Marry a filipina in Thailand and not register marriage in PH yet

[nowhere 0]

Hi I'm an American who married a filipina over 3 decades ago and obtained a divorce from her many years ago. I met my current fiance 2 years ago and we tried toget married in Manila but we couldn't because my CENOMAR still shows that ancient marriage on it! I don't want to start the long and expensive recognition of foreign divorce procedure. 

 

Can we get married in Thailand, get certified Thai marriage certificate and process spousal visa? I don't think it's required to register the marriage in the Philippines unless she/we want to do it. We can't yet because of the ancient marriage. 

 

As I understand it for the I-130, we need marriage certificate, IDs, proof of a relationship etc... The USA and Thailand and the world acknowledges my divorce. ( except PH )

Edited May 12, 2019 by nowhere

[Crazy Cat 39,362]

***Moved to Philippines regional forum as question surrounds registering marriage there****

[givionte 138]

You, the petitioner, and your spouse, the beneficiary, must submit evidence of all previous marriages.  If you were previously married, and don't provide evidence you are legally divorced, you will not be approved for a spousal visa.

[Cyberfx1024 7,978]

1 hour ago, nowhere said:

Hi I'm an American who married a filipina over 3 decades ago and obtained a divorce from her many years ago. I met my current fiance 2 years ago and we tried toget married in Manila but we couldn't because my CENOMAR still shows that ancient marriage on it! I don't want to start the long and expensive recognition of foreign divorce procedure. 

 

Can we get married in Thailand, get certified Thai marriage certificate and process spousal visa? I don't think it's required to register the marriage in the Philippines unless she/we want to do it. We can't yet because of the ancient marriage. 

 

As I understand it for the I-130, we need marriage certificate, IDs, proof of a relationship etc... The USA and Thailand and the world acknowledges my divorce. ( except PH )

As long as you have the valid divorce decree you will be fine in regards to the first marriage. If you can legally get married in Thailand then get married and file for the spousal visa from the Philippines.

 

This will not be an issue at all if you file for your wife in the Philippines.

Edited May 12, 2019 by Cyberfx1024

[nowhere 0]

13 minutes ago, givionte said:

You, the petitioner, and your spouse, the beneficiary, must submit evidence of all previous marriages.  If you were previously married, and don't provide evidence you are legally divorced, you will not be approved for a spousal visa.

I will provide it, no problem. My question is- for the spousal visa process, will having a certified marriage certificate from Thailand, my divorce decrees and all other required docs, be acceptable by the USCIS? 

[Cyberfx1024 7,978]

Just now, nowhere said:

I will provide it, no problem. My question is- for the spousal visa process, will having a certified marriage certificate from Thailand, my divorce decrees and all other required docs, be acceptable by the USCIS? 

As long as the divorce is official and the marriage is as well then you will be fine. The Philippines won't recognize it but the USCIS does. This type of thing happens a lot in the Philippines due to the no divorce law. 

[Hank_ 9,173]

6 hours ago, nowhere said:

Hi I'm an American who married a filipina over 3 decades ago and obtained a divorce from her many years ago. I met my current fiance 2 years ago and we tried toget married in Manila but we couldn't because my CENOMAR still shows that ancient marriage on it! I don't want to start the long and expensive recognition of foreign divorce procedure. 

 

Can we get married in Thailand, get certified Thai marriage certificate and process spousal visa? I don't think it's required to register the marriage in the Philippines unless she/we want to do it. We can't yet because of the ancient marriage. 

 

As I understand it for the I-130, we need marriage certificate, IDs, proof of a relationship etc... The USA and Thailand and the world acknowledges my divorce. ( except PH )

May I ask why you don't simply file the K-1 visa and get married in the USA?   Divorce is recognized in the USA      You won't be able to get the marriage recorded in the Philippines because of your previous marriage recorded there.    .. maybe.

 

But .. what is odd is as a foreigner you don't need to get the divorce recognized in the Philippines, you need only present the divorce decree when applying for the marriage license.    Seems not too long ago someone on this forum completed the marriage process doing just that.

Edited May 12, 2019 by Hank_

[nowhere 0]

39 minutes ago, Hank_ said:

 

But .. what is odd is as a foreigner you don't need to get the divorce recognized in the Philippines, you need only present the divorce decree when applying for the marriage license.    Seems not too long ago someone on this forum completed the marriage process doing just that.

A CENOMAR is required for all foreigners now. Mine shows my marriage from the 80s on it. Apparently it must have an annotation under it saying it's recognized by the PH government.

 

As I said we tried to get married in Manila recently. Spent many hours in City Hall waiting....filling out 4 copies of application for marriage license, making copies of IDs etc...returned the next day, took 2 seminars...then we sat down to have an interview with the head of the office..she went over the huge stack of papers including my divorce decree...and she said I need to get divorce recognized by the Philippines. My fiance started crying and I said only filipinos have to do that. Then she showed me the checklist indicating it's required for foreigners as well. 

 

Then I called Makati City Hall and asked civil registrar about it. Asked if my divorce decree will allow us to get a marriage license. She sad no, need recognition of divorce. Then called 2 other city halls and they all said the same thing. I also spoke with 5 or 6 attorneys, they all said I need it. 

 

Here is email from Laguna City Hall:

 

"Dear __________,
We will also require you to submit the same documents as Manila City 
Hall did. Even though you have been divorced from your previous 
marriage, the foreign judgment should be enforced here so that you can 
secure a copy of annotated certificate of marriage."

 

I'm currently living in the Philippines with her and prefer to stay here awhile longer before we go to the USA, that's why we aren't choosing fiance visa. 

 

Edited May 12, 2019 by nowhere

[Hank_ 9,173]

2 hours ago, nowhere said:

A CENOMAR is required for all foreigners now. Mine shows my marriage from the 80s on it. Apparently it must have an annotation under it saying it's recognized by the PH government.

 

As I said we tried to get married in Manila recently. Spent many hours in City Hall waiting....filling out 4 copies of application for marriage license, making copies of IDs etc...returned the next day, took 2 seminars...then we sat down to have an interview with the head of the office..she went over the huge stack of papers including my divorce decree...and she said I need to get divorce recognized by the Philippines. My fiance started crying and I said only filipinos have to do that. Then she showed me the checklist indicating it's required for foreigners as well. 

 

Then I called Makati City Hall and asked civil registrar about it. Asked if my divorce decree will allow us to get a marriage license. She sad no, need recognition of divorce. Then called 2 other city halls and they all said the same thing. I also spoke with 5 or 6 attorneys, they all said I need it. 

 

Here is email from Laguna City Hall:

 

"Dear __________,
We will also require you to submit the same documents as Manila City 
Hall did. Even though you have been divorced from your previous 
marriage, the foreign judgment should be enforced here so that you can 
secure a copy of annotated certificate of marriage."

 

I'm currently living in the Philippines with her and prefer to stay here awhile longer before we go to the USA, that's why we aren't choosing fiance visa. 

 

Well that is a news ...  interesting.   Thanks

 

Based upon what you are saying your options are limited.  Complete the recognition process, or get married in a foreign country.  I believe singapore is fairly easy to complete the marriage also.    And yes the embassy will accept the certified copy of a marriage certificate from another foreign country for the IR/CR  visa process.

 

Only issue is your marriage will not be recognized in the Philippines, so her passport will stay in her maiden name so the I-130 petition will have to be in her maiden name as well, thus her green card will be in her maiden name.   Eventually you can remedy this.