Grant PDX

At the time there were few international flights from Cebu and most of what I could see, if not all, were cargo flights.  It doesn't mean there weren't any, I just couldn't find any.  We'd booked Delta/Korean Air so we were limited to them, so I may not have seen everything possible, but I looking for anything I could find.  She's been stuck there for 3 months on what was supposed to be a much shorter trip.

My wife flew from Cebu to Manila to Korea to Seattle about 6 weeks ago.  Her connection in Manila was a relatively easy part.  Once she was through the Cebu entrance challenge (documents, medical and travel clearance, etc) the Manila transfer was pretty painless, other than the wait to get back into the international terminal (long wait and only allowed entry to the terminal 2-3 hours prior to the flight).  Once you're in the airport, the MECQ shouldn't impact you in Manila.

For a foreigner they don't request a CENOMAR.  Just the affidavit from the Embassy.  The embassy will require that you show all divorce decrees from previous marriages.  If you show the decrees, you get the affidavit.  The affidavit is what is required of a US citizen to get married in the Philippines, not a CENOMAR.  You shouldn't have a problem getting the affidavit, just have all the required paperwork.

My wife (filipina, passport in maiden name, US green card in married name) and i just flew back from Mexico 5 days ago and Canada a few months ago.  Both airline tickets were in married name.  Each crossing she showed passport (maiden name) green card (married name) and boarding pass (married name) with no issues.  She wasn't asked any questions about the name.  They looked at both IDs each time and passed her through.  The difference is the Philippines where she is traveling in 10 days.  Her ticket is issued in the maiden name, as we believe the Philippines would likely have issues with the naming.  She has yet to be asked for (although she does carry) her marriage certificate and other IDs (all in married name).

Based on that experience, I think either married or maiden name wouldn't cause an issue.  YMMV.

Essentially there's a limit of 1 in the last two years, and 2 lifetime.  Once you've reached those limits any future K1 will require a waiver.  The waiver used to be very undefined.  For my 3rd petition I wrote a letter detailing a little of each of the previous petitions and why I was filing for a 3rd and asking for a waiver of the limit in my case.  Last year I filed for a 4th K1.  The form now has a check box that says essentially "I need a waiver".  It looks very simple.  However, in addition to checking that box, I wrote a similar letter requesting a waiver.  It doesn't state it's required, but I provided it.  I've never had a K1 petition RFE'd so I'd suggest adding a letter, but it's not totally clear what the requirement is.  YMMV

I never had one "waiting in the wings" and never had a "backup" and most times thought I was petitioning for "the one" as they were certainly my only one at the time.

Best of luck.

Congrats for the speedy process.  After your first attempt, good to see this one go quickly.

The 2nd visa within 2 years is a K1 requirement, not CR1, so no waiver required in your case.  The K1 refusal means it's closed, but for peace of mind you could withdraw so you don't leave anything hanging.  It doesn't take much and the peace of mind may be worth it.

Good luck!

I don't have any shame about any of it  I know my situation.  I know the path that got me here.  I'm proud of my marriages but not proud of my divorces.  In every instance I went in with good intentions and there are very few decisions I would go back and change (my most recent before my current fiance is one I would change, and I saw the writing on the wall, but tried to "do the right thing" and be hopeful and got bit).

Relationships fail. The visa process added to the difficulties of any relationship compounds problems.  IMO you never really know a person, and people change along the way.  The process of spending so many months waiting, most of them not together, skews a little from how "normal" relationships work (whatever "normal" means).

Staying together is awesome, wish I had a relationship already that went the distance.  Happiness and sanity are more important than forcing something bad to work, just for the sake of avoiding the shame of divorce.

For folks going through it multiple times, or with someone who was previously married, I think it's important to know it's possible, and hold your head up.  Most of the people doing a second (or third or...) filing are good people that ran into problems.  Is it my fault for falling in love easily? Maybe, but I can say I never fell out of love, just circumstances were too difficult to stay together.  I still am committed to my previous wives' happiness.  And without going into reasons for the divorces, most divorces have fault on both sides, and sometimes can't be made to work right.

