RO_AH

I also agree that this is excellent advice. 2 days is an extremely short period of time to expect to be paid back the money, whether by PH or US standards. I have never heard of someone in the PH being put in jail after a 2 day delay in payment. Usually the two parties try to work it out between themselves, then escalate the dispute to the barangay, and ONLY if they do not get a resolution at the barangay level do they seek legal advice from an attorney and file a case.
 
Depending on where the girlfriend is, just the initial attorney fees could be more expensive than the cost of the funeral.
 
 
 
I also mean no disrespect, but you should be asking the hard questions as mentioned by the other posters.

Excellent advice given. Doubtful she would be held for this initially. Things like this are usually handled at the barangay level. I would be wary of a sick caribou in your future. As I recall you have been to the Philippines before and went through the process. You should know the score.

*BINGO*

He said
Which leads me to think he did send money and really put me on alert.
 
Please understand that this sounds at face value extremely unusual if not unbelievable. I am not saying you are being scammed, and most times when you warn someone that they are or may be getting scammed they go straight into defense mode. I just ask that you think about it. Do some digging, and most of all do not except excuses if you ask. Also do not be made to feel guilty for asking hard questions.

My guess is that if the lender was paid back charges were dropped. The story does seem odd though because the law is rarely enforced or half the Philippines would be in jail.
 
I don't know anything about you or your relationship but if it was me I would be on very high alert.
 
If you get married in the Philippines you file an I-130 (spousal visa) but you will not be able to go there for quite a while. You could look at online wedding and then apply for a visa to go there. All the info can be found on these forums but if you can hire an attorney if you feel that you will not be able to do it on your own.
 
Did I mention that I would be on high alert?

He said
Which leads me to think he did send money and really put me on alert.
 
Please understand that this sounds at face value extremely unusual if not unbelievable. I am not saying you are being scammed, and most times when you warn someone that they are or may be getting scammed they go straight into defense mode. I just ask that you think about it. Do some digging, and most of all do not except excuses if you ask. Also do not be made to feel guilty for asking hard questions.

My guess is that if the lender was paid back charges were dropped. The story does seem odd though because the law is rarely enforced or half the Philippines would be in jail.
 
I don't know anything about you or your relationship but if it was me I would be on very high alert.
 
If you get married in the Philippines you file an I-130 (spousal visa) but you will not be able to go there for quite a while. You could look at online wedding and then apply for a visa to go there. All the info can be found on these forums but if you can hire an attorney if you feel that you will not be able to do it on your own.
 
Did I mention that I would be on high alert?

He said
Which leads me to think he did send money and really put me on alert.
 
Please understand that this sounds at face value extremely unusual if not unbelievable. I am not saying you are being scammed, and most times when you warn someone that they are or may be getting scammed they go straight into defense mode. I just ask that you think about it. Do some digging, and most of all do not except excuses if you ask. Also do not be made to feel guilty for asking hard questions.

He said
Which leads me to think he did send money and really put me on alert.
 
Please understand that this sounds at face value extremely unusual if not unbelievable. I am not saying you are being scammed, and most times when you warn someone that they are or may be getting scammed they go straight into defense mode. I just ask that you think about it. Do some digging, and most of all do not except excuses if you ask. Also do not be made to feel guilty for asking hard questions.

My guess is that if the lender was paid back charges were dropped. The story does seem odd though because the law is rarely enforced or half the Philippines would be in jail.
 
I don't know anything about you or your relationship but if it was me I would be on very high alert.
 
If you get married in the Philippines you file an I-130 (spousal visa) but you will not be able to go there for quite a while. You could look at online wedding and then apply for a visa to go there. All the info can be found on these forums but if you can hire an attorney if you feel that you will not be able to do it on your own.
 
Did I mention that I would be on high alert?

He said
Which leads me to think he did send money and really put me on alert.
 
