RO_AH

My wife had no CFO sticker in passport either and has a green card. She did do the CFO counseling and received her certificate which allowed her to leave the Philippines. How was your wife able to leave without CFO?

No, it does not apply to a US citizen, but a Philippines citizen cannot leave the Philippines without a CFO sticker.

This has been discussed a lot here. While your divorce is recognized in every country in the world, it is not recognized in Philippines. Therefore you can not get married in the Philippines. You can get married in the Philippines with an online wedding through Utah. You would then be able to apply for a CR-1. You could also go the K-1 route. In order to have your divorce recognized in PH you would have to file for a recognition of divorce. That takes time and money and you would need a Philippines Lawyer. Being that you are legally married in PH there are hoops you will need to jump through and extra steps to take. I am not familiar with all of them but others will hopefully chime in. I think whatever route you go, the CFO will be the biggest hurdle, because that is required by PH and remember, they consider you married still.

Lumping people into one basket or generalizing is often not good to do. But if we want to go that route, often for women, security is very high up on the list and financial security falls into that category. In the PH I have noticed that women truly looking for a future and not for scamming, are looking for for men that are loving, kind and make them feel secure.. Just my personal observation.

Decisions people make in life are a direct reflection of their character. I am sure that if you were honest with yourself, you have many "deal breakers" also. Would you ever have been attracted to a guy that was 4'10" and 250 lbs and served time in prison for molesting children? Maybe his life wasn't easy. We all have our standards and you have no right to suggest that others are wrong for theirs.

Maybe you are just not well suited for a long distance relationship especially someone as far away as SE Asia. I went to the PH 10x before my wife got here. A lot of things you explain are about what you desire and your Ideals. That does not leave much room for a partner's ideals and desires. Do you think you could find a foreign wife by going to her home to USA, and live happily ever after. Every person I know that has a Pinay wife has to take the wife home to visit family at least once every year or 2. Marrying someone from the Philippines will require international travel...Lots of it. Also like I said you need to spend time there and a lot of time talking to understand their culture. If you don't you will not be able to overcome the cultural differences. My wife and I talked 2-3 hours a day, EVERY DAY, for years before she got here. Most husbands and wives that live together don't spend that much time communicating. I think that your thoughts and ideas are very unrealistic. Nothing against you, I just want to share reality.

If she has late registration, she will need her school records, class photos, even a letter or 2 from past teachers. Any doctor or immunization records, baptismal certificate. There is no where where they tell you this, but if she goes to interview with a late registration BC she will be given a 221g for these things. Better to have it all in hand when she goes to interview. This happened to my wife and we received a 221g which delayed the process while we got those records and sent them in.

Unless you are willing to travel, long distance is not for you. If you don't have time to learn the culture in a foreign country, a foreign spouse is not for you. I am living my best life, married to a Pinay for 6 years, started our relationship 12 years ago, 2 children, and happy as can be. I was willing to do the 2 things above.

Maybe preference? I have always preferred Asian women, is there something wrong with having a preference?

Not sure about Texas, but in Hawaii you change your name when you get married with your registration. Here you specify which last name you would like to use. That certificate is your proof of name change. As for anything in the PH you need to do the ROM since the marriage was done in the US.

3 people? Here's what I have done the 10 times I have gone myself. My wife gets transportation from where she lives in Bulacan (private van and driver). I pay about 3000PHP in the beginning and the last time I went it went up to 4k by the last time I was there. He would pick my wife and any other family and friends that wanted to come along and come to the Airport. After I would arrive he would bring us all back to her house. During my stay if we ever had to go to Manila or some place further than I wanted to go on trike, we would just go through him. I am lucky that the trikes where my wife lives are all tall. I see ones in other areas and I would never fit in them either 🙂

From other counties you may have a shot, but I, and most others with knowledge of Philippines and USCIS, would say you have zero chance in getting a tourist visa for your spouse. You can try.

Yes, I guess some people don't take the term "tourist" as literal as the NVC does. Tourist is just that, a tourist. You come, you visit, you leave. There is no such thing as a "come and wait while we approve your other visa" visa.

If she, as a Filipina, gets approved for a tourist visa, while having a pending spousal, please update us here because it would be the first that I've heard of, and I would be looking out my window for flying pigs.

