David & Diana R

Okay so this is interesting.  I just received 3 identical emails from USCIS that our case status has been updated.  Then immediately after we received 12 identical consecutive text messages within seconds of each other from USCIS.
Certificate Of Naturalization Was Issued
On September 29, 2017, we issued your Certificate of Naturalization for your Form N-400, Application for Naturalization , Receipt Number IOEXXXXXXXXX. If you move, go to www.uscis.gov/addresschange to give us your new mailing address.
 
Problem is my wife was sworn in last year and received her certificate in 2016 immediately following her swearing in ceremony in Honolulu.  Let's hope the Russians have not hacked USCIS.  Anyone ever experienced this?
 
David

She has made it clear to him that she has no intent of marrying him. Think that counts? And remember, HE knows this. I believe both parties have to agree they are getting married within 90 days (letters of intent to marry). She has changed her mind. Fiance visa are not issued for persons to enter the US to convince someone to marry them. With all due respect, you are wrong.

I totally disagree. The petitioner has made it clear that there is going to be no marriage. Therefore entering the country on a K-1 visa would constitute fraud. A K-1 visa is issued for the sole purposes of marriage within 90 days. Not really to "rectify things." I would suggest the OP stay in their own country and start looking for a new mate.

Heller???  Not "putting it down" is LYING.  You sure you wanna marry this guy?  With all due respect he sounds like someone who would be described by some (not me, I am not being judgemental here) as a loser.

You're wasting your time with a lawyer.  He/she is ignorant as to the rules/laws.  There really is no such  thing as engaged.  And a fiance visa is gijgto take you a lot longer than a spouse visa. Good luck!

The Philippine Consulate in San Francisco has been accepting and processing Reports of Marriage on the Utah marriages, which will get registered in PSA and therefore makes them indisputably fully legalized in the Philippines.  So far they aren't getting handled any differently by the Philippines than any other overseas marriage.  Of course that doesn't do anything for the OP's situation since they still couldn't file a ROM without the foreign divorce being recognized.  But if somebody did file a ROM and asks when it would be available in PSA, they will be told to wait 6 months.  So if CFO brought the subject of ROM up and someone didn't have a ROM to show... try repeating back "PSA says it will take 6 months to be available"

My concern would be the CFO how are they going to handle these online weddings?  The CFO has to sign off on her leaving the Philippines, it might be safer to get married outside of the Philippines once things start to open up. Has anyone with one of these Utah wedding the CFO yet?  

Excellent point!!!

Your divorce date is still your divorce date no matter how long the recognition takes. I don't see how the marriage before the recognition is a problem. But that's me.
 
Think about this. The Philippines could not be archaic. They could be fully modernized like the rest of the modern world. They could be like in America and all of the woman there would be modernized and and just like Americans. Would you still be looking for a Pinay to marry at that point?

My understanding is the Recognition of Foreign Divorce is still a year to 18 months with multiple court appearances, then a wait for the final decision.  I know my wife's annulment was 350k pesos and took over a year.  So 150k is reasonable in that light.  Did the lawyer say how long it will take?  Did he mention "gifts"?  I think they were cracking down on that.

Yes, the problem is getting a divorce in another country from a marriage that was recognized in the Philippines which doesn't have divorce.

Yes, but were you married in the Philippines and then divorced in the USA as I was?  The first time I married a Filipina in the Philippines I had been married and divorced in the USA.  That time there was no problem but I am worried that since I was married in the Philippines in 2012 (spouse #2) and they will not have a record of me being divorced in the Philippines...might this be a problem?
Aloha, Dave O

Ah, ok, that might be a different circumstance. Now I follow. 

I was divorced in the USA before starting paperwork in Philippines to marry my spouse. We did not have to do anything to have my divorce recognized in Philippines beforehand. They simply granted the license to us after confirming (via the regular US Embassy process) that I was able to marry.
 
When I visited the US Embassy to get the paperwork confirming my eligibility to marry, I showed them my divorce paperwork from here in the states and all was fine. 

I'm not totally sure on the wording but I would suspect it is that if a Filipino marries a foreigner and there is a divorce, the Filipino can apply and it would be recognised for both. If the foreigner applies it may or may not be accepted.  

Sounds like the judge was being a jerk the supreme court of the Philippines already ruled this applied to a foreign spouse as well, but it's the Philippines one place says one thing then another place says the exact opposite.  

That sounds reasonable, annulment could cost up to 500k php and take years to process, the Philippine laws are based from Christian/Catholic faith and of course with that in mind the law seems to discourage married couple from parting ways that I think is the reason why it' set up that way. Of course only the rich could afford all that, that is why majority of the people there do not even go through the process. Good luck and I hope this works out for you.

A friend of mine paid more than that to have it denied.  The judge ruled that Philippine Family Law was for Filipinos only so since he was a foreigner he couldn't apply.  He ended up starting over with his X applying from the US.

That's not out of line from what I have read from others.   Still a chunk of change just to have a foreign divorce decree recognized so it can be filed at PSA.
 
Would you believe up until a few years ago all that was necessary to get a foreign divorce recognized was to take the document to DFA for authentication (red ribbon), from there it could be taken to PSA for recording.   I would say being most of the politicians are lawyers at their core that when their buddies said something on this that the politicians decided it was better that a court process be required and hiring of an attorney .. of course ... after all it is The Philippines, and nothing should be simple.
 
Welcome to the Philippines.
 
 

David,
 
You know I have been following you as we are Honolulu-mates. First let me say that I am SO sorry to hear this. PM me with your phone number or email if you want to grab a beverage and talk Next, and more to your point, I BELIEVE that the US Embassy in Manila recognizes US divorce, so no worries about marrying another Pilipina (just not in the Philippines!) Check with Hank or @Greenbaum for confirmation on what I just said....and seriously, PM me to talk.

Wait, Mike. Let's not get ahead of ourselves here. I believe David (OP), as I recall from previous posts, researching how to:
 
1) have his US divorce from Filipina wife #1 recognized in the Philippines
 
so that he can
 
2) possibly marry his new Filipina partner via Utah Zoom marriage, and use the Utah marriage certificate to obtain a Philippine visa and enter the Philippines to visit her. As far as I know, David's new partner is a long way away from travelling to the US. In fact, I am not 100% sure if he and his new partner have met in person yet.
 
See previous posts here:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I know David and that is correct. He is hoping that he can get around any problems without the recognition of divorce. But it would not be a bad idea to try and get the recognition of divorce done if possible, so that if it does create any problem, he is ahead of the game.
 
He is looking for recommendations on lawyers, price, and timelines.

What is your objective?
 
To marry another Filipina?
 
Just do the Utah Zoom marriage.  You don’t need the involvement of the Philippines government.  

This law office has a step by step that might be a little more helpful.  
 
https://deborjalaw.com/8-steps-to-a-successful-judicial-recognition-of-divorce-in-the-philippines/

The annulment comment above is the old way of doing things this is no longer the way things are done, you have to hire an attorney in the Philippines to have the courts recognize your divorce this is relatively new it first happened I believe in 2018.  I would look for an attorney that has handled these cases before they will be able to get it handled faster, I have no idea how expensive it will be.  
 
https://www.rappler.com/voices/thought-leaders/analysis-getting-foreign-divorce-recognized-philippines