Please understand that this sounds at face value extremely unusual if not unbelievable. I am not saying you are being scammed, and most times when you warn someone that they are or may be getting scammed they go straight into defense mode. I just ask that you think about it. Do some digging, and most of all do not except excuses if you ask. Also do not be made to feel guilty for asking hard questions.

Just to be clear -- the Philippines does accept marriages solemnized in the US as valid marriages, but it does not automatically confer legal rights as a married couple in the Philippines.  Only by going through the Report of Marriage (ROM) process will the couple be granted full legal rights as married in the PH.
 
In practical terms relevant to immigration, this means that while DFA may accept a Utah marriage certificate for 9a visa application, DFA will not accept the same MC for the wife's passport renewal with married name.
 
TL;DR -- Utah Zoom marriage is ok, but also do ROM later if you want a PH passport with married name.
 

He said
Which leads me to think he did send money and really put me on alert.
 
Please understand that this sounds at face value extremely unusual if not unbelievable. I am not saying you are being scammed, and most times when you warn someone that they are or may be getting scammed they go straight into defense mode. I just ask that you think about it. Do some digging, and most of all do not except excuses if you ask. Also do not be made to feel guilty for asking hard questions.

I strongly recommend you postpone any marriage plans until you and your girlfriend get her record sorted out.  Marrying you will not make it any easier for her to overcome the criminal grounds for inadmissibility for US immigration.  What she needs now is a lawyer to help defend her in the Philippines, not a lawyer in Arizona.
 
Before that, I hope you don't take offense as I mean no disrespect, but I have to ask -- Have you met your girlfriend in person?  Did you see proof that she was actually arrested and imprisoned?  Was there an arrest warrant?  Did she ask you for money so she could get out of prison?  Did you send her the money?
 
I ask because while estafa is an actual crime in the Philippines, no one is supposed to get imprisoned for it until after they are convicted in court.  Suspects may be detained after arrest, but not for more than 1 day for a non-capital offense.  I understand that you may not want to write up the details about your girlfriend's circumstances, and that's ok.  It's just that with the few bits of info we have, lots of points seem to be off with the story.
 

Bummer, yes my wife's Medical is running out too. They should (but don't) give people a break on this esp with all the Lock downs!

Thanks for all tips and feedback guys. I have started filling out my I-129F

100%
 
Pictures?  Some of us didn't submit pictures of any kind with the petition.
 
A statement of intent to marriage from both is recommended. 
 
Asking for parental permission?  They don't care. 
 
You need to validate all your questions against official USCIS information and instructions. "I've heard" can be a really bad source of information,  right up there next to YouTube and Facebook. 
 

The lawyer mentioned it would be best if we get "engaged" to further provide more evidence to our visa submission. 
lawyers  make more money with AOS ,try spousal  visa instead you won't  regret  it.

I get that.  Just keep in mind that the K-1 is no longer faster, and the big drawback comes with AOS, and the immigrant being unable to travel or work for 8-10 months after arriving.

Thank you so much. You are right that this route would be less hassles once here in the US, but the only problem seems to ME is a veryyy long time waiting to arrive in the US given the processing time on govt. site...Do you think those processing time might be wrong..perhaps?? How come it could be 2 yrs processing time only for I-130? I have been here for 30 yrs and have personally seen thousands of my friends and family to have gone thru all this so many times...not even one time I-130 took 2 yrs to process...I-485 used to take long, but not I-130...and back then when fees for this petition used to be only $80 or less...govt increased fees over the years especially back then to justify to clear up backlog and streamline the whole processing...hired thousands of 3rd parties contractors like those in various lockdowns and new hiring of adjudication...that’s why until a few yrs back I-130 used to take only 4-5 months because I did it for my ex a few years ago...but now their site is saying that it will take 2 yrs?? That’s unbelievable...I thought this delay in processing is because of covid but people have said over here that their petition/case took this long even before covid...I think its time for people to write to govt...filing lawsuits..like how thing was back in days...to make govt. do their job on time. Can’t use covid as a reason to this much delay...if they are getting paid on tax-payers’ money...