That's correct, but if you are sending money the rate is a tad bit lower, still under $60.

As others said, the price is fair. Of course the bus is cheaper, but what's a few pesos when it comes to a loved one?

Several things to cover here. Did your ex wife file a ROM in PH after you two were married. If not that is good as it will cause much less problems going forward and no problems with PSA because they have no record of you being married to a Filipina, If she did you will have to wait years and spend a lot of money filing for a recognition of foreign divorce in the Philippines and you will need a Filipino lawyer for this process. My divorce was finalized less than 2 months before getting married to my wife in the Philippines...Not an issue. In the Philippines that is not an age gap, that is normal. My wife and I are 25 years apart. My advice is to do an online marriage through Utah. You can either do that while you are here and she is there, or do it there together when you arrive there. This is ONLY if your ex did not file a ROM. If she did this is not my advice. If you are not sure, or don't remember if she filed a ROM you can order a CEMOMAR/CEMAR for yourself from PSA in the Philippines. That will show if they have record of your previous marriage or not. You can order that at this link: https://www.psaserbilis.com.ph/#! So if you do not have a record of marriage you can do online marriage, have a reception there with her and her family, file your spouse visa, file a ROM in SF Consulate, get her medical, visa, CFO and come to USA.

Wow good to know.

When you see what is happening at our southern border it seems extremely unfair with all of the hoops we need to jump through and the length of time that it takes to legally bring a family member here. I mean we have thousands of people daily just walking in with no need for a medical exam, no cost, very little paperwork, free accommodations, etc. It makes you feel like there should be some shortcut somewhere to make it a little easier for us. Sadly there is not. If you have everything ready, send it in yesterday. Start the process, there will be no way to bring her to America legally than the I-130 route. We did ours during Covid and it added over a year of extra time to get our visa, so I feel your pain. We even had 2 children together and it was heartbreaking being away from them. It's a long process but worth it in the end.

Ended up not being simple 🤣 In the Philippines it's most simple just following their naming convention.

Minimum $6k USD and up to double that, and take up to 4 years...

Well annulments take years, so his chance of getting her here are slim to none. If she has no real assets or property tying her to the Philippines IMO she will have zero chance in getting a tourist visa. If he insists on moving this direction you can always wait and then tell him I told you so. 🤣 Also next time tell your wife not to introduce someone who is married. LDR is hard enough and if you want a future you need to throw in all of the added difficulties (time and money) of getting an annulment.

You could do an online Utah wedding while you are here or there anytime. You will need to get the recognition of divorce if you ever to file a ROM so she could have your last name or to be recognized by PH government. Also to file for a 13a spousal visa. Recognition of divorce is less expensive and takes way less time than annulment. Or until you get the recognition of divorce.

This is what is required: 1. Valid passport; 2. Valid visa or visa grant notice; and 3. Petitioner's passport 4. Marriage certificate or Report of Marriage - ROM (in PSA security paper) (if married) They can request more things but you don't need to worry about until they request it. Additional documents may be required in the event that the counselor determines it to be essential to complete the guidance and counseling process. 1. Divorce decree/certificate (of Filipino spouse or foreign spouse, if previously married); 2. Annulment paper (of Filipino spouse or foreign spouse, if previously married); 3. Proof of residency/Alien Registration Card-ARC (of foreign spouse); 4. Proof of relationship (picture together, e-mails, among others); 5. Death certificate (of Filipino spouse or foreign spouse, if widow/widower); 6. Certificate of Family relations / registration (of foreign spouse); 7. Declaration of undertaking of travel in letter format to include the following activities to prepare for travel, Itinerary of Travel and How to ensure safe travel and stay (if will be required by counselor/facilitator); 8. Affidavit of invitation and support (financial support/safety/medical insurance) notarized and authenticated by the Philippine Embassy or Consulate who has jurisdiction over the destination or host country (if will be required by counselor/facilitator); 9. Explanation on why the foreign partner cannot travel to the Philippines in letter format (if will be required by counselor/facilitator); 10. Valid no criminal records certification/clearance or any equivalent document to indicate lack of criminal derogatory record or medical/psychological condition (if will be required by counselor/facilitator).