Cenomar for Filipina/Filipino

[Rob & Lot 4]

I have a question for people who are with spouses from the Philippines. The US Embassy requests a Cenomar (Civil register printout) receipt for Philippine citizen to show, that they are

capable of marriage or not.

 

My fiancé was married to a foreigner and divorced in January 2014 outside the Philippines. Under Philippine law, there is no divorce and we had to go through the process of having her

divorce recognized, which we did. The judge ruled in her favor mid February 2019 and ordered, that her status would be rolled back to "single" so she can remarry again. Now here's the

main question. We have the court ruling where the recognition is approved but we are still waiting on the Certificate of Finality, which would then make it possible to get a Cenomar

(civil register printout) with the "Single"-status. We are waiting for that every day but it seems, that the involved offices are working very very slowly.

 

With today's mail, our K-1 petition has been approved and everything is moving fast now. What if we don't have a new Cenomar by the time of the interview? Has anyone every had this

situation and where they able to proof with the court papers, that the divorce was finalized? Legally, everything seems to be in the clear, we just don't have that paper in hands yet.

 

Thanks for the information.

[JFH 12,189]

*~*~*country-specific question moved to Philippines regional forum*~*~*

[confusedshoes 193]

Just going by what I know and the information you have supplied and according to the list of required documents needed for the consular intervew (sample here: https://photos.state.gov/libraries/manila/1178798/Instructions Packets/K1 and K2 Interview Preparation Instructions - English _February 2016_.pdf), just the foreign divorce decree would suffice (Proof of Termination of a Prior Marriage). If you think about it, she can't really have a CENOMAR anymore (certificate of no marriage) because it is only for people who have never contracted a marriage in the past. All she needs are the divorce papers. If they're in a foreign language, just have them translated.

 

Ok nevermind, I oversimplified it. I just found this thread: 

 

 

Read through that as it seems to be similar to your case, although annulment. It seems you need something called an Annotated Marriage Certificate and a CEMAR.. Hope it helps.

 

Also this: 

 

 

So basically most people are saying that as long as you have a divorce decree, you just have to have it attached to the CEMAR. The US will recognise the foreign divorce. Just try the search bar on top to find other threads like that while waiting for someone to actually reply to this. Goodluck!

[confusedshoes 193]

 

Read this whole thread too, specially the 5th page. It seems you don't need to go through all these hoops with the regional trial court and annotating marriage certificates as that is for the Philippines alone, for the country to recognise the foreign divorce. All you need for the K1 visa interview is to have the CEMAR (certificate of marriage) and the foreign divorce decree because the US govt recognises that. It's also all that's listed in the requirements to bring to the interview.

[Hank_ 9,173]

2 hours ago, Rob & Lot said:

I have a question for people who are with spouses from the Philippines. The US Embassy requests a Cenomar (Civil register printout) receipt for Philippine citizen to show, that they are

capable of marriage or not.

 

My fiancé was married to a foreigner and divorced in January 2014 outside the Philippines. Under Philippine law, there is no divorce and we had to go through the process of having her

divorce recognized, which we did. The judge ruled in her favor mid February 2019 and ordered, that her status would be rolled back to "single" so she can remarry again. Now here's the

main question. We have the court ruling where the recognition is approved but we are still waiting on the Certificate of Finality, which would then make it possible to get a Cenomar

(civil register printout) with the "Single"-status. We are waiting for that every day but it seems, that the involved offices are working very very slowly.

 

With today's mail, our K-1 petition has been approved and everything is moving fast now. What if we don't have a new Cenomar by the time of the interview? Has anyone every had this

situation and where they able to proof with the court papers, that the divorce was finalized? Legally, everything seems to be in the clear, we just don't have that paper in hands yet.

 

Thanks for the information.

1st, divorce is recognized by the embassy for the visa process .. without any recognition of divorce from the Philippines.   So whether the Certificate of Finality was issued or not isn't an issue for pursuing the visa.

 

PSA will issue a CEMAR, which is a non-issue as she has her divorce decree .. 

