SarahJ

File now- by the time your interview comes around he'll have had the job for a year or more and can show paystub and an employers letter.

Thank you very much! Will check on the timeline. Does he have to have the job for a year so we are sure we could pass the interview?

Your current income is what counts. Feel free to file right away if you meet the 125% poverty line guidelines.

Thank you very much for the very quick response!

My American fiancé is wondering whether when can we file for a K-1 visa.

His income from last year was a little short of the income requirement. He has never been married and has no kids but he didn't have much income in the previous year because he was doing some freelance work that did not turn in stable income. He had jobs in the middle of last year but he decided to quit because he wasn't earning enough. Fortunately, just a few months ago (less than 5 months ago), he got stable jobs that are turning in good income. He is sure to be way above the income requirement for next year. Our question is, do we have to wait until the next income tax filing early next year or can we start processing the K-1 now..? Is the US government going to check the ITR of last year 2012 or are they going to compute based on what he is earning in his current job.. ?

Thank you very much for all your help! We know we can get some useful information here.

The U.S. Embassy Manila can issue only an "Affidavit in Lieu of Certificate of Legal Capacity to Marry," not a "Legal Capacity to Marry."

Yes, thank you. My worry is whether it will be rejected by the local registrar in Davao city.

My fiance (US citizen) and I (Filipina) are planning to get married in the Philippines this year. We are doing a research on the documents we need. I read from the website (http://manila.usembassy.gov/marriage.html)

____________________________

DISCLAIMER: Philippine Law requires non-Filipino citizens to obtain a Certificate of Legal Capacity to Marry if they wish to marry in the Philippines. U.S. Consular Officers cannot make any official certification about the status or eligibility to marry of persons residing in the United States who propose to be married abroad, or about the laws of the United States or of any of the fifty States or Territories about eligibility for marriage or the solemnization of a marriage. Instead, the U.S. Embassy provides an Affidavit In Lieu of Certificate of Legal Capacity to Marry. The affidavit is the only document the U.S. Embassy is able to provide. If the local registrar refuses to accept the affidavit, there is nothing that the U.S. Embassy in Manila can do. It is the applicant’s responsibility to verify directly with the local registrar their requirements.

In late 2011, the U.S. Embassy learned that the following local registrars had refused to accept the Affidavit In Lieu of Certificate of Legal Capacity to Marry as a viable alternative to the Philippine document: Makati City, Quezon City, Davao City.

Please note that all fees paid for this notary service are non-refundable. Because U.S. Consular Officers are not in a position to respond with authority to questions involving interpretation of specific Philippine laws, such questions may best be addressed by an Attorney licensed to practice law in the Philippines. American diplomatic and consular officers do not have legal authority to perform marriages.

The above statement said that the local registrars in Makati city Quezon city and Davao city (where I live) had refused to accept the Affidavit In Lieu of Certificate of Legal Capacity to Marry. I really want to be married in Davao city. Where then can we get this, "Certificate of Legal Capacity to Marry", not the affidavit(Affidavit In Lieu of Certificate of Legal Capacity to Marry)?

I may just be confused. Please clarify this to me. I am grateful for your advices.

Thanks for your responses!

You might want to visit Japanese embassy in Phils since you are still there and Japanese embassy in the U.S for your American fiance. This is how the process before if I remember it correctly:

How to get married in Japan

Take your Family Register (koseki tohon) or its extract (koseki shohon) to your local City or Ward office (shiyakusho/kuyakusho). That document shows you are eligible to marry – basically that you are not already married, and that you are a male 18 years old or over, or a female 16 or older. Those under the age of 20 must have their parents' signed permission to marry (douisho). Blood relatives may not marry, and if you are recently divorced, you cannot remarry until you have your Divorce Decree Absolute (rikon shomeisho). To avoid confusion as to the identification of a child's father if a birth occurs near the end of a marriage, a woman cannot remarry within six months of the dissolution of her previous marriage.

Articles 731 to 737 of the Japanese Civil Code give the complete details of requirements and some City or Ward Offices may have additional procedures or may require additional documents to be shown.

