GaryKO

I am aware about the 7year waiting period for divorced Filipinos. How about when I renew my passport? My greencard and passport last name don't match, are they going to force me to report my previous marriage? Thanks

Maybe your putting the cart before the horse. Have you removed the conditions of your 2 year green card yet? When you have your 10 year card you can start thinking about US citizenship....It does not matter that your green card and passport last name do not match....I assume your passport is in your unmarried name, and your green card is in your married name. If you file for ROC, and you should of done that when your divorce was final, did you file in your Maiden name? Also did you file for the divorce, or were you the defendant?

Need a little more information. Are you planning to go back to the PH anytime soon, are you planning to get married again in the PH. Do you have your 10 year card now? When does you PH passport expire? As for as passports go when you renew your passport, use your maiden name if unmarried. If you marry again use your new married name. I do not think I would get married again until you have your 10 year card in hand. When you divorced then you are out of status, until you remove the conditions of your 2 year card. Instead of being eligible to apply for US citizenship in 3 years if you stayed married, you must wait 5 years now if you get your 10 year card.

If you never reported your marriage in the PH, then there is nothing to annul. This would only apply anyway if you wanted to get married in the PH, and do it legal. You cannot apply for US citizenship until 5 years after your greencard date, so you want to wait that long? It may be good for you to have a long engagement.

Well we are saying the same things, just disagree on a few points. My first Filipino wife had to reacquire her Philippine citizenship in 2005 before she could purchase a house and property in the PH. You don't lose your citizenship, you lose some rights and privileges of citizenship when you become a citizen of another country. It's not a big deal to reacquire all the rights and privileges. One of the rights you lose is to petition the court. When dealing with Philippine laws, the law is what ever they say it is. This is what is so confusing for many, what they do in Manila, may be completely different what is standard in other parts of the PH. Until you have personal experience in matters there you only know what you read. The Philippines mostly use a passport as means to determine if you are a citizen. If you have a current passport then your all set, if you don't, or if you have let it expire then in order to get a new PH passport, your first must go through the process to reacquire citizenship. The Philippines is all about doing things there legal, if you don't it can come back one day to bite you in the butt. All I am saying is there are ways to do things, and then there are the legal ways to do things. For example if you have full citizenship rights you can live or visit the PH as long as you want too. If you do not then you can only visit there for 1 year. Of course you lose other rights until you reacquire full citizenship . Right to own real property in the Philippines;
Right to engage in business or commerce as a Filipino;
Right to practice one’s profession in accordance with law;
Right to acquire a Philippine passport; and
Right to vote in Philippine elections.

I wonder what would happen if she does not present the divorce to the Philippine court, I move there and attempt to remarry ? This is a very real possibility..

Well I am going to be honest with you. You should be able to do what you did before when you married there. When you apply for a marriage license with the Local Civil Registrar you will give them certified copies of your divorce papers. Hopefully they will know the law and you will not have any problems. There has been a problem with some Local Civil Registrars not understanding the family code laws, so you may need to hire a lawyer, you should as least make plans for this in case you need lawyer.

The amount of wrong information you posted is incredible. The only negative of a Philippine citizen filing for divorce in a country they live in, outside the Philippines is they cannot marry in the Philippines again without an annulment, or get any new marriage recognized. No other country in the world recognizes that person as married except the Philippines. A person with a two year green card need not return to the Philippines in order to marry another American if they've divorced in the USA. They can remove conditions on their own with the divorce option checked. They also certainly do not need to return to the Philippines to get their divorce recognized there before they can marry in the USA again.

A Filipino becoming a USA citizen after a divorce has been obtained by a Philippine citizen, does not invalidate the original marriage in the eyes of the Philippine government. The same process of getting that divorce recognized is required. Also a Philippine citizen for quite a few years now, does not lose citizenship in the Philippines by becoming a citizen of another country, but they do want their citizens to reaffirm that citizenship before renewing a Philippine passport.

What is incredible is on VJ when people post information about the Philippines it's what they think the laws are, or repeat bad information they read here, and think it's correct.

What I said was if a Filipino citizen married in the PH that marriage is recognized anywhere in the world. If they divorce while still a Filipino citizen then that marriage is still valid in the PH. Yes the divorce will be recognized in the country outside the PH. But because they were still a Filipino citizen when divorced they are still subject to Philippine law. So legally they are still married. Can they get remarried outside the PH again if they are still a citizen of the PH? Yes they can, but they cannot do it legally, because to get a marriage license they must lie and swear they are free to marry.

