American married Filipina, divorced but marriage cert says single

[expat_phil]

Hello,I have an embarrassing and legal problem. I’m an American and got married to a Filipina which was a civil marriage in Manila. We/I lied on the marriage application about being me being previously divorced. Her and her family knew about me being divorced, so that was not a problem. Problem was when it was time for the marriage, I forgot to bring the proof of my divorce with me for the marriage official. I arrived on Sunday, had an appointment on Monday at the US embassy, then civil marriage on Tuesday. With all the family traveling a long distance for the marriage, I freak when I realized I forgot the paperwork. So I got the “CERTIFICATE OF LEGAL CAPACITY TO MARRY” from the US Embassy as “single”, so I know I was not truthful. Then I filling out the marriage application as me being “single” and swore again of its validity.

I live in Sweden and the Swedish Tax office has a record of my first marriage and divorce. I want to move my Filipino wife here with me in Sweden. I pretty sure the Swedish Immigration will compare my tax information of me being “divorced” and the marriage certification showing I got married as “singled”. Plus she is going to be interviewed and they will probably ask if you knew I was divorced, which she will say yes. We have emails discussing this topic in depth of my divorce.

I have really gotten buried deep in this situation and now my wife is pregnant. I’m aware this is really serious. Does anyone have any pointers of how to start to get out of this mess and correct? I would like to get this fixed before we start the process of her coming to Sweden, making it even worst

[rayb]

Expat,

You need to deal with one problem at a time. Are you proceeding with a U.S. spousal visa petition? If so, be sure and report your prior marriage and include copies of the prior divorce. Don't try to deal with the marriage cert reporting you as single unless it comes up with a "Request for Evidence" during petition processing.

The marriage is valid, and nobody received a U.S. immigration benefit because of the erroneous information on the marriage cert. But you can attempt, in parallel, to get the former marital status corrected on the marriage cert, starting at the Local Registrar, as a simple error correction. It might require use of a Filipino attorney and might have to go through a court procedure.

But before doing the above, get the NSO counterfeit-paper version of the first marriage cert for the second step during the visa processing, which is sending original civil documents to the National Visa Center.

--Ray B

Hello,I have an embarrassing and legal problem. I’m an American and got married to a Filipina which was a civil marriage in Manila. We/I lied on the marriage application about being me being previously divorced. Her and her family knew about me being divorced, so that was not a problem. Problem was when it was time for the marriage, I forgot to bring the proof of my divorce with me for the marriage official. I arrived on Sunday, had an appointment on Monday at the US embassy, then civil marriage on Tuesday. With all the family traveling a long distance for the marriage, I freak when I realized I forgot the paperwork. So I got the “CERTIFICATE OF LEGAL CAPACITY TO MARRY” from the US Embassy as “single”, so I know I was not truthful. Then I filling out the marriage application as me being “single” and swore again of its validity.

I live in Sweden and the Swedish Tax office has a record of my first marriage and divorce. I want to move my Filipino wife here with me in Sweden. I pretty sure the Swedish Immigration will compare my tax information of me being “divorced” and the marriage certification showing I got married as “singled”. Plus she is going to be interviewed and they will probably ask if you knew I was divorced, which she will say yes. We have emails discussing this topic in depth of my divorce.

I have really gotten buried deep in this situation and now my wife is pregnant. I’m aware this is really serious. Does anyone have any pointers of how to start to get out of this mess and correct? I would like to get this fixed before we start the process of her coming to Sweden, making it even worst

[expat_phil]

Hello Ray,
First, thanks for your quick response. I know I have some work ahead of me, but it feels a little more in control.

Now to answer you questions:

You asked "Are you proceeding with a U.S. spousal visa petition?"
Not yet, I live in Sweden at the moment and want to get her here. We will look into moving to the states in a couple more years from now.

You stated "The marriage is valid, and nobody received a U.S. immigration benefit because of the erroneous information on the marriage cert."
I hope this will not be an issue by the time we want to move to the States.

you Stated "to get the former marital status corrected on the marriage cert, starting at the Local Registrar, as a simple error correction. It might require use of a Filipino attorney and might have to go through a court procedure."
Do you foresee any issues with this? Do I just tell them the same story? Do they really care? I guess I need to go back to the US embassy and
get a new “CERTIFICATE OF LEGAL CAPACITY TO MARRY”, will this be an issue with the embassy because of the first one I got was single?

