Just beginning and a bit overwhelmed.

[Balamban 113]

Hello everyone.  We've decided to marry.  (Male US, Female Pinoy, from Cebu).

 

Oh wait, maybe it'd be better if we stayed engaged and did the fiance route. Are they both about the same in easiness?  (I make a good salary so job/income is all set--I know that economics is easier if you're married but that's not an issue).  Naturally we want to be together so a shorter path would be better, but if it's a month or so difference...*shrug*.

 

Hmmm...she wants a local wedding and I agree... but what if the fiance route is easier?  Can we "sort of marry" in the Phils (meaning have a ceremony a sort of sham marriage (one that looks good but lacks legal officiality), and then she can come as fiance and we can marry again (legally)?  That would make mama and papa so happy...and I think would be fun also.

 

We're ambiguous about whether to go the fiance route or get married and then bring her to the USA as spouse.

 

I know there is a lot to read and I'll be reading it.  Any thoughts?

 

I just hope the Donald does not try to create a wall between here and the Visayas....

 

It's nice to see a Phil group here.

 

 

Edited January 15, 2017 by Balamban
Removed the wrong visa, and left field blank.

[Cyberfx1024 7,978]

25 minutes ago, Balamban said:

Hello everyone.  We've decided to marry.  (Male US, Female Pinoy, from Cebu).

 

Oh wait, maybe it'd be better if we stayed engaged and did the fiance route. Are they both about the same in easiness?  (I make a good salary so job/income is all set--I know that economics is easier if you're married but that's not an issue).  Naturally we want to be together so a shorter path would be better, but if it's a month or so difference...*shrug*.

 

Hmmm...she wants a local wedding and I agree... but what if the fiance route is easier?  Can we "sort of marry" in the Phils (meaning have a ceremony a sort of sham marriage (one that looks good but lacks legal officiality), and then she can come as fiance and we can marry again (legally)?  That would make mama and papa so happy...and I think would be fun also.

 

We're ambiguous about whether to go the fiance route or get married and then bring her to the USA as spouse.

 

I know there is a lot to read and I'll be reading it.  Any thoughts?

 

I just hope the Donald does not try to create a wall between here and the Visayas....

 

It's nice to see a Phil group here.

 

 

The K1 fiance visa is ok average 6 months while the marriage visa/CR1 is about a year. Those are the only two options. What you are suggesting is fraud if you file for the K1 visa and get married before she comes here. What alot of people do is file for the K1 visa, bring the fiance to the USA. Then the get married either by church or judge. Then at a later date have a renewal of vows in the Pinas.

 

My wife is from Davao and I love Cebu. Have yall met in person yet?

[Balamban 113]

8 minutes ago, cyberfx1024 said:

The K1 fiance visa is ok average 6 months while the marriage visa/CR1 is about a year. Those are the only two options. What you are suggesting is fraud if you file for the K1 visa and get married before she comes here. What alot of people do is file for the K1 visa, bring the fiance to the USA. Then the get married either by church or judge. Then at a later date have a renewal of vows in the Pinas.

 

My wife is from Davao and I love Cebu. Have yall met in person yet?

Thank you,

I wasn't contemplating fraud.  If you have a ceremony that looks like a wedding without a real official, and without any official papers, it's just a ceremony, a sort of prelude to the legal thing.  My intention was simply to appease the family.  Not to get married there legally and then bring her as fiance.  I would suspect that sort of thing would surface, after all weddings are officially recorded.

 

I'm surprised that one route is so much longer than the other.  I do like your idea of "renewal of vows" in Cebu, in the eyes of the family I think that would suffice as a "wedding."  It'll be a joint decision.

[Transborderwife 4,666]

1 hour ago, Balamban said:

Thank you,

I wasn't contemplating fraud.  If you have a ceremony that looks like a wedding without a real official, and without any official papers, it's just a ceremony, a sort of prelude to the legal thing.  My intention was simply to appease the family.  Not to get married there legally and then bring her as fiance.  I would suspect that sort of thing would surface, after all weddings are officially recorded.