You assume that all conditional visa holders are able to adjust their status. You also assume that all Filipino citizens just forget about their marriage in the PH and get married again. When a citizen of the PH becomes a US citizen they lose their rights as a citizen of the Philippines, and are no longer subject to the family code of the Philippines. The marriage in the Philippines is no longer a issue, they are like you and I now, they are US citizens and the family code laws no longer apply to them, unless they reacquire Philippine citizenship.

There can be a problem and it happens a lot, the Filipino citizen already owns property in the PH, or they may own a business there, or there are many other reason that they need to keep their Philippine citizenship. So they do things legally, They get a annulment, or have their foreign divorce recognized by the court, before getting married again. Yes the moment they become a US citizen they lose all rights and privileges of a Philippine citizen. To become a Philippine citizen again they must reacquire their Philippine citizenship, then they will be subject again to all Philippines laws, including the family code of the Philippines.

Again when it comes to a Philippine citizen getting a divorce and getting married again what they can do, and what they can legally do are two different things. I was married to a Filiipina for 20 years, I lost her to cancer in 2008, I am married to a Filipina now, and I have a Immigrant visa to the PH. I live part time in Cebu, and plan to move and live there full time soon. I been dealing with the government and the laws there for a long time, and it makes my head hurt when I do.

CR-1 is issued to people married less than 2 years, and it expires 2 years after the POE date. Must file to remove conditions to extend to a 10 yr. visa.

A CR-1 visa.

There is no issue with a bringing a Filipina divorced in any other country to the USA on a K-1 visa from the Philippines. She then can legally marry in the USA. If you had a denial on an I-130 due to divorce outside the Philippines not being recognized, it was improperly denied, something else was the problem or for some reason she returned to the Philippines for the interview and a CEMAR was required.

That's because you only see the failed cases.

My comment was to the OP situation. He married a Filipino citizen in the Philippines. If they get a divorce in the USA, he will be divorced from her, but she will still be married to him because she is a citizen of the Philippines, and then what she can do legally, if she does marry another US citizen.

The key words here are "citizen of the Philippines". There is no divorce in the Philippines. No matter where she lives and who granted the divorce, She is still legally married according to Philippine law. She cannot legally be married again in the USA or any other country until, she has her marriage annulled, recognized by the courts in the PH, or is no longer a citizen of the PH. Then she will be free to marry again.

What happens most of the time, is the Filipino citizen waits until they are granted a 10 yr. card and the USCIS is out of the picture to get married again. Then when they become a US citizen the marriage in the PH is no longer valid. Here in the USA, they are considered married and all is ok.

The problem getting married again while the marriage in the Philippines is still on the books is if the couple goes back to the PH to visit, or live. The Filipino citizen can be arrested for a bigamous marriage, and the non citizen could be deported, banned from entry into the PH again. This can happen and does happen, all its takes is for the first spouse to file a NBI complaint.

No there is no issue bringing a divorced Filipina to the USA as long as she can prove she is free to marry , if she is already in the USA on a 2yr. visa "divorced", and is out of status then she will most likey need to return to the PH get her divorce recognized there, before another visa can be approved.

Embarrassingly wrong.

Marry a divorced Filipino citizen in the USA that was married in the Philippines, then apply for a I-130 visa for her, and let me know how that works out....been there and done that.

The reason for the divorce does not matter to the Philippines. The only thing that matters is the filing for the divorce was by the non-filipino, and was given properly per the laws in the location that the divorce was given. I think you're also of the mistaken belief that would make her status in the USA and the rest of the world as married. The only country that would recognize her as still married after a divorce she filed for is the Philippines. She would be free to marry in any other country.

What she can do and what is legal for her to do is two different things. A US divorce does not make her marriage contract in the PH go away. Since she is a Filipino citizen married in the PH, she is subject to Filipino law anywhere in the world. Can she get remarried in the USA, yeah she can because you do not need to prove your divorced, or free to marry here. Can she do it legally, NO, because you must be free to marry and she would still married in the PH until she has the courts there to recongnize her divorce .. This would present a problem if she tried to marry and apply for another visa based on marriage. The Philippines is the only country that this is true, and USCIS knows this.

