to us why Philippine law would be involved in the CR1 process. 
 

 

13 minutes ago, hunny&me said:

Get married anywhere than Philippines.  (We did via Utah .. we called it Destination Wedding.. I went back to Philippines to marry my childhood classmate, we were together and the officiant is in Utah).  Processed CR1 all the way.

I am USC.  I have CEMAR, but I also have Divorce Decree.  So in US law, am free to marry.  CR1 approved, NVC processed, Visa acquired, CFO acquired - hubby is here (US) with me now.  On a separate processing, we filed for ROM.. and by CFO time, the ROM has not made it to PSA, but we just had to explained that to Counselor.  Hubby got his CFO in 4 days (rather than within a day) coz a supervisor needs to confirm our plea of ROM on PSA doc not yet available.  But we do have the registered ROM copy, and that is the one we submitted to CFO.  Hope this helps!

 

Just addition - the ROM/PSA is not needed in CR1 processing (USCIS, NVC nor USEM).  We only thought needing it for CFO, but you will hear from others that they did not file ROM at all.  I suggest filing (if you marry outside Philippines) just in case the CFO becomes strict with the process.  At least you can say, it is in process.    We now have PSA MC, but have no use for it yet.

We plan to marry outside Philippines. Are you a former Filipino? Was your first marriage in the Philippines? Do you have a divorce recognition in the Philippines? 
 

Our problem is that my fiancé was married in the Philippines. We cannot even file for a PSA until his divorce is recognized here.

 

We are just confused because many sources have told us a PSA Marriage Cert will be needed at the interview.

 

[hunny&me 274]

13 minutes ago, July_ said:

. Are you a former Filipino? Was your first marriage in the Philippines? Do you have a divorce recognition in the Philippines? 
Our problem is that my fiancé was married in the Philippines. We cannot even file for a PSA until his divorce is recognized here.

We are just confused because many sources have told us a PSA Marriage Cert will be needed at the interview.

 

Yes. Yes. No.

When ROM is filed and registered, Philippine Consulate Embassy files it to DFA Manila then DFA sends it to PSA.  All you need to do is wait until it is available in PSA.  Check my timeline to find my reply to other posts, you can probably find answers to your questions.   

If i request for CEMAR, am sure it will show my 2 marriages.

 

On interview, what is needed by USEM is your FOREIGN Marriage Certificate.  We just finished our process last July, hubby POE in US in August.  We just got our PSA MC in September (no use for us at this time).

 

What is important in Philippines is you - the beneficiary - is free to marry.  Your USC fiance's Filipino citizenship is replaced with US when he took the oath... unless of course, he filed for dual citizenship - that is another story.  Reason I am not filing for dual as I do not want my ex-husband back 🙂

Edited September 30, 2022 by hunny&me

[Chancy 6,241]

*** Moved from K1 Process & Procedures to the Philippine regional forum, for country-specific input ***

 

56 minutes ago, July_ said:

It doesn’t make any sense to us why Philippine law would be involved in the CR1 process. 

 

PH law would only be involved if you plan to marry with a PH marriage license.  Since that's not your intention, PH marriage documents would not be required in your visa case.

 

The US embassy in Manila would not require ROM nor PSA marriage certificate for a foreign marriage.  USEM will require PSA CENOMAR/CEMAR from you (the visa applicant), but it doesn't matter if the CENOMAR/CEMAR does not match your actual marital status, as long as you present another legal document confirming your actual status.  In my case, I married in the US, but did not file ROM.  At the time of my spouse visa interview, I only had a CENOMAR, as in no marriage record in PSA.  Neither the document screener nor the consul officer at USEM questioned why I only had a CENOMAR despite being married.  They were perfectly fine with my US marriage certificate as proof of my marital status.

 

That said, CFO will require ROM if you are married abroad.  I recommend following @hunny&me's advice about filing for ROM and presenting the in-process ROM paperwork for your CFO session.  You may try going through CFO without ROM like I did, but I wouldn't recommend it.  Although I got my CFO certificate eventually, it involved a lot of pleading and stress.  Also, according to the CFO counselor, the fact that I already spent a lot of time in the US with my husband (I had a B1/B2 visa) is a big factor in them being less strict in my case.

 

Lastly, if you do get married and pursue a spouse visa, make sure you declare yourself married when you apply for your NBI clearance.  I got mine without needing to present ROM nor PSA marriage certificate.

 

Edited September 30, 2022 by Chancy
clarification

[RO_AH 1,659]

On 9/30/2022 at 4:29 AM, July_ said:

This is what makes sense to us too, but we have been confused by reading different opinions.

The problem is that you are over thinking and listening to too many "they said"

On 9/30/2022 at 4:29 AM, July_ said:

We plan to marry outside Philippines.

Just do Utah wedding

On 9/30/2022 at 4:29 AM, July_ said:

Our problem is that my fiancé was married in the Philippines.

That is only a problem in your mind. Like I said...Overthinking.

On 9/30/2022 at 4:29 AM, July_ said:

We cannot even file for a PSA until his divorce is recognized here.

You do not need to file ROM. There is no law requiring that. If you do want to file ROM, just wait till his divorce is recognized if he already started that process.

On 9/30/2022 at 4:29 AM, July_ said:

We are just confused because many sources have told us a PSA Marriage Cert will be needed at the interview.

Here goes that famous "they said" again.

[RO_AH 1,659]

On 9/30/2022 at 5:23 AM, Chancy said:

They were perfectly fine with my US marriage certificate as proof of my marital status.

BINGO!!! Legal US document overrides the PSA CEMAR and CENOMAR

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

On 10/1/2022 at 5:22 PM, RO_AH said:

The problem is that you are over thinking and listening to too many "they said"

Completely agree with this as well. The OP is clearly over thinking things and listening to people that don't know the facts