Petitioning Fiancée

[SHORTY LONG]

What is the name of your state? OHIO

Respectfully, i have a friend who has been very seriously (over two years)
involved with a Lady he met on-line in a Christian web site. She resides
in the Philippines, and he has never been there because of health. He
has bad ears, and his ENT specialist does not recommend him to fly.

Also, his only source of income is his monthly SSD benefit. My questions
are, can he Petition her to come to the USA as his Fiancée with the hopes
they will marry within the 90 days? If he can, what would be recommended
for him and her to do this? Thank you.What is the name of your state?

 

[ImmigAttyLana]

NO, if they have never met in person, the fiancee visa petition on her behalf will not be approved. They MUST document that they have met in person or that there is a cultural, religious prohibition against such meeting which does not sound like is the reason. He should see if there is medication he can take so that he can fly and not impact his ear condition.

 

[SHORTY LONG]

Thank you Attorney Lana, i will pass this along to him. If, by
chance he is able to get Meds to help with the expressed consent
from his Doc, and does get to go there, and they still want to
Marry, then will his source of only income (monthly SSD)
become a problem?

By the way, she is 45, and he is 52. Also, as crazy as this sounds,
he said that it is faster to marry here in the USA, then it is there
in the Philippines. I asked him to elaborate, and evidently, if he
married her there, and then returned to the States, she could
not return with him, and in that, he would have to Petition for
her to come over as his wife which he says can take up to a
year or longer.

To me, that does not make a lot of good sense when a Fiancée
petition is faster than an already married couple who has to
Petition that they were legally and lawfully married in her
Country. Thank you.

 

[evcalyptos]

Thank you Attorney Lana, i will pass this along to him. If, by
chance he is able to get Meds to help with the expressed consent
from his Doc, and does get to go there, and they still want to
Marry, then will his source of only income (monthly SSD)
become a problem?

By the way, she is 45, and he is 52. Also, as crazy as this sounds,
he said that it is faster to marry here in the USA, then it is there
in the Philippines. I asked him to elaborate, and evidently, if he
married her there, and then returned to the States, she could
not return with him, and in that, he would have to Petition for
her to come over as his wife which he says can take up to a
year or longer.

To me, that does not make a lot of good sense when a Fiancée
petition is faster than an already married couple who has to
Petition that they were legally and lawfully married in her
Country. Thank you.

Who told you any of it had to make sense to you?

It's true: a fiance visa is faster than a spouse visa, especially if the couple are not yet married --for getting her to the US-- (not the end of the process).

Don't want to comment on the SSD income--I can never remember which one is allowed. Manila is notoriously tough on the financials though.

 

[ImmigAttyLana]

It depends on whether the SSD is all that he gets and how much he gets in that respect.

 

[SHORTY LONG]

Who told you any of it had to make sense to you?

It's true: a fiance visa is faster than a spouse visa, especially if the couple are not yet married --for getting her to the US-- (not the end of the process).

Don't want to comment on the SSD income--I can never remember which one is allowed. Manila is notoriously tough on the financials though.

evcalyptos, what does this mean that Manila is notoriously tough on the financials?
Thank You

 

[SHORTY LONG]

It depends on whether the SSD is all that he gets and how much he gets in that respect.

Yes, SSD is his only source of income; and is <825.00 monthly. With that said,
if per chance he was able to go there, would this prohibit them in marrying by
each respective Governments? Or, could they possibly have a Civil Wedding
there, and then he returns and Petitions her as his legal wife? Thank You.

 

[evcalyptos]

evcalyptos, what does this mean that Manila is notoriously tough on the financials?
Thank You

It means that when they see this guy with no way to earn additional income relying on disability payments of less than 10K per year, they are going to have serious concerns about how he will keep HER from becoming a public charge. The typical remedy of adding a joint sponsor does not always fly in Manila--they want their co sponsors to be close relatives, someone with a stake in the success of the incoming immigrant.

Nothing really changes is she is his spouse---he has to show that he can support her, and you haven't offered any information that shows that he can.

The minimum poverty guideline for 2 people/immigration is just over $17,000 per year in income. If he has assets, he may be able to offer them up in lieu of missing income.

 

[SHORTY LONG]

evcalyptos, thank you for the most informative information.
I shared it with him, and sadly he states he has no assets;
(just the one he sits on) More seriously and to the issues
at hand. so, he needs some close family relative to be a co-
sponsor for [them] before he would go there in order to prove
to the Philippine Embassy that he can take care of her, and
that she will not be on the public rolls. Am i correct in this?
And in that, he would first need to prove this to them before
he could marry her and then petition for her; that is, if he
is able to go there and marry her? Thank you.

 

[evcalyptos]

No, the financial support is due at the visa interview, later in the game.

However, you're now into dangerous territory with you friend--sharing this kind of information third hand, over the internet with someone you do not know, is not a good way to learn what you need to know about immigration.

I would invite your friend to start posting himself and join two groups: visajourney.com is full of the minutia of visa applications, and the asawa discussion group, which is specifically about immigrating from the PI. (google the address)

 

[SHORTY LONG]

Evcalyptos, thank you for your time, and insight. I surely
will share your very invaluable information, and suggestions
to him. And on his behalf, he ask me to convey his thanks
and appreciation to you also!

 

[evcalyptos]

My pleasure; I hope he finds a way to work around a couple of unusualities.. a little determination and study will go a long way!

 

[ImmigAttyLana]

SSD would qualify as income but the amount he is getting (based on your account it comes to around $10K/year) is NOT sufficient. He would need to get a co-sponsor, who does not have to be a close relative but can be anyone who is a US citizen or US permanent resident. Of course, most often it is a close relative because others will not do it, but it does not have to be.

 

[SHORTY LONG]

ImmigAttyLana, thank you for sharing this very valuable
information. I will immediately let him know, and encourage
him to join the forum. In today's time, it is a rarity to find
professionals such as yourself, and evcalyptos, who help
others that are in need. Thank you very much, for all
of your time and help in helping my friend.

 

[evcalyptos]

SSD would qualify as income but the amount he is getting (based on your account it comes to around $10K/year) is NOT sufficient. He would need to get a co-sponsor, who does not have to be a close relative but can be anyone who is a US citizen or US permanent resident. Of course, most often it is a close relative because others will not do it, but it does not have to be.

By way of FYI, the US Consulate in Manila will not accept an I-134 from a joint sponsor (for K visas) unless the relationship is pretty tight and close to the sponsor (like parents). For a time, they would not accept a co sponsor in Manila, period.

shorty
It's always a good idea to look ahead to the stricter limits of the I-864 affidavit of support.