US Citizen - previously marriage in PI - questions (edited title)

[militarygf 0]

The thread got me worried along with a PM from another VJ member. my fiance (petitioner) and his ex were married here in PI sometime 1993 the ex moved to US in 1995 and they became estranged. She remarried in US in 2002 or 2003 without getting a local annulment. They did however obtain a church annulment and a divorce in 2000. Fiance and his ex, and their daughter are now naturalized US citizens. Will that pose a problem for us during my interview? I'm the beneficiary, I have never married nor do I have children out of wedlock. I suddenly got nervous, and clarifications will be appreciated.My apologies to the OP if it seems that I hijacked your thread.

[marklovetina 52]

The thread got me worried along with a PM from another VJ member. my fiance (petitioner) and his ex were married here in PI sometime 1993 the ex moved to US in 1995 and they became estranged. She remarried in US in 2002 or 2003 without getting a local annulment. They did however obtain a church annulment and a divorce in 2000. Fiance and his ex, and their daughter are now naturalized US citizens. Will that pose a problem for us during my interview? I'm the beneficiary, I have never married nor do I have children out of wedlock. I suddenly got nervous, and clarifications will be appreciated.My apologies to the OP if it seems that I hijacked your thread.

as long as ur petitioner is already USC when the time he divorce his wife then u are good to go... maybe someone will correct me if i am wrong ...

[marklovetina 52]

to a divorce obtained by a former Filipino who had been naturalized in another country after his naturalization, as it might open the door to rich Filipinos’ obtaining naturalization abroad for no other reason than to be able to divorce their Filipino spouse (Handbook on the Family Code of the Philippines, 1995 Ed., p. 30).

However, this provision was later interpreted by the Supreme Court to include cases involving parties who, at the time of the celebration of the marriage were Filipino citizens, but later on, one of them becomes naturalized as a foreign citizen and obtains a divorce decree. The reckoning point is not the citizenship of the parties at the time of marriage, but their citizenship at the time a valid divorce is obtained abroad by the alien spouse capacitating the latter to remarry.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

The thread got me worried along with a PM from another VJ member. my fiance (petitioner) and his ex were married here in PI sometime 1993 the ex moved to US in 1995 and they became estranged. She remarried in US in 2002 or 2003 without getting a local annulment. They did however obtain a church annulment and a divorce in 2000. Fiance and his ex, and their daughter are now naturalized US citizens. Will that pose a problem for us during my interview? I'm the beneficiary, I have never married nor do I have children out of wedlock. I suddenly got nervous, and clarifications will be appreciated.My apologies to the OP if it seems that I hijacked your thread.

This is extremely simple. BOTH parties MUST be "free to marry" BEFORE the petition is filed. Was he divorced BEFORE the petition was filed? If yes, then you have nothing to worry about.

[marklovetina 52]

The thread got me worried along with a PM from another VJ member. my fiance (petitioner) and his ex were married here in PI sometime 1993 the ex moved to US in 1995 and they became estranged. She remarried in US in 2002 or 2003 without getting a local annulment. They did however obtain a church annulment and a divorce in 2000. Fiance and his ex, and their daughter are now naturalized US citizens. Will that pose a problem for us during my interview? I'm the beneficiary, I have never married nor do I have children out of wedlock. I suddenly got nervous, and clarifications will be appreciated.My apologies to the OP if it seems that I hijacked your thread.

ito ang answer sa question mo sis..

to a divorce obtained by a former Filipino who had been naturalized in another country after his naturalization, as it might open the door to rich Filipinos’ obtaining naturalization abroad for no other reason than to be able to divorce their Filipino spouse (Handbook on the Family Code of the Philippines, 1995 Ed., p. 30).

However, this provision was later interpreted by the Supreme Court to include cases involving parties who, at the time of the celebration of the marriage were Filipino citizens, but later on, one of them becomes naturalized as a foreign citizen and obtains a divorce decree. The reckoning point is not the citizenship of the parties at the time of marriage, but their citizenship at the time a valid divorce is obtained abroad by the alien spouse capacitating the latter to remarry.

[militarygf 0]

This is extremely simple. BOTH parties MUST be "free to marry" BEFORE the petition is filed. Was he divorced BEFORE the petition was filed? If yes, then you have nothing to worry about.