@TWISTIE 
 
You seem to be missing a very big piece of what was explained on page 1 of this thread so I'm going to try to explain it to you a different way. 
 
You can and should file the k3, it may shorten the process BUT and this is a big but and where you are getting confused- it most likely won't be approved.  Now i know that's confusing and sounds contradicting. Im saying you should file it and it may help but also saying it wont be approved? Yes. Let me explain. 
 
As others have explained and you seem to know:you need to first file the 130. They will begin processing it. It will take about 1 yr apx to make its way through the system and be approved.  Immediately after filing the 130 you file the k3. Think of them as 2 trains on 2 different tracks. They move independently of each other. 130 train will take 1 yr. The k3 train may take less, lets say 5 months. So at 5 months when the k3 gets to the end and the Officer sees you also have a 130 train still chugging along policy tells them to approve the 130 instead of the k3. This would result in your 130 being approved sooner than it would be if it's the only train. 
 
The reason the statistics only show a handful of k3s is not because they aren't being filed. They are! It's because only a handful of Officers for whatever reason chose not to follow policy and approved the k3 instead of the 130 CR.
 
Does that make sense? 
 
When the processing times for k3 and 130 are similar its not helpful to file the k3. When they are drastically different and the k3 is shorter then YES it can be helpful to file it. But make no mistake the k3  will most likely not be approved. You should plan on moving forward with the CR as they will close the k3 in favor of it.

If you believe this is a great option for you, why not go for it?  And report back, we will be interested to hear how you go.

I think people are awaking now or realizing only lately that K-3 is the only viable option for them to speed things up...which is why k-3 wasn’t filed earlier...but now latest applicants are exploring all options available to them...and this k-3 comes handy in my opinion...

Soooo many confidently incorrect assumptions.  OP,  you would be wise to research and read as much as possible about the entire process if you want to get through it without additional time and expenses.

You are correct that there has NOT been a K-3 Issued since March 2020, but its because people were NOT filing it. Why? Because K-1 and CR-1 have been more beneficial all this time, but now its other way around. Covid has sent the backlog to its highest limit...and that’s where k-3 visa comes into the picture and that’s the only reason Congress enacted this k-3 visa...so that couple couldn’t be separated for long because of this longer delaying in processing. That’s what the sole purpose of creating this visa. Govt. hasn’t phased it out. Its just it wasn’t a viable and a good option until now. I-130 is taking too long NOW..and K-1 is also processing 12 months of average time...So this is the only viable option seems like it.
 
Besides, there is nothing to lose as there is no any extra fees for it. Just because its been only one or two K-3 issued in last previous years, that doesn’t mean its because govt. was denying it or not approving it at USCIS level or discouraging people not to file it, rather it were people who chose not to file for k-3 given the fact that K-1 and CR-1 used to process a wayyy earlier and quicker but this is not the case anymore...I think the new statistic from govt. on issuing of this visa would be different from now on this, for sure. It will force the govt. to clear it up backlog or adjudicate I-130 quickly.
 
Just a few years ago I did CR-1 for my previous wife. It took only 4 months to decide I-130 and then another 2 months at NVC and consulate....Total 7-8 months to have interview in very same US consulate. But now I-130 is taking at least 19 and half month to 25 months in Vermont service center...wherein Adam Walsh cases would be handled as well...Should I wait for 25 months or 7-8 months? I think choice is very obvious over here...
 
I know about a case over here wherein USCIS denied I-129F for K-3 visa to someone by stating that I-130 has been already approved while I-130 was pending but that was an error in USCIS part which could be fixed thru attorney or congresspeople. USCIS can not just deny a petition based on lies...For k-3, all one needs is a receipt of pending I-130..that’s all...I mean for I-129F for k-3. I am wondering what we have to lose by filing this I-129F? Both petition I-130 and I-129F could be filed together, and I think they could be filed online as well..at least I-130. I am lost here as to what we could loose here??