Immigration Responsibility

[rfhypnos]

After reviewing all the documents of USCIS repeatedly I have encountered one stipulation that frightens the hell out of me.  One of the details the US government outlines is that if you marry a Filipina or other immigrant foreign spouse then you are responsible for that person financially until they become a citizen.  Even if you divorce.  And this includes any children belonging to that immigrant.  The more I think about this causes me to be increasingly in need of discussion with legal representation in the US prior to immigrating.  I wonder if anyone here on the forum would care to comment on this.  Also what does the level of responsibility become if a person marries a Filipina while residing in the Philippines and for whatever reason divorces that person after a period of marriage.  Is the American still financially responsible for the Philippine national if she opts to immigrate to US or remains in the Phils?

I now have approval of a K-1 visa from USCIS and the documents are now at the State Dept waiting for review and then will be sent to the Embassy in Manila for the final round of review.  Time is coming soon when I need to decide if I want to buy that ticket!!!!  Maybe I'm getting normal cold feet but I wonder if this is different?

 

 

[Dave Hounddriver]

 I wonder if anyone here on the forum would care to comment on this.

 

My partner is from a rural area and she quickly adapted to the city life of Dumaguete.  Too quickly, I can only imagine how quickly she would 'learn the ropes' in another country.  So my comment is:  Its fine to take the 'country' out of the girl but I would surely hesitate to take the girl out of the country.

[WordsandMusic]

You can do the "What If!!!!" thing the rest of your life, unfortunately some things in life require us to step out on pure faith. Love, marriage, having children requires more faith than anything most us will ever do.  If you love this woman and believe in the relationship you have formed, it is only as strong as the faith you give to it.  We all have self doubt and second guess ourselves but in the end it comes down to real soul searching and faith. You have come a long ways it seems to me. You believe in the relationship enough to have filled out all that paper work, so it sounds more like cold feet. Of course Uncle Sam doesn't want to have people coming to the US and going on welfare a month later because someone decided they didn't want to be married. That wouldn't be fair to the tax payer or your loved one. When I married my Filipino wife I had no doubt she would be there for me, love me and take care of me. She did, when I got so sick I couldn't bath myself, she became my nurse, my crutch, my total care taker. Now I'm back on my feet and doing well. Everyday, I'm reminded of how she cared and loved me back to health, while taking care of a 4 year old. She sacrificed her sleep, her friends and get together parties all that, to make sure the man she loved was going to be ok. I will do everything in my power to make sure she is loved just as much. After all Like John Lennon once sang,"The Love We Give, Is The Love We Get.

[WordsandMusic]

Dave, it sounds more like your saying, "Lets keep these woman simple and rural, lets not let them enjoy life to the fullest, mostly because of our own insecurities. Lets keep them doing our laundry and cooking our fish, running for our beer, and giving us our S......x.  All people have the right to grow and become whole. They are influenced by their environment as well as the emotion and physical attachments they make. To try and head that off in the name of keeping someone the way you want them or believe they should be or feel is an injustice. These girls are not with you because your just so damn good looking. They want a better life, a better future, to not recognize that or ignore it going into a relationship with them is just plain crazy. It's all about compromise, you get a sweet, innocent, beautiful, Filipina. They get a man that is mature, hard working, dedicated and possibly good looking in exchange. So the best course of action is to educate and nurture your girl friend, wife, and allow them to grow and reach their own dreams and potential. I'm twenty years older than my wife, It would not be fair for her to be the same person I met years ago without helping her grow and become independent of me and others. She has her own talents and dreams and I have loved watching her become that other person. You can't be afraid of letting someone go, in the end we all become richer for it. 

[Dave Hounddriver]

Dave, it sounds more like your saying

 

The writer is not responsible for what the reader infers.  Let me just elaborate on what I am saying.  There are cultural prejudices in many countries, as well as brainwashing attempts by moral majority groups in those countries, such that a relationship between a tall, fat, old, white, protestant male with a short, thin, young, brown, catholic girl hasn't got a snowball's chance in HeII of surviving.  But in this country that same relationship thrives.

[Gerald Glatt]

​Hell yes you should be responsible,I think it amounts to a max of 25% of your income or 75% but she is your responsibility not mine. I have my own lovely taking care of me and I am wearing my big boy pants (she helps me put on sometimes).