If you are in a position that you feel uncomfortable about (multiple filing, for example) don't feel ashamed (unless you're a #######).  And still feel free to ask for help.

I didn't see mention of the type of visa that was expired (maybe I missed it?).  But not all expired visas are the same.  If he came on a fiance visa for example, he would only be able to AOS if married to the original petitioner.  What visa type did your fiance enter on?

Thanks folks.  I knew it was required to have the AKA on the NBI, she wasn't aware and I never double checked.  She went to the NBI on the same day as the interview, April 10.  They told her to come back on the 19th to pick it up.  She's home with her family and their tiny island for fiesta and can't return to Manila until the 30th.  We were planning on her flying here the week of May 7, so it's possible it's just a week or so delay.  My fiance is so apologetic about not knowing, but it's likely just a 7-14 day delay.  We'll have decades together and the delay will give her another week or two with her cousins and friends, so not a big deal.

On the 30th she's also doing a second CFO appointment.  She went in Clark and spent the full afternoon, did the seminar, etc.  They had copies of my divorce certificates but required more information before they would give her the certificate, so they told her to make an appointment in Manila.  She'll do that on the 30th as well.  I have past experience with the CFO.  They've always accepted official divorce certificates.  The guy at Clark CFO required the full divorce decrees (I never had to give before) so it was another snag.  All-in-all, it's frustrating but it'll happen.  

Thanks much.

Thanks boss.

My fiance had her interview and needs to reorder her NBI.  They kept her passport, went to the NBI to place the order and will pick it up/send it to the Embassy via 2Go next Monday the 30th.  That was the only issue (didn't originally order with her AKA from her previous marriage).  Any idea how long it's taking after the document is returned?

Oops, not the DS-160 page, it's the interview page.  http://www.ustraveldocs.com/ph/index.html?firstTime=No.  I just logged into my fiance's account and I can see the delivery info there.

When my fiance filled out the DS-160 and scheduled the interview she was required to input the address where she'd like the visa delivered, so she put her home address.  Later we determined that she'd likely be visiting her family in the province when the visa is ready for delivery (2 weeks back home, begining 4 days after the interview) so she went in and changed the delivery to 2Go branch near her parents' home.  2Go delivery is included in the visa fee.   They can deliver to a home address, a local 2Go branch, or pickup in Manila at the 2Go branch at MOA.

I read that 2Go will only hold for a few days, then return it.  The information I've heard is from 3 to 14 days and I assume it varies at each branch (this is the Philippines, what they say happens and what actually happens can vary).  I was concerned about what happens if nobody is home to receive the visa or if the specific person was not home, so we're going the branch office closest to where she'll be, then she'll pick it up when they call her.

I hope the above help.  Best of luck.

Edit: Oh, and Congratz on your approval!

I don't remember where I saw the reference, but a few years ago I saw a study that the percentage of couples filing ROC together after AOSing together (so 2+ years of marriage to reach that point) was essentially the same percentage as couples of 2 US partners still together (not divorced) after 2 years of marriage.  The mixed marriage percentage was actually slightly higher, but not statistically significant.  

The takeaway was that foreign spouse marriages had essentially the same 2 year success rate as 2 US citizen marriages.  The study touched on 3 year citizenship applications, so results after 3 years of marriage.  There was less data available to the study, but their limited data indicated similar results to the 2 year data.

My fiance emailed me the passport pic and I printed it at Walgreens to ensure it had standard passport pic formatting and paper.  I had hers printed and they took mine at the same time.  As long as your fiance's is high quality enough, there's no real difference.

