We need information help for a Filipina and an American

[BillyBlast01]

Hello everyone, I am new here. This is a complicated issue and I hope we can get the information we are looking for. I am an American and I have a Philippine girlfriend. That is the easy part from here it gets complicated. She was married several years ago to a Filipino there and they had 4 sons. in 2006 she was going to work abroad and found out that he was still married to his first wife. They have been separated for a long time and we met and now we want to bring her here and get married. As most of you probably know divorce is not allowed in the Philippines only annulment and that's expensive and can take a long time. She still works in Hong Kong and she met a Filipina there that was married to a filipino and she had met an American working in Hong Kong and she got a divorce there then applied and got a K1 fiancée visa and came to the US to marry him. Now we want to do that to but the problem is even though her husband was still married to his first wife she still has to apply for the annulment to be legal in the Philippines to re marry. She wants to be able after we marry to go every year to visit the kids and grandkids. Doing the divorce in HK still doesn't change her status in the Philippines. Has anyone had this problem or know others that have? I want to be able to take her to see the kids and grandkids but I don't want to go to the Philippines with her and she gets stuck there because she would still be a legal Philippine citizen and her husband is a drunk and he does drugs and was very abusive he has the legal rite in the Philippines to press charges against her and have her thrown in prison even though he is still married to his first wife. This is where we are confused. Can anyone help us with this problem?

[newacct]

A divorce done anywhere should be recognized in the US.

[BillyBlast01]

Hello newaact, Yes that is correct. I have been to the Philippines and I have been looking for the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. All the other Filipina's I talked to over the years did not have this specific problem. Even though Maria's husband was still married to his first wife and did not tell her and that makes her marriage void she still has to pay for the annulment and it can take several years if its approved. That is not the problem her friend had. She was married to a Filipino and he was a drunk and abused her so when she was in HK she met Maria and they became friends. Now Maria's friend told her she used a lawyer in HK and they filed and she got her divorce in HK then they helped her get her K1 visa. Her friend had met an American that works in HK and they took care of all that. She then flew to the USA and they got married. That is what we are going to do. The problem is she will still be married in the Philippines. Maria has 4 sons and the 3 oldest are married and have kids. She will want us to go to the Philippines after everything is completed but I don't want to take the chance on her getting in any kind of trouble if she is still married in the Philippines. I am hoping someone can lead me in the right direction or even tell me if they had the same problem and what they did to fix it. I know that the Philippines has been trying to make divorce legal but so far the last time I checked it was still on hold.

[newacct]

It is well known that the Philippines won't recognize the divorce. But for the purposes of US immigration what matters is that the US recognizes the divorce. As to whether she will get in trouble with the Philippines, I am not familiar with that topic.

[PKumar01]

Interesting question. I agree with newacct about the divorces being valid in the US as long as they're valid in the host country. However, you mention that her ex spouse was already married to his first wife when your girlfriend got married to him. The question becomes, does that mean your girlfriend's marriage was void?

[BillyBlast01]

Hey newacct and PKumar01 I talk to Maria every day and she has been trying to contact a friend of hers there in the Philippines that works in a Lawyer's office. She did get ahold of her and she told her everything we need to do. Even though her first husband is still married to his first wife she has to get an annulment. That will be around 300,000 pesos. It has to be done but because he was still married it will be granted. She and I can still get her divorce in Hong Kong and then work on her K1 there. That will be about 1400 American. After that and she comes here and we get married she will have her friend in the Lawyer's office start work on her annulment. Thanks for the kind words. This will be about a two year process to get her here but it is what we need to do to be able to get her here and another 3 to 5 years on her Philippine annulment. I have been in the Philippines and going back and forth and looking on the internet for 11 years last month. When I finally met her I knew I found the woman I was looking for. I know her situation sucks but as we know the Philippines has very tough laws concerning divorce and annulment. Even the annulment process if he was not married would be questioned but because of his marital status it will be no problem. Have a great day !!!