cenomar shows married but not

[BruceForro 0]

Hello,

I am new here and probably would not have bothered joining but our K1 Visa has hit a snag. To make a VERY long story short my fiance' went for her interview and they kept her passport and papers but gave her the dreaded 221G requiring more information. They asked for her cenomar and NBI clearance using her former married name. The Clearance came back fine but the cenomar shows she married a Korean in 2001 (a moonie to be specific). Needless to say we were both kind of taken by surprise. Don't get me wrong as she has been more than truthful about this whole thing. I knew that she had been part of a mass wedding and that she was a "mail order bride" which is quite illegal. She was told the marriage was not real and that the real wedding would be in Korea after she had been taught by the "Unification Church" about their ways. She bailed out before this ever happened but the cenomar still shows married. She went to her local Civil registrars office to get a certified marriage license but they had no record even when she provided the license number as well as names and stuff. She got a certified letter stating that there is no record of marriage to the Korean.

I guess my question is, can she simply get an affidavit swearing that she is single? I am so afraid this will have to go through the courts there and could take us well past the one year limit on producing the documents the consulate asked for. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

[BruceForro 0]

sorry.......my fiance is in Manila and myself in USA...

[Ontarkie 15,138]

Hi welcome to Visa Journey. I'm going to move your question to the regional forum as this is a country specific question.

~~Moved to Philippines forum, from K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures~~

[iammrsregie 265]

talk to a lawyer and see if you can have the marriage declared void

[Hank_ 9,174]

Hello,

I am new here and probably would not have bothered joining but our K1 Visa has hit a snag. To make a VERY long story short my fiance' went for her interview and they kept her passport and papers but gave her the dreaded 221G requiring more information. They asked for her cenomar and NBI clearance using her former married name. The Clearance came back fine but the cenomar shows she married a Korean in 2001 (a moonie to be specific). Needless to say we were both kind of taken by surprise. Don't get me wrong as she has been more than truthful about this whole thing. I knew that she had been part of a mass wedding and that she was a "mail order bride" which is quite illegal. She was told the marriage was not real and that the real wedding would be in Korea after she had been taught by the "Unification Church" about their ways. She bailed out before this ever happened but the cenomar still shows married. She went to her local Civil registrars office to get a certified marriage license but they had no record even when she provided the license number as well as names and stuff. She got a certified letter stating that there is no record of marriage to the Korean.

I guess my question is, can she simply get an affidavit swearing that she is single? I am so afraid this will have to go through the courts there and could take us well past the one year limit on producing the documents the consulate asked for. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

...whoa, this is interesting and sorry to say I think it will be a challenge as well. My thinking is the local civil registrar is going to have to communicate with NSO to get the CENOMAR updated/amended... whatever. And I don't see this being simple, (even thought it should be) ... after all this is the Philippines.

You are going to need the civil registrar to send that certified letter stating there is no marriage to NSO then hope that NSO doesn't need anything more then that to update the CENOMAR. At least that is where I would start.

[BruceForro 0]

Thanks for the quick replies. I am in Skype with her now and she has agreed to take the certified letter to the local NSO there. She actually has made a friend there and they text each other. I asked my fiance to ask her (NSO) about what is needed to amend the cenomar. I have also retained a lawyer there in Manila.....So afraid of lawyers...

[BruceForro 0]

No go.....they will not amend. Going to try the void route. From what I understand the Moonies where rather rampant around the early 2000's and the NBI was hunting them down. She is one of a few thousand that got caught in their web of false promises and greener pastures. A lot of money was made..

[iammrsregie 265]

Yeah. Even though I was very young, I still remember the moonies. They had a church just a couple of houses from mine. Maybe you have a chance at having the marriage voided if your fiancee honestly only thought the ceremony was only for "show" and not an actual wedding. I hope everything gets sorted. Good luck to you two

[Thomas&Cleofe 358]

These weddings are not illegal and they still happen today. You call them "mail order brides". They are arranged marriages which many US citizens are also married in these ceremonies. Aside from the "moonies".....arranged marriages are also still a very common practice in the Philippines.

I am not saying it is right, I am saying it still happens today and is governmentally valid.

[BruceForro 0]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti_Mail-Order_Bride_Law

[iammrsregie 265]

These weddings are not illegal and they still happen today. You call them "mail order brides". They are arranged marriages which many US citizens are also married in these ceremonies. Aside from the "moonies".....arranged marriages are also still a very common practice in the Philippines.

I am not saying it is right, I am saying it still happens today and is governmentally valid.

Yup, it wasn't really illegal. The government just became really cautious because of reports that it was used to recruit helpers and sex partners.

[BruceForro 0]

There is no record anywhere in Philippines of a Marriage License ever being applied for or issued. The license number on Certificate matches no records. So we are ditching the "Mail Order Bride Law" defense anyways.

Edited October 1, 2014 by BruceForro

[jlontoc 0]

Hi Bruce, I have a similar situation as yours. We are approved to have my fiancée take the interview at the embassy, but my fiancée received her cenomar showing that she was married to Korean guy in 2006, so it's best that she doesn't take the interview just yet. We are currently trying to figure out what is the best route to take in handling it. I'm also concerned on how it affects the rest of the k-1 visa packet that I originally filed, since it is no longer accurate to our new findings.

How is your progress going on getting approved?

Edited December 20, 2014 by jlontoc

[brynz 1]

Let her talk to the local civil registrar first.

[Hank_ 9,174]

Hi Bruce, I have a similar situation as yours. We are approved to have my fiancée take the interview at the embassy, but my fiancée received her cenomar showing that she was married to Korean guy in 2006, so it's best that she doesn't take the interview just yet. We are currently trying to figure out what is the best route to take in handling it. I'm also concerned on how it affects the rest of the k-1 visa packet that I originally filed, since it is no longer accurate to our new findings.

How is your progress going on getting approved?

So the lingering question is - Did your fiancee marry a Korean before? If yes, and she 1) did not get a divorce (Korean petitioning for the divorce) and have it recorded at NSO, 2) did not complete an annulment (2 year process roughly)... then your I-129F petition through USCIS is not valid, the embassy will kick the case file back to USCIS to handled... cancelled.

*SURPRISE!* If your fiancee was married before, I am sure she knew it.... If it is mis-information, the next step is to prove that person listed in the CENOMAR is not your fiancee... this will take time also.