You then lodge a Registration of Marriage Form (kon-in-todoke), counter-signed by two witnesses who may need to provide their registered seal (inkan). Then a Receipt of Registration of Marriage (kon-in-todoke-juri-shomeisho) is issued by the Marriage Officer. It is not strictly necessary to have one of these documents but they make a nice parchment souvenir. It is the amended Family Register (koseki tohon) that shows the new, married status.

There are separate rules for foreigners wishing to marry in Japan and they differ according to the nationality. If you are a foreigner in Japan, your first and obvious visit will be to your embassy. If you are not Japanese and living outside of Japan, then visit the Japanese embassy in your country.

***You will have to fill up that big yellow paper in City Hall of where in Japan Prefecture you are getting married, since that you both are foreign you might need to get all the papers translated by a certified translator. You will need these documents such as passport with valid visa,birth certificate(translated in Japanese),affidavit of competency to marry (from Phil. Embassy and American Embassy)***

Thank you very much for your helpful information. I should just contact the Japanese embassy. Thank you very much!

I am a Filipina and my fiance is an American. We plan to get married in Japan, being both foreigners, what should we do? We are in our own countries now but have plans to take a vacation in Japan and will hopefully marry there. We are wondering as to what are the things we need to prepare before our trip. Is it possible to get married in Japan even on a tourist visa? What if one has a working visa? Once married in Japan and will apply for CR-1 visa later, how long does it take?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Actually, if your fiancé file I-129F petition for you (this is step one of the k-1 process), and you go abroad for 6 months right after that, you will be fine.

A petition takes 5 to 7 months (now it is even more about 8) to get approved by USCIS. After that, it will be sent the US embassy in your country, and this is when you are going to need to be in your country. In the 5 to 8 months that the petition needs to get approved, nothing happens for you, so you can be abroad, no problem at all.

Now, if your case gets in the embassy while you are still abroad, you can just hold on to packet 3 (what the embassy send you) for a while. This will delay the date of your medicals an your interview (please check this on the regional forum, this is and embassy specific issue). You have to be careful to be able to schedule and interview before the Approval notice of the I-129f expires (NOA2- Usually expires after 4 months if I am not wrong)

To get a more precise idea, please go here: http://www.visajourney.com/content/k1flow (or here if you'd like, I tryied to clear up what what not clear to me when I started the process in that post: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/415986-canadian-in-love-with-american/page__view__findpost__p__5995601)

Thank you for your very helpful information. I am so glad i joined this forum because I can address issues that are a bit unique to my situation. I guess I will have to talk it with my partner first although I am sure he would just prefer for me to sit around, stay in my current job and wait for him.

Thank you very much anyways!

Did you read the K-1 Guides on this site and the flow chart? http://www.visajourney.com/content/guides

You will have to go to an interview at the US Consulate where your petition is being forwarded (assuming it's approved by USCIS). You'll have to take a medical exam and submit that envelope at the interview. You will have other documents to collect, like criminal background checks. I don't know how you will do those things if you are out of the country.

The K-1 visa, when issued, allows you up to 6 months to enter the US. Then once you enter, is good for 90 days. You have to marry within those 90 days, then file for adjustment of status.

Oh 6 months is not enough time.

Thank you for your help. I guess I will just have to stay where I am and wait.

My fiance and I have plans to meet soon and file for K-1 visa later on.

I wonder if me going abroad to work (short term 6 months or so) while waiting for the K-1 visa approval will be acceptable and would not affect the approval. I understand that I must go to the US 3 months upon the visa approval.

If I am already in another country when the visa is approved, is it okay to go to the US not from my home country? How does it affect my entry to the US?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Moved from US Citizenship Discussion to General Immigration-Related Discussion. Duplicate Thread Removed.

Thanks! I clicked on the page multiple times. Sorry I also posted on the wrong section. My apologies. Will be more careful next time.

My fiance is an American and I am a Filipina. I have an opportunity to go to Japan and work for a year. But I want to know whether my moving to Japan would make it cheaper and faster for me to gain entry to the US or will it only make things more complicated and more expensive.

If going to Japan is a more efficient way to go, what is the process?

If we get married in Japan ( being both foreigners), will it be more costly and longer for us to be in the US together on a K-3 visa? ( a civil ceremony in Japan, nothing lavish)

Thanks in advance!