Best/Quickest way forward

[Stitch0423 0]

Here's some background on me and my fiancé:

We met in South Korea. She was on an E-6 visa, working in South Korea. Her visa expired at the end of September and she returned home to Manila before it expired. I am returning to the states at the end of November. In total, we were together for eight months before she returned to the Philippines, of which three months was spent living together.

She was married to a Japanese man, but was divorced in Japan in 2003. The Japanese man filed for the divorce in Japan and it was granted. She has procured a copy of the divorce from Japan and has had it translated at the Japanese embassy in Manila.

That's where we are at right now. My question is this: what is the best way forward? I have been reading through the forums and I am trying to figure out which is better: going to PI and getting married there, then trying to bring her to the states, or apply for the fiancé visa and get married in the states.

I apologize for my naiveté. I have been reading through the forums and trying to learn the processes, but I am not really sure which way is better/quicker. I appreciate any constructive comments and advice. Thanks!

[Hank_ 9,174]

Here's some background on me and my fiancé:

We met in South Korea. She was on an E-6 visa, working in South Korea. Her visa expired at the end of September and she returned home to Manila before it expired. I am returning to the states at the end of November. In total, we were together for eight months before she returned to the Philippines, of which three months was spent living together.

She was married to a Japanese man, but was divorced in Japan in 2003. The Japanese man filed for the divorce in Japan and it was granted. She has procured a copy of the divorce from Japan and has had it translated at the Japanese embassy in Manila.

That's where we are at right now. My question is this: what is the best way forward? I have been reading through the forums and I am trying to figure out which is better: going to PI and getting married there, then trying to bring her to the states, or apply for the fiancé visa and get married in the states.

I apologize for my naiveté. I have been reading through the forums and trying to learn the processes, but I am not really sure which way is better/quicker. I appreciate any constructive comments and advice. Thanks!

For quickest way to the States I would go with the K-1 fiancee visa, especially if you factor in the time it takes to have the divorce recognized/recorded by NSO, then get married in the Phils, then get the marriage recorded to do the CR-1 process.

With the K-1 you start the petition now, then once it's approved and you have your MNL # you can be done with the visa process in Manila in 4-6 weeks.

[Stitch0423 0]

For quickest way to the States I would go with the K-1 fiancee visa, especially if you factor in the time it takes to have the divorce recognized/recorded by NSO, then get married in the Phils, then get the marriage recorded to do the CR-1 process.

With the K-1 you start the petition now, then once it's approved and you have your MNL # you can be done with the visa process in Manila in 4-6 weeks.

From my understanding, she still has to get the divorce recognized/recorded by the NSO to do the K-1 visa, correct?

She spoke with the agency that got her japanese divorce from Japan, and they said they would do the foreign divorce recognition process for 180,000 PHP. Do you know if that is a reasonable amount? It sounds ridiculous to me that just to get a divorce recognized would cost over $4000. Do you know how long the foreign divorce recognition/recording process takes?

Thanks very much for the quick response!

[Hank_ 9,174]

I don't know about prices for such stuff, but that sounds like as much as they charge to do an annulment.

But here is what I read just recently on VJ about another couple, much like your situation that did the K-1, they used the certified copy (copy of both original and translated) of the the divorce decree during the interview and had not filed to get the divorce recognized in the Philippines. It was within the last couple weeks that I read this. I had thought for sure they would need to get the divorce recognized before doing the K-1 but I read they got approved without issues. I would suggest you do some searching and reading to find those posts (I will try also) as they can give you more facts.

If you went the CR-1 route you would for sure need to get the divorce recognized.