Yes, matter of fact, they were already divorced and anulled in the church, before I met him in 2002. He only filed for our K1 application December 2010; shortly after he obtained his citizenship. Thank you so much for your clarification

ito ang answer sa question mo sis..

to a divorce obtained by a former Filipino who had been naturalized in another country after his naturalization, as it might open the door to rich Filipinos’ obtaining naturalization abroad for no other reason than to be able to divorce their Filipino spouse (Handbook on the Family Code of the Philippines, 1995 Ed., p. 30).

However, this provision was later interpreted by the Supreme Court to include cases involving parties who, at the time of the celebration of the marriage were Filipino citizens, but later on, one of them becomes naturalized as a foreign citizen and obtains a divorce decree. The reckoning point is not the citizenship of the parties at the time of marriage, but their citizenship at the time a valid divorce is obtained abroad by the alien spouse capacitating the latter to remarry.

sis, thank you so much for the article! I was gnawing my nails the whole time I was in a mtng this afternoon, and only relieved a sigh of relief when I read the above posts. His ex obtained the citizenship much earlier than he did since she left for US way back 95, while my fiance migrated with their daughter in 2006. They were already divorced that time, and the ex is already married to another man. My fiance only obtained his citizenship June 2010, and filed for our K1 in Dec. Whilst i am sure that there is no intentions to misrepresent his status; we have been in the relationship for almost 9 yrs after all, i wanted to make certain that nothing will go wrong during my interview on May 17. Thanks again hun, and I wish you a smooth sailing journey with your lovey xoxo

[marklovetina 52]

Yes, matter of fact, they were already divorced and anulled in the church, before I met him in 2002. He only filed for our K1 application December 2010; shortly after he obtained his citizenship. Thank you so much for your clarification

sis, thank you so much for the article! I was gnawing my nails the whole time I was in a mtng this afternoon, and only relieved a sigh of relief when I read the above posts. His ex obtained the citizenship much earlier than he did since she left for US way back 95, while my fiance migrated with their daughter in 2006. They were already divorced that time, and the ex is already married to another man. My fiance only obtained his citizenship June 2010, and filed for our K1 in Dec. Whilst i am sure that there is no intentions to misrepresent his status; we have been in the relationship for almost 9 yrs after all, i wanted to make certain that nothing will go wrong during my interview on May 17. Thanks again hun, and I wish you a smooth sailing journey with your lovey xoxo

you're very much welcome po!!!

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Yes, matter of fact, they were already divorced and anulled in the church, before I met him in 2002. He only filed for our K1 application December 2010; shortly after he obtained his citizenship. Thank you so much for your clarification

sis, thank you so much for the article! I was gnawing my nails the whole time I was in a mtng this afternoon, and only relieved a sigh of relief when I read the above posts. His ex obtained the citizenship much earlier than he did since she left for US way back 95, while my fiance migrated with their daughter in 2006. They were already divorced that time, and the ex is already married to another man. My fiance only obtained his citizenship June 2010, and filed for our K1 in Dec. Whilst i am sure that there is no intentions to misrepresent his status; we have been in the relationship for almost 9 yrs after all, i wanted to make certain that nothing will go wrong during my interview on May 17. Thanks again hun, and I wish you a smooth sailing journey with your lovey xoxo

Maybe you have to be Filipino to understand what's going on here, but the timeline and events are confusing the heck out of me.

The divorce and annulment occurred in 2002? At a church? Where was this? Churches do not grant divorces or annulments in the US.

He immigrated to the US in 2006? On what basis did he immigrate if he was already divorced? It must have been based on marriage because he obtained his US citizenship in less than five years. So, did he immigrate to the US in 2006 based on a marriage that ended in 2002?

[militarygf 0]

Maybe you have to be Filipino to understand what's going on here, but the timeline and events are confusing the heck out of me.

The divorce and annulment occurred in 2002? At a church? Where was this? Churches do not grant divorces or annulments in the US.

He immigrated to the US in 2006? On what basis did he immigrate if he was already divorced? It must have been based on marriage because he obtained his US citizenship in less than five years. So, did he immigrate to the US in 2006 based on a marriage that ended in 2002?

