John & Rose

She can interview anywhere she has legal residence. With OFWs all over the world it is very common for them to interview in the country they work in. The US Embassy is the US Embassy. They wont care as long as she has legal residence. In the OP's case, the HK divorce will be accepted by the entire world but the Philippines and The Vatican. In those two places the first marriage is still valid. She will not be able to change her Philippine Passport to her married name. She will be able to file for US citizenship and use her married name on that passport.

Were they attempting CRBA for a non biological child? So many questions. K-1 to citizenship at the consular interview? I think you hit it on the head. They may have been trying to pass off a step child as a biological child and that starts to get into a grey area that may even include human trafficking if the facts fall in the wrong way. Definitely a misrepresentation if the US citizen stated the child was biologically his.

I will ask her where she checks. It is online and just shows if they are listed in the database. I'm sure she doesnt pay each time she checks.

ROM was approved and we received the signed documents back. They said it can be about a year before my step son's wife can get a copy of the PSA marriage certificate so she can change her passport. DFA will not accept the approved ROM from the consulate for the passport change. They need the PSA cert and I guess they are slow to update records. We are going to try every couple weeks to see if the marriage shows up online with PSA but so far it hasn't. It has only been about a month though.

We just got my step son's ROM back. It took 4 months. They say up to another year before PSA will have the actual marriage certificate.

They are quoting 4 months now but we were just a couple days over 3 months.

As an update, my step son received his ROM paperwork from the San Francisco Consulate yesterday. So he is officially married in the Philippines and the rest of the world too. The Utah online wedding made it all possible and he was married when he made it back to the Philippines the day before his son was born. Everything, including the timing worked out great!

Yep but most people there can’t afford the $5000 to $10,000 and it takes 18 months to get. Money and patience usually runs out first.

I still don't see a risk that is there and not anywhere else.

50% is the US average for divorce so they are the same. That is kind of sad. You definitely were at the right time. That is when the K-3 was created to help with that discrepancy. In my case it was 11 months to interview with K-1. Our CR-1 was 8 months from filing to POE. We got our green cards sooner by being denied, getting married and refiling the spousal visa. I've heard stories about how quick it used to be. Congrats on not having to do the 12 to 18 month wait that we see now.

And while you are at it you can also look up birds don't exist and the earth is flat. Sorry if one arrest doesnt make me rethink my marriage there or that it should influence and US citizen who wished to marry there. We obviously don't know the whole story and we never will. Still, there is no reason for anyone to rethink marrying in the Philippines. There are silent readers who may be influenced by your comments when they shouldn't. So I will concede this point. Don't go to the Philippines just to cheat on your partner. You can upset their family and they may have connections. If you plan on marrying your true love, there are very few places as beautiful and friendly as the Philippines as that marriage location.

That is why I asked since you said cheaters are arrested for adultery. I've never heard that as being as common as you seemed to think it was. Maybe just a communications breakdown but there are no challenges getting married in the Philippines and it is an awesome place to do that. I was wondering what challenges you saw getting married there as we had none and the wedding was awesome. It is a great option for people who may be interested in doing that. It does take time as there is a 10 working day delay for the marriage license to become active. I made two trips since I didn't have enough PTO.

And how many of those guys were arrested for adultery, which was you original premise. Zero? None? Yes, the Philippines has some of the most beautiful women in the world and the sex trade is as strong there as anywhere. I still haven't heard many stories of people catting around and getting arrested for adultery. But, I do have to admit, if that happened then bribery would probably be the common outcome. It isn't perfect there but it also isn't any worse than any other country.

This. I never said they can get married again so this is not false. They can't unless they get an annulment. People separate everyday there so that part is true. So people do agree to separate all the time. That is VERY common there.

Or admit that "catting around" is a priority when they are on a US immigration support sight...LOL

It is true there is no divorce there and it is hypocritical for sure. No doubt about that.

That is their personality flaw and how many are in jail? When did I say they can get married again in the Philippines. Having children doesnt require marriage. My wife's sister bus still married to a man she hasn't seen in 18 years. She has kids with other men and he has kids with other women. Neither was ever arrested for adultery and they are still married to each other.

Yep, I was there. That same thing here would have cost a lot more than $10. The Catholic Church we planned on using for our K-1 US marriage wanted thousands just for the Priest and the "electricity costs". Luckily we were denied and I was able to get married there. The Philippines is as corrupt as anywhere else in the world. Here that corruption is much more expensive.

You truly sound like a person who has never visited there and have been following the islands through Tinder posts. I guess for you the fact that is IS has divorce and you can sleep around with anyone you want to is a good thing. I personally never felt the need to go catting around the Philippines but I know many married Filipinos with children with multiple partners and they have never once even been questioned by the police so I’m not sure that adultery is something that will even raise an eyebrow there. I’ve been there 15 to 20 times and yes, it is a different culture but I’ve never experience any of these challenges that you seem to believe exist. If the fact that you can’t cheat on your spouse and they don’t have divorce there is really a concern then definitely stay away.

Actually we brought treats for the office and both of us had adult children so we probably didn’t need the treats. I don’t consider it a bribe and the corruption is the same everywhere in the world. I don’t believe the ₽500 ($10) was really that much of a bribe for 5 people in the office but whatever.

Like what? We married there without incidence and I also have two friends who did and one that is planning on it next year. What is the risk?

Introduced by a mutual friend and you are already friends with her brother! Both MAJOR red flags. They see a marriage for immigration convenience and not love. That is tough to overcome. Move somewhere you can live together for a few years and refile. This explains their questions too. Seems too much like a fake marriage to obtain immigration benefits. They only have a short time for the interview and they are very well trained to recognize potential deceit. Congress won’t help on this one. USCIS will not take any action and they will hold the petition until it expires. Don’t just refile because all the notes and findings will be attached to any future petitions. Your best bet is to move somewhere and live together for a few years to prove the relationship is bona fide.

I married in the Philippines. Check with the local registrar for their requirements. They do different things in different areas. The Affidavit in Lieu of the Certificate of Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage no longer comes from the US Embassy. It also doesnt need to be notarized at the embassy. Any Notary Public in the Philippines can do it. Your fiancee's sister is talking about a helper but many times their marriages are not certified by PSA. You can buy fake divorces and annulments too. They may work locally but they do not fool the embassy how sees a lot of fakes there. We are related to the mayor that married us and we had to go the regular path. You need to do the family planning seminar or get out of it like we did. We brought treats for the local office. The 10 working day waiting period is law so not getting around that legally. You can marry the moment the marriage license, which you get from the LCR, becomes active. Make sure you ask the LCR to expedite with PSA. We did and got our marriage certificate back within a month. Others have waited over 6 months for it. My step son did the Utah marriage. ROM takes 16 weeks and it is 6 months to a year after that when the PSA marriage certificate will be online. We used the Utah Marriage Certificate for the I-130. I spoke to the San Francisco Consulate today and they confirmed that they have the ROM and everything looks good. They said it may be another 2 months before we get it back. Remember to meet again after the online wedding before you file the visa paperwork. Long story short...beware of fixers.

I spend most of my time in Manila and the heat there is much drier than Chicago for some reason. I never understood that but the other day my wife agreed when she walked out of the air conditioned house and felt like she was hit with a bucket of hot water. I've never experienced that in Manila even as the temps were equal or higher than Chicago.

Thanks for this. I love history especially WWII. I had to teach my wife that the Philippines were attacked at the same time as Pearl Harbor. I was amazed at how little they know about their own history. Corregidor is a regular stop about once a year. American Cemetery gets visited almost every trip.