My mom will file her Citizenship case on 5 year lawful residency. I need help!

[Crazy Cat 41,983]

16 minutes ago, confusing said:

Since my mom isn't planning to remarry, there's no reason for her to invest a lot of money and time in annulment.

It might be in her best interests to file for divorce from the US.  The divorce would be legal in the US and Philippines. 

[confusing 5]

5 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

It might be in her best interests to file for divorce from the US.  The divorce would be legal in the US and Philippines. 

Thank you, we will look into it. I didn’t know that she can apply for divorce here in the USA even though they only married in the Philippines. 

[Crazy Cat 41,983]

7 minutes ago, Positive_Vibes said:

I guess? I'm not sure how it works if you were originally married in the Philippines. I got married here in the US but had to inform the Philippines of my marriage  in the US in order to renew my Phil passport with my then spouse's last name. When I filed for divorce here in the US, of course the US acknowledged my divorce BUT the Philippines refused to acknowledge the divorce. So they still consider me married to my first spouse even though I have already remarried. But thank goodness I'm already a USC so I don't have deal with the Phils anymore. 

There are plenty of source which state divorces filed and decreed in the US are recognized by the Philippines. 

[Positive_Vibes 63]

On 4/3/2024 at 2:54 PM, Crazy Cat said:

She lives in the US.  I believe PI recognizes divorces obtained in other countries. 

Yes, the Philippines recognizes divorces obtained in other countries if the non-Philippine citizen initiates the divorce. It sounds like in OP's case both their mom and mom's former spouse are Philippine citizens.

For example, in my case. I married my first spouse (who is a USC) in the US and then divorced in the US. The Philippines still considers me married to that first spouse even though I already remarried. They refuse to acknowledge that first divorce because I was the one who initiated it (I was a Philippine citizen at the time). If my ex-USC spouse had initiated the divorce, then they would have recognized it. So since OP's mother and I assume ex-spouse are both Phil Citizens, they cannot get a divorce in the Philippines. Of course OPs mother can file for divorce in the US but by law the spouse has to receive proper legal notice of the divorce and as the OP has posted they have no contact with that spouse.

[Positive_Vibes 63]

22 hours ago, Boiler said:

She isn't in the Philippines.

I wasn't in the Philippines either when I filed for divorce and never married in the Philippines. The Philippines only knew of my marriage in the US because when I renewed my Philippine passport (I was still a Phil citizen at the time) I obviously had to inform them of my marriage. They still to this day refuse to recognize/acknowledge my US divorce. 

[Positive_Vibes 63]

On 4/3/2024 at 10:12 AM, confusing said:

My mom was petitioned, and she has been working and living here for 5 years. However, before she came to the United States from the Philippines, she was married but separated. Because divorce was not allowed by Philippine law, she did not have any chance to complete the paperwork. Additionally, due to the expensive process of annulment, she decided to leave it as it was. We haven't heard or seen him in a long time. Now, my mom is applying for naturalization/citizenship. There is a question about whether the spouse, separated or not, has to fill it out. Do we need to answer that?

Sorry, I want to apologize for turning the topic into a divorce discussion. To answer your question short and simple, she should check "Separated". 

[OldUser 6,977]

4 minutes ago, Positive_Vibes said:

Sorry, I want to apologize for turning the topic into a divorce discussion. To answer your question short and simple, she should check "Separated". 

No need to apologize, we're all learning from this discussion which may help somebody reading VJ in the future.

As long as she never had marriages in the US, she's fine. Otherwise all her US marriages are void.

[Rocio0010 5,580]

7 hours ago, Boiler said:

Inglesi 

I said I don’t understand