Divorce decree Manila consulate (Merged)

[GinoNiña 182]

37 minutes ago, IWander said:

Manila will not need an original of your divorce decree.  

 

As an aside, you should be asking these Manila specific questions in the Philippines regional forum so you can avoid general replies from those unfamiliar with what Manila needs

I thought I was in Philippines section, my bad. 

[Chancy 6,241]

6 minutes ago, GinoNiña said:

Ok I have conflicting answers here. Anyone who had just their fiancée interviewed please chime in. And you’re divorced or course. 

 

Are you not able to send your certified copy divorce decree to your fiancee?  Regardless of what has worked for others in the past, the safest approach for your fiancee would be to bring the original or certified copy of your divorce decree to her K1 interview at USEM.  It's possible she would be approved without it, or you could be risking getting a 221g.  Your choice.

 

[Chancy 6,241]

13 minutes ago, GinoNiña said:

I thought I was in Philippines section, my bad. 

 

They were referring to your posts that hijacked another thread in the K1 forum.  So those posts were merged into this existing thread.

 

[GinoNiña 182]

1 minute ago, Chancy said:

 

Are you not able to send your certified copy divorce decree to your fiancee?  Regardless of what has worked for others in the past, the safest approach for your fiancee would be to bring the original or certified copy of your divorce decree to her K1 interview at USEM.  It's possible she would be approved without it, or you could be risking getting a 221g.  Your choice.

 

I’m in processes of requesting it from other States. I don’t know how long it’ll take. She’s having an interview by end of next month. If my divorced decree does not come in on time, she still going to her interview. She may get 221g for it. But at least her interview is finished. She just have to go back and show my certified divorce decree at a later date. That’s the plan. 

[RO_AH 1,659]

2 hours ago, GinoNiña said:

I’m in processes of requesting it from other States. I don’t know how long it’ll take. She’s having an interview by end of next month. If my divorced decree does not come in on time, she still going to her interview. She may get 221g for it. But at least her interview is finished. She just have to go back and show my certified divorce decree at a later date. That’s the plan. 

Mine never had any king of embossed stamp, or anything. It could be printed on any color printer and you would not know one from another. My wife did not have an original and no problem. If you get it to her in time, great. If you do get a 221g then just send it. I wouldn't worry about it too much.

[GinoNiña 182]

1 hour ago, RO_AH said:

Mine never had any king of embossed stamp, or anything. It could be printed on any color printer and you would not know one from another. My wife did not have an original and no problem. If you get it to her in time, great. If you do get a 221g then just send it. I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Thank you! your post is very reassuring. I was hoping and puffing today at the bank and at the post office. 

[IWander 589]

5 hours ago, Chancy said:

 

Back in 2021, the CO at USEM was fine with the scanned-then-printed copy of my petitioner's divorce decree.  This year it seems like they're handing out 221g letters for originals/certified copies of divorce decrees.

 

My fiancee didn't even have my divorce decree when she had her interview because the divorce decree is already in the petition itself.  This is utterly strange.  If you look at the list of required documents, the petitioner decree isn't even listed only the beneficiary's is required 

[W199 333]

9 hours ago, top_secret said:

It has to be an original certified copy from the court.  US Embassy Manilla will not accept a printed scan or photocopy of the court's certification. US Embassy Manilla has been handing out many 221gs lately on just that issue.

Is it possible that is only for poorly scanned copies that look suspicious?  Are they giving out 221G's for everyone? Are you 100% sure?

 

If so, are they requesting it for all divorces, or just the latest one?

 

Finally,  are they keeping the certified copy or just inspecting it? My original is very old from Thailand. It would be a nightmare if I had to give up my original.

 

Have you heard anything about court papers from the petitioner (not the beneficiary)? Before a scanned copy was alway ok too, Has that changed?

[GinoNiña 182]

let me be the sacrifice lamb on this issue. I will update about this issue once and for all. she will be having an interview at the end of august. 

[Family 3,988]

33 minutes ago, W199 said:

9 hours ago, top_secret said:

It has to be an original certified copy from the court.  US Embassy Manilla will not accept a printed scan or photocopy of the court's certification. US Embassy Manilla has been handing out many 221gs lately on just that issue.

Is it possible that is only for poorly scanned copies that look suspicious?  Are they giving out 221G's for everyone? Are you 100% sure?

 

If so, are they requesting it for all divorces, or just the latest one?

 

Finally,  are they keeping the certified copy or just inspecting it? My original is very old from Thailand. It would be a nightmare if I had to give up my original.

 

Have you heard anything about court papers from the petitioner (not the beneficiary)? Before a scanned copy was alway ok too, Has that changed?

You will need to have the beneficiary carry The Original of ALL civil documents This means for BOTH Pet and Ben
They will not keep your originals . 

[Chancy 6,241]

11 hours ago, W199 said:

are they keeping the certified copy or just inspecting it?

 

The CO will just briefly inspect it, then pass it back to the applicant after the interview.  But it has happened before that a CO at USEM forgot to return the original documents.  If that happens in your case, before leaving the counter, politely request the CO to hand the documents back.