I'm sorry to have confused you! i'll try to summarize the timeline, pls let me know if there is something else amiss

1993 - fiance and ex married in PI because she got pregnant. Daughter was born in the same year.

1995 - Ex left for US to work as a nurse; fiance and daughter were left behind since he was still in med school.

bet 96 - 2000 - ex visited PI twice; she had already filed for a petition for fiance and daughter but was denied the first time, just don't know the exact year.

2000 - Petition for fiance and daughter approved. they went to US for a month long vacation, but they had agreed on separating. Both father and daughter got their green cards.

2001- ex requested for Church annulment and a divorce. All paperwork were sent to Manila where fiance and daughter reside.

2002 - The church annulment was obtained from the Archdiocese of Chicago, while the divorce decree from Cook. These are separate papers.

mid 2002 - we met and started dating.

2003 - ex remarried in US.

may 2006- he migrated with his daughter.

Dec 2010 - he filed for our I-129F.

He obtained the citizenship through military, shortly after his boot camp. Although he became a permanent resident in 2000, he only visited US twice, in 2000 and 2003 for short periods, 1 month at the most. These visits were for the daughter to form some bond with her mom, because she was raised by my fiance and his family. They were allowed re-entry permits, because the daughter was studying here and my fiance was practicing in their clinic whilst taking care of his ailing dad.

Do you reckon I would meet any sort of problems during my interview please? I certainly hope not, Im scheduled on the 17th. He was already divorced when we met, and did not foresee any problem that may arise from his previous marriage. He has been very honest with me regarding his status from the start. Would you be kind enough to clarify me on the matter or why you raised the questions, pls. He showed me both the divorce decree and church annulment, even read the child custody agreements made by the local mediator; so i never had a doubt about the sincerity of his intentions. Thank you so much for your help.

[Otto 83]

** Topic was split off from another topic - may appear a little out of sync because of this (a couple of posts were removed to help get things back on track).

Edited April 27, 2011 by Otto

[marklovetina 52]

I'm sorry to have confused you! i'll try to summarize the timeline, pls let me know if there is something else amiss

1993 - fiance and ex married in PI because she got pregnant. Daughter was born in the same year.

1995 - Ex left for US to work as a nurse; fiance and daughter were left behind since he was still in med school.

bet 96 - 2000 - ex visited PI twice; she had already filed for a petition for fiance and daughter but was denied the first time, just don't know the exact year.

2000 - Petition for fiance and daughter approved. they went to US for a month long vacation, but they had agreed on separating. Both father and daughter got their green cards.

2001- ex requested for Church annulment and a divorce. All paperwork were sent to Manila where fiance and daughter reside.

2002 - The church annulment was obtained from the Archdiocese of Chicago, while the divorce decree from Cook. These are separate papers.

mid 2002 - we met and started dating.

2003 - ex remarried in US.

may 2006- he migrated with his daughter.

Dec 2010 - he filed for our I-129F.

He obtained the citizenship through military, shortly after his boot camp. Although he became a permanent resident in 2000, he only visited US twice, in 2000 and 2003 for short periods, 1 month at the most. These visits were for the daughter to form some bond with her mom, because she was raised by my fiance and his family. They were allowed re-entry permits, because the daughter was studying here and my fiance was practicing in their clinic whilst taking care of his ailing dad.

Do you reckon I would meet any sort of problems during my interview please? I certainly hope not, Im scheduled on the 17th. He was already divorced when we met, and did not foresee any problem that may arise from his previous marriage. He has been very honest with me regarding his status from the start. Would you be kind enough to clarify me on the matter or why you raised the questions, pls. He showed me both the divorce decree and church annulment, even read the child custody agreements made by the local mediator; so i never had a doubt about the sincerity of his intentions. Thank you so much for your help.

u dont have problem sis.. u are good to go to ur interview.. yeah i heard about it too from my honey.. that a foreigner can have a papers in US quickly by joining the military.. he has a friend too who did that who is a korean... good luck.. dont be stress about ur case.. u can have ur visa soon hehehe...

[militarygf 0]

thats a big big relief to hear (or in this matter, to read ) Tina, thank you so much again.