You Stated "get the NSO counterfeit-paper version of the first marriage cert for the second step during the visa processing, which is sending original civil documents to the National Visa Center.
I tried googling this and it was not clear, what is this? Is this just for fixing the Marriage Cert or for future US Visa? I have my divorce documents, is that enough?

Finally, I’m think if I sort out the marriage certificate, everything in the future should fall in place. Do you think that the Swedish immigration will look at my divorced status in my tax authority status during the Swedish visa process? If you do not know, do you know how I could get this answered?

Thanks again for your help.

Expat

Expat,

You need to deal with one problem at a time. Are you proceeding with a U.S. spousal visa petition? If so, be sure and report your prior marriage and include copies of the prior divorce. Don't try to deal with the marriage cert reporting you as single unless it comes up with a "Request for Evidence" during petition processing.

The marriage is valid, and nobody received a U.S. immigration benefit because of the erroneous information on the marriage cert. But you can attempt, in parallel, to get the former marital status corrected on the marriage cert, starting at the Local Registrar, as a simple error correction. It might require use of a Filipino attorney and might have to go through a court procedure.

But before doing the above, get the NSO counterfeit-paper version of the first marriage cert for the second step during the visa processing, which is sending original civil documents to the National Visa Center.

--Ray B

[rayb]

1. Don't go back to the U.S. Embassy for another "affidavit of capacity" or "affidavit of no impediment," whichever name it goes by these days, unless you plan to remarry in the Philippines.

2. The National Statistics Office (NSO) non-counterfeit form is the official and national version of a civil document in the Philippines. While the Local Civil Registrar version is okay for submitting visa petitions, an actual Embassy action must be preceded by submitting the NSO National version of all pertinent civil documents.

3. The best way to avoid future problems, especially with U.S. immigration procedures, is to simply remarry, either in Sweden or in the U.S., if your wife comes to the U.S. on any visa other than a spousal visa.

I have had several clients remarry in the U.S. for a variety of reasons:
1. One client who came here on a spousal visa (K3) had a marriage certificate from Pakistan in Pashto, Arabic (Koran quotations) and maybe some Farsi. We had a certified English translation, but it was a somewhat "awkward" document. When they went to an SSA office to apply for an SSN or for a State ID card (can't recall which), the clerks just threw up their hands and told them to get something better. So they went to the City Hall and completed a civil marriage and used that document for their Adjustment of Status.
2. Other clients had been led to believe that marriages abroad were not recognized (typical of Filipino hearsay), so simply remarried in the U.S.

--Ray B

Hello Ray,
First, thanks for your quick response. I know I have some work ahead of me, but it feels a little more in control.

Now to answer you questions:

You asked "Are you proceeding with a U.S. spousal visa petition?"
Not yet, I live in Sweden at the moment and want to get her here. We will look into moving to the states in a couple more years from now.

You stated "The marriage is valid, and nobody received a U.S. immigration benefit because of the erroneous information on the marriage cert."
I hope this will not be an issue by the time we want to move to the States.

you Stated "to get the former marital status corrected on the marriage cert, starting at the Local Registrar, as a simple error correction. It might require use of a Filipino attorney and might have to go through a court procedure."
Do you foresee any issues with this? Do I just tell them the same story? Do they really care? I guess I need to go back to the US embassy and
get a new “CERTIFICATE OF LEGAL CAPACITY TO MARRY”, will this be an issue with the embassy because of the first one I got was single?

You Stated "get the NSO counterfeit-paper version of the first marriage cert for the second step during the visa processing, which is sending original civil documents to the National Visa Center.
I tried googling this and it was not clear, what is this? Is this just for fixing the Marriage Cert or for future US Visa? I have my divorce documents, is that enough?

Finally, I’m think if I sort out the marriage certificate, everything in the future should fall in place. Do you think that the Swedish immigration will look at my divorced status in my tax authority status during the Swedish visa process? If you do not know, do you know how I could get this answered?

Thanks again for your help.

Expat