 

[W199 333]

21 hours ago, Family said:

You will need to have the beneficiary carry The Original of ALL civil documents This means for BOTH Pet and Ben
They will not keep your originals . 

 

If we are still talking about the Manila embassy, then this isn't true at all, or misleading at best. Its causing a lot of unnecessary panic and fighting in other forums. For many people, its easy to get a certified copy, but in other cases its not and this is causing so much panic.

 

If it is true, then please provide hard data, proof, and the exact circumstances of the event instead of some authoritative sounding statement without any credentials or facts backing it up.

 

Here are mine:

 

1) The Embassy falls under the DOS, as well as the NVC, and there are no rules or requirements for the consulates to REQUIRE ANY original or certified copies from the petitioner. Only the beneficiary is required to have originals for their own civil docs.

 

2) The USCIS in USA, before it gets to the DOS,  is much better equipped to judge the validity of the civil documents, and even they don't require originals except for court documents, and so the DOS doesn't require originals at the NVC or consulate level.

 

3) The petitioner does not need to give the beneficiary any originals for their interview, This includes divorce certificates, court documents, I-134, tax returns, and W-2.s  Again only the beneficiary's own civil documents must be original/certified

 

3) Some rogue consulates make up their own rules, such as Montreal, Dubai, etc.. and those do require certified copies, but not the Manila embassy. 

 

4) Sure, of course, if at the interview, the beneficiary shows a horrible copy of any civil document, something that was printed on a ####### printer (I guess that is common in the Philippines), that is fuzzy, hard to read, looks suspicious or similar reasons, then sure they may ask to see the original.  But these are rare isolated cases, and  this is a very different story, and does not mean the original is REQUIRED, Its just their fault for giving such a bad copy that they forced the consulate to ask to see a certified copy.

 

5) The USA agency that I used for my K1 specializes in doing Filipino K-1/CR-1.  I verified with them today, that literally nearly even single day since yesterday they have clients getting their interview, and they have never ever had anyone got 221g. They tell all clients to only give the beneficiary a copy, since its not required to provide an original or certified copy.  

 

6) So .. sure, if you don't trust your fiancee to print out a clean copy, or if there is something very rare or suspicious about your certificate, then sure send her a certified copy to bullet proof it. For me, I am just sending her a high quality scanned copy on heavy weight paper to overkill it.  It actually looks identical to the original including the certified stamp. In her barangay they just have cheap ink jet printers and copy paper that is as thin as rice paper.

 

In summary, for the Manila embassy, no original or certified copies of ANY of the petitioner's civil docs are required at the embassy (even at USCIS level (except for court documents to the USCIS)) ... 

 

Sure, you can say "do this at your own risk" .. but that is just promoting unnecessary fear ... You should just say "as long as your civil document is printed normally, not fuzzy, blurred, or other printing artifcats that make it look suspicious, etc etc .. then it is absolutely not necessary. Again. my agency which has had thousands of clients over many years, as of yesterday, they have never ever heard of any such requirement and their clients have had zero issues.  

 

 

 

 

Edited August 1, 2023 by W199

[GinoNiña 182]

It cost me  $10 for a copy, $10 mail(fastest), drove through traffic, anxiety, frustration, etc...

 

And still very disputable subject. I just have to find out for myself....

[top_secret 2,417]

I would allow that there may, or may not be differences in original document requirements between K1 and IR1 (?????) The embassy sends out the same generic checklist for both.  For CR1/IR1, in just the month of July alone, I personally know of at least 6 persons who actually received 221g's from US Embassy Manila to send in an original certified copy of a petitioner’s divorce decree because a photocopy brought to the interview was not accepted. I know of no one who said they successfully made it through US Embassy Manila with a photocopy of a divorce decree.  I haven't heard any recent K1 accounts so I couldn't argue one way or another if they apply a looser standard to the same documents for K1's.  But for CR-1/IR-1 an interviewee has about zero chance of making it through US Embassy Manila with a photocopied divorce decree.

[W199 333]

11 minutes ago, top_secret said:

I would allow that there may, or may not be differences in original document requirements between K1 and IR1 (?????) The embassy sends out the same generic checklist for both.  For CR1/IR1, in just the month of July alone, I personally know of at least 6 persons who actually received 221g's from US Embassy Manila to send in an original certified copy of a petitioner’s divorce decree because a photocopy brought to the interview was not accepted. I know of no one who said they successfully made it through US Embassy Manila with a photocopy of a divorce decree.  I haven't heard any recent K1 accounts so I couldn't argue one way or another if they apply a looser standard to the same documents for K1's.  But for CR-1/IR-1 an interviewee has about zero chance of making it through US Embassy Manila with a photocopied divorce decree.

That is interesting, I will call my Filipino K1/CR1 agency tomorrow and double check about their recent experience with CR1/IR1 interviews.  But for sure, for K1, they have clients nearly every day interview and never ever had or heard of any issue.