hobie1115

No...I didn't hide anything. My lawyer included the death certificate of my most recent spouse who passed 2019...but didn't include the divorce from my first wife who I divorced in 2005. It should have been logical that if I remarried in 2006, then I had to have been divorced at some point since polygamy is illegal...either way, that application made its way through USCIS and NVC with no issues. Maybe my lawyer should have included it...but she didn't and I was fine through the first two major steps of this process. The embassy finally did receive the original divorce decree this week and we were approved...so that headache is finally done.

Well...update on my situation. The embassy received the copy of the divorce decree and still kept the visa in refusal status. They called my fiance in the Philippines and told her they need the original. The copy was very legible, so it seems they want a certified/original document. We obtained an original and mailed it to them. Hope this will be the end of this process and we can get the Visa.

No...it wasn't required at that time. I remarried after that divorce for 13 years and my recent wife passed away in 2019. I provided a copy of the death certificate in the application which was fine.

Wow...this is a messy situation. I also have a divorce decree issue for a Visa that was refused, but mine isn't as complex as yours. I was divorced 18 years ago, but didn't think to provide that document to my fiance in the Philippines. Either way, the Embassy person not only wanted proof that I divorced 18 years ago, but they wanted an original document. Luckily, my ex-wife still lives in the state we were divorced, so she got the documents and mailed it to the PI...once they get it, we'll be approved. That being said, I agree with others that say you might need to get properly divorced from your first husband and apply for the spousal Visa. Don't be surprised if it still causes issues along the way...but at least you'll have the official divorce. On top of the process taking time, everything has to look right and anyone who reviews your case will look for something like this to deny the Visa. I have a sense you're in for a long ride...but stay patient.

The 221g notice that is given to the beneficiary has a block which says original, but that's for electronic document processing, which doesn't apply to us. In my case, I've been married twice and had to provide a death certificate for my second wife, which was a copy, not original. All other documents I had to submit to my beneficiary was a copy, so I'm fairly confident that's fine for Manila. I guess it's possible someone might ask for the original, but for now, we have submitted a copy which includes the first page of the decree that has the certified stamp. The entire document is legible and shouldn't be a problem. I am going to get the original version just in case, but I don't expect to need it.