My fiancee went to the Clark CFO today.  Her interview is next Tuesday, so we figured we'd get this out of the way.  It didn't quite work as planned.  Some background: my fiance was previously married to a US citizen in the Philippines, I've been married and divorced 3 times. (feel free to pass judgement, it is what it is)  My fiance's ex divorced her in Oklahoma.  My divorces were in Idaho and Oregon.  Idaho and Oregon issue a certificate as proof of the divorce, Oklahoma issues a copy of the 5-6 page divorce document stamped by the county clerk.  I think Oklahoma is abnormal in this, but it is what it is.  When my fiance attended the seminar and counseling, the perused her divorce document, then said they need to see similar examples of my decrees.  Idaho and Oregon don't issue full 5-6 page decrees with all the details, it's just a one page certificate decree.  I haven't kept copies of my full divorce documents (the first was over 20 years ago), just the official certificate, and I've just ordered the "certificate" looking ones as needed.  This was never an issue before (my previous spouse was also from the Philippines and the CFO didn't require the full divorce document, just the divorce certificate was enough).  So they sent my fiance away, telling her to return (actually go to the Manila CFO with her receipt after emailing the Clark CFO so they can forward their info) when she has her visa and the full documents from my divorces.  Essentially they want to read the "reason" for the divorces in the court papers (all were irreconcilable differences).

The CFO can definitely ask for "anything" including documents I don't know how to get (24 year old divorce documents? I can order the decree online, but the full legal paperwork? is it even possible?)

My thought is to wait until she has the visa, then go to the Manila CFO with visa, the receipt from the Clark CFO, the document from the Clark CFO showing she needs to show my divorce decrees, and my divorce decrees, and hope they give her the certificate.  Otherwise just redo the CFO in Manila.

Other ideas?

once you have the MNL case number you're good to go.  follow Hank's guide

http://www.visaconnection-philippines.com/k-1-visa-application.html

Congratz folks!  Other than NOA1 date, we're running at the same speed.  Our NOA2 was a week before, Interview on April 10.  Medical was done this last week.  

It is indeed a challenging process.  Happy you're looking at the light at the other end of the tunnel.

Grant

My fiance just finished it today (she passed).  The first day they did everything except vaccines.  They told her to come back the next day at 2pm.  She got the vaccines, waited for results, and didn't wrap up until after 6pm, but she did get the positive result that day.  So one full day, then 4 hours the next day, late afternoon.

Side note, we jumped the gun a bit, booked a hotel in Manila prior to getting the NVC case number.  I just got the case number Friday US time, she paid the visa fee Monday, booked the interview appointment that night, Tuesday pulled it all together and took the bus to Manila as the hotel was for Tuesday and Wednesday night.  We hadn't received anything from the NVC or anyone yet, so the only proof of the MNL case number was an email I sent her with the number.  Of course she used it to book the interview and had the interview confirmation letter with her.  Without having the NVC or USEM letter they almost didn't let her in.  She had to push a bit to get it done.  Ultimately they used the email I sent to her with the MNL case number as "proof" that she was eligible for the medical.  Strange but true.  

We're glad it's behind us.  I know I jumped the gun scheduling it the hotel, which pushed the medical to specific dates, a bit early.  I was ready to write off the pre-paid reservation, but recognize that would totally have been on me, not St Lukes, USEM the NVC or anyone else.  Just lucky it worked out.  Oh, I did receive an email from the NVC which would have been nice to have.. it arrived my morning US time, her night between the 2 days.  A little more waiting on my part (1 day) would have resulted in less stress for Grace...

Most states have a minimum amount of time you have to be a resident before filing.  Some are 3 months, some 6, some 12, all over the board, really (I live in Idaho, 45 days).  Some may have no minimum (Washington state and South Dakota).  Depending on where she is and where you are and how long you've been separated, she may or may not be able to file where she is currently located.  Check your state for residency requirements, then choose if you want to file.  If you wait, and she establishes residency somewhere else, you may be doing a divorce from a distance and fall under the other jurisdiction's requirements.  If she's in California for 6 months and files there, and you don't live there, be prepared for a rough divorce.

I'll let you guys know how it goes  other than finding the "wrong one" before, the process hasn't been horrible