Because there is no divorce in the PI when this topic comes up people get so confused, even Filipinos don't understand the process of annullment, what the process is to end a marriage recorded in the PI, after a divorce in another country. The family code of the Philippines is not well written and does not address the OP situation. The OP really needs to seek the advise of a PI lawyer before she goes tries to get dual citizenship...

1. The family code of the Philippines is for Filipinos only.

2. The OP is a US citizen now, the family code no longer applies to her.

3. She was US citizen at time of her divorce, she is just as divorced in the PI, as in the USA now.

4. She is no longer a Filipino citizen, so she can't have her divorce judicially recognized, get annulment, as of now she is no longer married in the PI.

5. What happens if she gets her Filipino citizenship back? Will she be married again to husband #1? If she get re-married will the marriage to husband #2 be null and void in the PI, because she still married to husband #1? The family code does not address this.

She needs to talk to a lawyer in the PI before she gets dual citizenship, or she may end up in a catch 22 situation, I am sure there is a way to do this and be able to get her dual citizenship and have her divorce recognized, just I don't know exactly how, and no one here does either...

Yes she was. But not now.

So if she is not now a citizen of the Philippines it sort of a "who shives a git".

Unless she would like to be a dual citizen and spend the money to do the annulment process... no one cares.

I think she cares Hank!

Key word in all of that is WAS. She was a Philippine citizen.

The catholic church has way too much control regarding the laws.

Philippine law still does not support divorce. It does not afford Filipinos the right to file for a divorce, whether they are in the country or living abroad, if they are married to Filipinos or to foreigners, or if they celebrated their marriage in the Philippines or in another country. The legal basis is Art. 15 of the New Civil Code, which reads:

Art. 15. Laws relating to family rights and duties, or to the status, condition and legal capacity of persons are binding upon citizens of the Philippines, even though living abroad.

Since she WAS a Filipino citizen at the time of her divorce she was still subject to the laws of the Philippines. Becoming a naturalized US citizen after the divorce does not alter this.

The easiest way for the OP to get her divorce reconized in the PI is to re-file a new divorce petition now that she is a US citizen,or wait and hope divorce is made legal in the PI.

Well not really. She is a U.S. Citizen now, she does not need to take dual citizenship. Not being a Philippine citizen means she doesn't need her divorce recognized.... as it does not apply being she is a U.S. citizen.

(She can still own property in the Philippines without dual citizenship)

Not at all,,,,since she was a Philipine citizen at the time she got a US divorce, she will always be married to her ex-husband in the PI even after getting her US citizenship. Being a US citizen just makes it worse, because she can't even file for anullment, only Philipine citizens can do that.

If she had got the divorce after she became a US citizen then what you think Hank would be true.

Yeah she can own land as a former Philipine citizen, but with limitations. I think its 1 hector in the city and 3 hectors in the rual area. I think also there are limitatations on the size of a house in sq meters.

Probably if she is going to live in the PI, she would want to get dual citizenship.

It is a stupid law, but its the law....just read the family code.

Hello,

I hope someone can help me with my situation. I got married in the Philippines to a US citizen. He then brought me and my daughter with him to America. After 5 years of marriage I filed for divorce when I found out he was abusing my daughter (not sexually but he would hit her and I found bruises on her inner thigh). At the time I filed for divorce, I was this a Filipino citizen and I did not become a US citizen until 2 years later.

Now I am a US citizen and engaged to marry another US citizen. My ex-husband has since then remarried and I have had no contact with him since 2008. From what I read about Philippine law, my divorce will not be recognized in the Philippines because it was not the foreign national that petitioned the divorce and at that time I was still a Philippine citizen.

I know I am getting married to another US citizen and maybe this is not an issue in the US but what about the Philippines. Can I be accused of bigamy in the Philippines? What if I go back to live in the Philippines, will my new marriage be recognized? Would this affect future property owned in the Philippines? I suppose I would be safe if I stay as a US citizen and not get dual citizenship and live in the Philippines as a foreign national.

What do you guys think?? Thank you in advance!