 

I'm surprised that one route is so much longer than the other.  I do like your idea of "renewal of vows" in Cebu, in the eyes of the family I think that would suffice as a "wedding."  It'll be a joint decision.

Uscis does not see it as simply a ceremony.  They will likely see it as a wedding.  Vow renewal sounds good.

[Brassballs 47]

Do the 'Right' thing in you and your fiancé's mind.

The CR1 is less expensive overall than a K1. The 3-4 months additional time in receiving thCR1 is really insignificant in your overall lifespan. A Philippine wedding ceremony is steeped in traditions that don't exist in the US and in my opinion well worth experiencing but I'm extremely biased.

 

The USEM has a good rundown on marrying in the PI.  Well worth an initial read to see if you want to jump through all the hoops.

 

Welcome aboard for the journey of your lifetime.  There are numerous guides here to assist you along the way.

 

 

[Sagot 1,548]

5 hours ago, Balamban said:

Hello everyone.  We've decided to marry.  (Male US, Female Pinoy, from Cebu).

 

Oh wait, maybe it'd be better if we stayed engaged and did the fiance route. Are they both about the same in easiness?  (I make a good salary so job/income is all set--I know that economics is easier if you're married but that's not an issue).  Naturally we want to be together so a shorter path would be better, but if it's a month or so difference...*shrug*.

 

Hmmm...she wants a local wedding and I agree... but what if the fiance route is easier?  Can we "sort of marry" in the Phils (meaning have a ceremony a sort of sham marriage (one that looks good but lacks legal officiality), and then she can come as fiance and we can marry again (legally)?  That would make mama and papa so happy...and I think would be fun also.

 

We're ambiguous about whether to go the fiance route or get married and then bring her to the USA as spouse.

 

I know there is a lot to read and I'll be reading it.  Any thoughts?

 

I just hope the Donald does not try to create a wall between here and the Visayas....

 

It's nice to see a Phil group here.

 

 

Economics are the same over all between the two visas.  

 

Fiancee visa is quicker to process and get your fiancee to the USA, totally time 7-9 months.

Spousal visa takes 9-12 months, PLUS the time to complete the wedding, and waiting for the PSA marriage certificate.  Figure 13-16 months total.

 

NO  do not complete a "sham" wedding for family, the embassy gets wind of it and you will be forced to do an actual wedding and spousal visa.  K.I.S.S.    It is not FRAUD do complete an unofficial (no marriage certificate) ... that other poster is incorrect.   It is just that the embassy can be very picky on this.

 

Come back to the Phils later and do the renewal of vows "wedding" for the family, later, after she has her green card.  We did this 3 years later.

 

 

 

 

[Sagot 1,548]

5 hours ago, cyberfx1024 said:

The K1 fiance visa is ok average 6 months while the marriage visa/CR1 is about a year. Those are the only two options. What you are suggesting is fraud if you file for the K1 visa and get married before she comes here. What alot of people do is file for the K1 visa, bring the fiance to the USA. Then the get married either by church or judge. Then at a later date have a renewal of vows in the Pinas.

 

My wife is from Davao and I love Cebu. Have yall met in person yet?

 

What he suggested is not fraud.

[Greenbaum 12,258]

The deal is that if you have a "ceremony" and nothing is said and no pictures are submitted then you are good to go.  You haven't committed fraud but some countries view it as fraud and will deny you from getting your visa. It's all up to the CO for the Embassy you are processing through whether they view it as fraud.  Haven't had much problem with USEM but one never knows.

Edited January 17, 2017 by Greenbaum

[jg121783 3,907]

On 1/15/2017 at 8:23 PM, Brassballs said:

Do the 'Right' thing in you and your fiancé's mind.