 

https://ph.usembassy.gov/visas/immigrant-visas/fiancee-visa/the-interview/

 

Guide to the complete process:  http://www.visaconnection-philippines.com/k-1-visa-application.html

 

[Rob & Lot 4]

16 hours ago, Hank_ said:

1st, divorce is recognized by the embassy for the visa process .. without any recognition of divorce from the Philippines.   So whether the Certificate of Finality was issued or not isn't an issue for pursuing the visa.

 

PSA will issue a CEMAR, which is a non-issue as she has her divorce decree .. 

 

https://ph.usembassy.gov/visas/immigrant-visas/fiancee-visa/the-interview/

 

Guide to the complete process:  http://www.visaconnection-philippines.com/k-1-visa-application.html

 

That's good to know. Then we don't have to worry at all if the Philippine offices aren't working faster. They say, it's a matter of days since two weeks or more, to get the Certificate of Finality, lol. Thank you very much for the information.

[Rob & Lot 4]

18 hours ago, confusedshoes said:

 

Read this whole thread too, specially the 5th page. It seems you don't need to go through all these hoops with the regional trial court and annotating marriage certificates as that is for the Philippines alone, for the country to recognise the foreign divorce. All you need for the K1 visa interview is to have the CEMAR (certificate of marriage) and the foreign divorce decree because the US govt recognises that. It's also all that's listed in the requirements to bring to the interview.

Well, we use RapidVisa for the support of our K-1 Visa and they insisted, that we have to go through the process of recognition. It's all done now and that is not a problem for us anymore. I understand, that the US would accept a foreign divorce decree and wouldn't care about the special situation for the Philippines (not having a divorce law yet), but I would not recommend not to have it recognized in the Philippines. What if the ex-husband finds out, that you are remarried and what if he tries to claim benefits from social security at some point. It could interfere with your new life and could give you a headache. I personally would always recommend to cut the old ties completely to make sure, there are no obligations in the future. Apparently, it's not needed for the Visa process, but it would be for the ease of mind. Also a couple would need a clean CENOMAR if they are planning to have a wedding in the Philippines.

 

Thank you for your information.

[payxibka 10,044]

23 minutes ago, Rob & Lot said:

What if the ex-husband finds out, that you are remarried and what if he tries to claim benefits from social security at some point. It could interfere with your new life and could give you a headache.

Social security and your new life?  

[Hank_ 9,173]

39 minutes ago, Rob & Lot said:

Well, we use RapidVisa for the support of our K-1 Visa and they insisted, that we have to go through the process of recognition*. It's all done now and that is not a problem for us anymore. I understand, that the US would accept a foreign divorce decree and wouldn't care about the special situation for the Philippines (not having a divorce law yet), but I would not recommend not to have it recognized in the Philippines. What if the ex-husband finds out, that you are remarried and what if he tries to claim benefits from social security at some point. It could interfere with your new life and could give you a headache. I personally would always recommend to cut the old ties completely to make sure, there are no obligations in the future. Apparently, it's not needed for the Visa process, but it would be for the ease of mind. Also a couple would need a clean CENOMAR if they are planning to have a wedding in the Philippines.

 

Thank you for your information.

 

* ..yikes!  Talk about a boatload of bad info!!

 

If any EX wants to claim benefits from SSA on their past spouse, it has no effect on your life or benefits .. total non-issue also.

 

Once a marriage is recorded in the Philippines, then divorced/annulled, there is not a "clean" CENOMAR, that person would always be issued a CEMAR with annotations (divorce, annulment) .. and there is no issue with marrying in the Philippines in that situation..

[Rob & Lot 4]

1 hour ago, Hank_ said:

 

* ..yikes!  Talk about a boatload of bad info!!

 

If any EX wants to claim benefits from SSA on their past spouse, it has no effect on your life or benefits .. total non-issue also.

 

Once a marriage is recorded in the Philippines, then divorced/annulled, there is not a "clean" CENOMAR, that person would always be issued a CEMAR with annotations (divorce, annulment) .. and there is no issue with marrying in the Philippines in that situation..

I feel better, if everything is cleared as it is now for us. I am not talking about the US social security, the Philippines have a social security too. I think, it's easier if the papers are fine. Maybe I am too concerned about this topic, but it makes me feel better the way we have it now. It wasn't that crazy expensive to get to the recognition, just time consuming.

[Hank_ 9,173]

Yes the Philippines is SSS     and there is nothing to get excited about there for sure ...