If you were a Philipine citizen at the time of your divorce, and you were the "complainant" or "petitioner" then you are still married to your former spouse in the Philippines, and you "cannot" have your divorce reconzied in the Phills courts. Your new marriage cannot be recorded in the Phills because your already married to someone else there. Yes someone could report you that your married to two people if you go back to the Phills, if they wanted too. Your only choice is to file for annulment of your Philipne marriage, that can take 3 years and $3000.00. As for future property owned in the Phills, you would need to have your Philipine citizenship back, and being legally married to your ex-husband there would probably cause some problems. It does not matter if your stay a US citizen or get dual citizenship and live in the Phills, you will be married to your ex-husband there until you get an annulment from him.

There are some cases where a couple have refiled the divorce, just a uncontested divorce where both parties sign, you can contact your ex-husband and see if he will agree to this. This way you can be the petitioner if your now a US citizen. You could then have this divorce reconzied in the Phills.

I am not a lawyer, .....You really need to talk to a lawyer in the Phills, if you can find one you can trust.

The strictness of the policy of getting married in the Philippines is a big myth, you have people on the internet telling people they must do it this way, or you will break the law....the law and the process of getting a marriage license in the PI is whatever the local civil registrar says it is.

Both bride and groom need to be present when applying for the marriage license is the biggest myth. What if one of the parties is out of the country, or far away so travel would be costly just to sign the marriage application to start the process of getting a marriage license?

The correct way to start the process of getting married in the PI if both parties cannot be present when applying for the marriage license is for one of the parties to go the the local civil registrar and explain the situation and ask the local civil registrar what needs to be done in order to start the marriage application process.

The local civil registrar in various municipalities and cities may or may not make exceptions to the process of applying for the marriage license. Different local civil registrars in the PI may have different rules, and require various other documents.

The truth is each municipality has its own set of requirements when you apply for a marriage license. So the best and only correct advise on what is needed to get married in the PI, is to go in advance and ask the LCR where you intend on applying what are the requirements. Then do what they tell you.

The myth that you see posted on the internet is both parties must apply together in person to fill out the marriage application. That is not what the law says, but like I said before the law is what the LCR says it is. The law says that the parties contracting marriage sign a application for marriage and swear a oath separately before him or before any public official authorized to administer oaths, to an application in writing setting forth that such party has the necessary qualifications for contracting marriage.

It comes down to the LCR and how they interrupt the Civil code, so you need to ask first what are the requirements if both parties cannot apply together for the marriage license application.

Article 59. The local civil registrar shall issue the proper license if each of the contracting parties swears separately before him or before any public official authorized to administer oaths, to an application in writing setting forth that such party has the necessary qualifications for contracting marriage. The applicants, their parents or guardians shall not be required to exhibit their residence certificates in any formality in connection with the securing of the marriage license. Such application shall insofar as possible contain the following data:

(1)

Full name of the contracting party;

(2)

Place of birth;

(3)

Age, date of birth;

(4)

Civil status (single, widow or widower, or divorced);

(5)

If divorced, how and when the previous marriage was dissolved;

(6)

Present residence;

(7)

Degree of relationship of the contracting parties;

(8)

Full name of the father;

(9)

Residence of the father;

(10)

Full name of the mother;

(11)

Residence of the mother;

(12)

Full name and residence of the guardian or person having charge, in case the contracting party has neither father

nor mother and is under the age of twenty years, if a male, or eighteen years if a female.

There is a 10 day waiting period from the time the marriage license application is filled out until a marriage license is issued. The application is posted on a bulletin board for 10 days to give notice of the planned marriage in case someone wants to object to the marriage.

Have your Fiancee ask the Local civil registrar if it would be possible for her alone to apply for the marriage license, since you are out of the country and would have a problem being in the PI for the time needed to complete this process. They allow this sometimes, and do it a lot with Filipinos getting married if one of them needs to travel a distance so both can fill out the application in person. Just have your Fiancee ask about this and what documents you will need to send in advance, and what documents you need when you arrive in the PI to get the marriage license.

There is a 10 waiting period from the time the marriage license is applied for and the releasing of the license. Some registrars interrupt this 10 days as working days, week ends and holidays don't count.

All these internet guides are wrong about how to apply for a marriage license in the PI. Do you really think the local registrar office requires both Filipinos to appear in person to apply for the license if one lives far away? Travel is expensive in the PI for most people, if one person lives far away and travel would be a problem just to apply for the license then most of the time they will allow only the one of the parties getting married to apply for the license.