 

Look in the states if she works no worries,  

if she is the nanny to your kids, hopefully you would want to care for her and them.

If she is here for the three year trial before 10 year card, you have three years to say bye and send her home.

 

Think how expensive it is to divorce an American born woman.  Just take every thing you own, house car bank accts stock, now add 10%

Sad thing as much as that is it is WORTH IT.

Don't think the second will get near what the first did.......but in all probability they have both earned everything they get, even being my pleasant agreeable good looking self, I realize that at times I may be difficult to live with 

[Hey Steve]

Why would these women be any different than any woman in your own country in the same circumstances as far as long term financial responsibility goes? Just treat her right and you should have nothing to worry about.

After she files permanent residency (at least in the US), she can divorce you and stay in the host country-but before that time,well, I would think you should see it coming-if her intentions are less than honorable-as every relationship is different.

 

All I would conclude as part of my take is to give her a chance-if she's worth it. She just might buy you that extra pair of socks to wear to cure you of those cold feet. Best of luck.

[WordsandMusic]

I understand Dave, I sit in a restaurant with my family and people are starring at us like they bought tickets to a zoo. My wife has enough spanish blood from her family that the Hispanics try talking to her constantly. The other part of the population wonders why a gringo would marry a Hispanic. Especially with all this Immigration stuff going on, they see me as part of the problem. I have learned to ignore it and so has she. Now when they talk spanish to her, she talks back in either Tagalog or Cebuano, it's kind of funny to watch actually. I understand Dave that our wives can be influenced by some, but in the end our wives are a reflection of us. We talk politics and world events and what I believe is true and what others believe to be true. I've told her time and again, my voice is there for reference only, we all must make up our own minds based on our upbringing and other exposures we have had. I have seen her start to go down a path or two that I didn't feel was in line with her beliefs and I took the time to educate her of the possible out come of her actions and or association with certain types of people. There is a huge learning curve here and it can bite you in the A - - if your not careful.  We must treat our wives as woman, knowing that in some ways they are just children, at least in the world we all come from. So yes I find I can be over protective, not as bad now.  I have learned to let her pay the household bills, take drivers education, get her license. But it was through baby steps I can tell you that. My wife's biggest surprise was how different the Catholic churches are here. We went to a carnival she insisted on going to and was shocked at all the gambling going on right in the church. Roulette tables, Black Jack tables. She didn't stop talking about that for a year. She sometimes goes to mass, but for her its not the same. She wants to go to church with her Mom before it's too late. Anyway, the most difficult part of being married to a Filipina, is knowing they think we know everything. They believe us and trust us, so what we put into their minds, hearts and souls is what will be prevalent as they grow older.

[Hey Steve]

I tend to believe what is experienced, learned, and guided through would be a mutual experience between our wives and ourselves rather than an injection of our ways of guiding them down a path we feel is right. Sometimes, like in my case, both partners take the reigns, as I have learned new things from her with her guidance to me as well. It's a 2 way street the way I see it.

[earthdome]

After reviewing all the documents of USCIS repeatedly I have encountered one stipulation that frightens the hell out of me.  One of the details the US government outlines is that if you marry a Filipina or other immigrant foreign spouse then you are responsible for that person financially until they become a citizen.  Even if you divorce.  And this includes any children belonging to that immigrant.  The more I think about this causes me to be increasingly in need of discussion with legal representation in the US prior to immigrating.  I wonder if anyone here on the forum would care to comment on this.  Also what does the level of responsibility become if a person marries a Filipina while residing in the Philippines and for whatever reason divorces that person after a period of marriage.  Is the American still financially responsible for the Philippine national if she opts to immigrate to US or remains in the Phils?

I now have approval of a K-1 visa from USCIS and the documents are now at the State Dept waiting for review and then will be sent to the Embassy in Manila for the final round of review.  Time is coming soon when I need to decide if I want to buy that ticket!!!!  Maybe I'm getting normal cold feet but I wonder if this is different?

 

The USCIS only wants to ensure that the sponsor for an immigrant has the financial resources to support that person so that the tax payers are not stuck with paying for welfare, health care, etc. for the immigrant. That is the sole extent of your financial commitment. Remember that if the conditions for the immigrant visa change, i.e. it is a spouse visa and your divorce, then that spouse would have to leave the US.