I am a Green card holder and my girlfriend is in Philippines and we will marry there in february.

[Asor 1]

On 12/18/2018 at 2:42 AM, Paul & Mary said:

If you naturalize the wait "might" be shorter.   And you can update the I-130 to skip the wait for a Visa Number to be issued - still would take a year plus after getting naturalized. 

 

And if you get married in Hong Kong you don't have to wait for the Philippines Report of Marriage.  USCIS accepts the Hong Kong Marriage Certificate. You can literally send in the I-130/I-130A package the next day.

Hi, Thank you.

how, I mean can you please explain to me? What to do or what is needed?

What should we do, to get married in Philippines and process her papers then wait approximately about 2 years or getting married in Hong Kong? Just to clarify.

Thank, Thank you very much ..

[Just Paul 4,591]

7 minutes ago, Asor said:

What should we do, to get married in Philippines and process her papers then wait approximately about 2 years or getting married in Hong Kong?

Marriage

- If you want to get married in the Philippines the process depends on which barangay you want to marry in.  It is quite the ordeal and you will have to look into that process.   You can ask on the Philippines forum here: https://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/129-philippines/   I know when we looked at it earlier this year it was going to take 3 or 4 weeks to marry (and I would have to stay in country for that time)  plus about 3 to 4 months afterwards to get the Filipino NSO Report of Marriage.  After you have that you can file for the VISA.

- If your fiancee has a passport you can marry in Hong Kong.  You can download the forms and send them in three weeks before you want to get married.  Then you show up in Hong Kong two or three days before you wedding date and pick up the paperwork, get married and they give you the marriage license.  You then need to take that to the Filipino Consulate and have the marriage recorded. (This keeps the Philippine government happy for later).  If you, or just she, can stay for a few more days while you are there she can have her passport amended.  It is faster to do that there then in the Philippines.   If you are trying to keep your stay short, pay extra to get married on saturday.  The consulate is closed friday and saturday.  You can have the marriage recorded at the consulate sunday. Yes it is open sunday thru thursday and the busiest day is sunday am.   Fortunately you don't have to wait in line you just go see the legal office.  Took 5 minutes with the paperwork filled out ahead of time.  Since you get the marriage certificate at the ceremony you can file right away for the spousal visa.   You don't have to wait on anything in the Philippines.

 

I don't know what country your citizenship is but Filipinos get a visa on arrival for 15 days for Hong Kong.  Americans get 90 days.  There is no charge for those visas. 

 

Since you are US LPR:

- When you file for your spousal visa she will have to wait until a F2A visa  is ready based upon you application date (this is the priority date) .  The current priority date is Nov 8, 2016 - so expect 2+ years.

- If you can obtain US Citizenship (N-400) then there is no extra wait for visa processing other than the regular USCIS wait which is currently 12 to 14+ months.  You can file right after your wedding and when you become a citizen they can modify the petition to be processed as a US Citizen.

- In either case, after you get the I-130 application processed, you have to await the NVC processing and then the State Department / Embassy Processing / Interview.

 

That is the overview of it.  

[lummo 61]

51 minutes ago, Paul & Mary said:

I don't know what country your citizenship is but Filipinos get a visa on arrival for 15 days for Hong Kong.  Americans get 90 days.  There is no charge for those visas.

@Asor, if you want to enter Hong Kong before you become a US citizen, then check this list: https://www.passportindex.org/comparebyDestination.php?p1=hk&fl=&s=yes If your current citizehship country says "visa required" then you need to apply for a HKSAR visa: http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/visas/vephmsar/

Edited December 19, 2018 by lummo

[Just Paul 4,591]

Here are some links:

 

https://filipiknow.net/how-to-get-married-in-the-philippines/  versus

 

https://www.immd.gov.hk/eng/faq/marriage-registration.html - the hardest thing might be paying the fee with the paperwork.  You need a check in Hong Kong dollars.  I was able to get one in Los Angeles at Cathay Bank.

 

[Asor 1]

Thank you very much for ideas and to make time for this, thanks all. Godbless all .. 😇

[EireneFaith 54]

On 12/16/2018 at 12:09 AM, Ervy & Chanoy said:

Why not file for i129 and get married here? I haven't checked recently but I believe fiance visa processing is much faster.

Fiance visa or I-129f is for US Citizen only. LPR can file for I-130. and the OP is green card holder ie. LPR