The CR1 is less expensive overall than a K1. The 3-4 months additional time in receiving thCR1 is really insignificant in your overall lifespan. A Philippine wedding ceremony is steeped in traditions that don't exist in the US and in my opinion well worth experiencing but I'm extremely biased.

 

The USEM has a good rundown on marrying in the PI.  Well worth an initial read to see if you want to jump through all the hoops.

 

Welcome aboard for the journey of your lifetime.  There are numerous guides here to assist you along the way.

 

 

I was asking the same questions as the original poster a little over a year ago. Brassballs gave me the same advice he just gave here and I am glad I listened. My wife just had her interview today and was approved for her cr1 visa and we got married a little less than a year ago. Without delays mostly caused by me it could have been sooner. If you are on top of everything and have no issues come up and have a little luck you could complete everything in about 8 to 9 months but a more cautious estimate would be about a year (especially with the current NVC backlog).

 

As far as getting married in the Philippines goes it is a great experience that I enjoyed along with my wife and her family. Not only that but a nice wedding is way cheaper in the Philippines than in the US. I gave my wife two months and about $1000 to put together a wedding for us and I was impressed with what she put together all by herself. It was what you might expect for $10000+ here in the US. If you get married in the Philippines you will need to obtain a document showing you are not married from the Embassy. If you get married in a Catholic church there are additional requirements. If you have a civil wedding or do what my wife and I did and get married in a non Catholic church there usually aren't additional requirements. 

 

Ultimately it is up to you and your fiance to decide what is best for you. There are up sides and down sides to both visas. If the only thing holding you back from the cr1 visa is the extra time like I said above the cr1 process can be done almost as quickly as the K1 if you stay on top of everything and while I didn't like being away from my wife for a year looking back on it the time went by quickly. As others have noted having a non legal ceremony could cause issues in the K1 visa process. I was considering the same thing until I was told here it might not be a good idea.

[Balamban 113]

On 1/15/2017 at 5:29 PM, cyberfx1024 said:

The K1 fiance visa is ok average 6 months while the marriage visa/CR1 is about a year. Those are the only two options. What you are suggesting is fraud if you file for the K1 visa and get married before she comes here. What alot of people do is file for the K1 visa, bring the fiance to the USA. Then the get married either by church or judge. Then at a later date have a renewal of vows in the Pinas.

 

My wife is from Davao and I love Cebu. Have yall met in person yet?

 

[Balamban 113]

Thanks everyone for the advice.

 

Now we're leaning towards the fiance visa.  We've only met face to face one time (along with innumerable hours of phone/chat/skype) and I was under the impression that USCIS expected multiple "in person" visits which I see from other posts here is incorrect.  I have a wonderful job with a wonderful company but with a very miserly 2 week vacation policy.  Both of us are quite sure that one or two two week visits would not change our desire to marry and frankly I'm shocked that the fiance route is faster.  Still we were planning a wedding late this year and now we see that in fact she could be here late this year, my that changes things.

 

Thanks again.

[Sagot 1,548]

1 hour ago, Balamban said:

Thanks everyone for the advice.

 

Now we're leaning towards the fiance visa.  We've only met face to face one time (along with innumerable hours of phone/chat/skype) and I was under the impression that USCIS expected multiple "in person" visits which I see from other posts here is incorrect.  I have a wonderful job with a wonderful company but with a very miserly 2 week vacation policy.  Both of us are quite sure that one or two two week visits would not change our desire to marry and frankly I'm shocked that the fiance route is faster.  Still we were planning a wedding late this year and now we see that in fact she could be here late this year, my that changes things.

 

Thanks again.

Correct.  Only requirement for meeting in person - is one time, within 2 years of filing the I-129F.

 

When we processed the I-129F were taking about 5 months for approval, still we had the visa in hand in under 7 months.  We stayed in the Philippines for another month after that before flying home.

 

For the visa process once your petition is approved:   http://visaconnection-philippines.com/