If time is a problem and the US citizen cannot be in the PI but a week, then the Fiancee should go to her local civil registrar office, explain the problem and ask if she can apply for the license herself. Most of the time they will allow this, and tell her what documents they need in advance, some registrar offices will not, but it don't hurt to ask.

I am a American citizen and she is a Filipino citizen.

If you get a divorce in the US and you are the one seeking the divorce (the plaintiff) then the Filipino citizen can have the foreign divorce recognized by the Philippine court. What you want to ask about is recognition of a foreign decree of divorce by the Philippine courts, she will need a lawyer for this. This is the easiest, quickest way and least costly.

As a American citizen, if you get a divorce in the US then you will be divorced, you do not need a annulment in the Philippines. The Filipino citizen is the one who would need to have the courts recognize that foreign divorce in the Philippines, before she would legally be divorced in the Philippines and free to remarry.

Hello!! It is unfortunate to say that my partner and I are going our seperate ways and I am currently looking for a lawyer for the annulment process. Does anyone have any lawyers in the Metro Manila area that you can recommend? I would also be happy if you could share some of your experiences as well Thank you in advance.

Are both of you citizens of the Philippines?

Hmmm, so if a K1 fiance were to pass the medical and the embassy interview, and get the visa, they could take a "trip" to Hongkong, then get a ticket to the states, since she has a visa?

Hmmmmm.....

Yeah you can, but if you go back to the Philippines and still a green card holder you may be in trouble, or if you want to change your passport and use your married name then the CFO certificate is a requirement to do this. The sticker inside the passport is proof your registered with CFO.

After your married the local civil registrar reports your marriage to the NSO, then after about 3 weeks you can apply to the NSO for CENMAR, "Certificate of Marriage". This is what you need, and you need about 4 certified copies of this. Also certified copies of Birth Certificate.

Also to change a passport or get a passport in married name you will need to attend the CFO Guidance and Counseling program and get your certificate first before you can apply for a passport. There is no need to get in a hurry, all this takes time, you must wait until you have all the necessary documents before going to CFO. You will need 2 ID's in married name. Postal ID, BC, CENMAR, NBI police clearance showing married name will work.

Takes about 3 weeks to get CENMAR, takes about 4 to 6 weeks to get passport.

Well I posted here a few months back and it helped alot. My lawyer has what he needs but there is some confusion I need help with.

1. My lawyer says he still needs a street address or house number or PO Bx for the form he is filing out. But she says she lives in a small barangay in the middle of no where really on Oriental Mindoro. She says theres less then 50 families in it. So she has no house number and also her street has no name. The main street does, but not hers since its a small dirt road. Theres also no PO Box. They get their mail (what little they get) by going to some place there and giving them their name.

So what do I tell my lawyer? Does he maybe not understand (since hes american) that not everyone has an address like they do in the USA? I would think if the embassy sees the address she gave me currently the would know there is no street name where she lives. Right?

2.He needs her school dates but the dates she gave me looks like she was in elementary for a year, high school for 4 years. Is that right? 5 years total of school?

3. Lastly he says when I am there I need to bring back a marriage certificate or a certified one. Does that take long? Or like most certified things does it only take a matter of minutes?

THanks for the help! This has been still very stressful, I think the language barrier is playing a role in how hard it is to get across the questions I am asking her. That and the cultural differences such as with the whole "Address" thing.

1. A address where she can receive mail could be where she lives, could be a relative,a friend, her place of work.

2. Philippines changed this over the years, most times it was between 8 and 10 years of school, they just changed it in 2012 to 13 years of school.

3. CENMAR or MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE is available for the NSO about 3 weeks after the local civil registrar reports your marriage. Your wife can mail you a certified copy.

I like some of the baked fish, but that's about it. I have tried just about all the Filipino dishes and don't really like anything. I can eat some, but rather just have a banana sandwich . Guess because of my Southern US appetite. Even the lechon baboy is bland compared to Southern hickory smoked BBQ pork. I can eat it after I make up some BBQ sauce, or get some buns and make some BBQ sandwiches.

Read their older postings, they had a K-1 denied. The OP is not telling the whole story here.

I see, I did not see a clear reason for denial. If it was failure to establish a bona fide relationship this could be many reasons. Was more common years ago when USEM was more strict for K1 approval, something as simple as the fiancee not being able to answer simple question about the petitioner could mean denial. In that case it was common practice to get married then refile as married. If document fraud the reason then that would be a permanent visa band.