Filipinos may have the lowest US visitor visa issuance rate among foreign countries but not when it comes to fiancé visas. At the recent national immigration law conference held in Washington D.C. it was interesting to discover that the Philippines is considered the fiancé visa capital of the world. This fact is supported by figures published by the Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs, which indicates there were 8,525 Philippine nationals in 2014 petitioned by their U.S. citizen fiancés. The Philippines is followed by China and Mexico with 2,177 and 2,101 fiancé visas issued for fiscal year 2014, respectively.
There may be several reasons for the steady rise of issued fiancé visas for Filipinos, such as an increased population of Filipinos in the United States, the ease and ubiquity of online dating services and social media outlets, or even the Philippines’ active tourism campaign of “It’s more fun in the Philippines” which attracted millions of visitors may have spurred many love connections. Most plausibly, however, are the advantages in filing a fiancé visa petition over a spousal petition.
The fiancé visa is a temporary nonimmigrant visa.. The expected processing time is generally 5 to 8 months. This is relatively faster than a spousal petition (I-130) by a US citizen which can take up to one year to process the immigrant visa. Once the fiancé arrives in the U.S., the couple must marry within 90 days and file an application for adjustment of status for the “green card”.
Another advantage of the fiancé visa is the inclusion of derivative minor children. If the fiancé has minor children under the age of 21, the U.S. citizen does not need to file separate petitions for the children and they may travel with the fiancé as derivatives. Unlike spousal petitions where the U.S. citizen and his spouse must have married before the child turns 18 to qualify as a minor stepchild of the U.S. citizen and a separate petition must be filed for each child.
There are also certain protections afforded to fiancés. If the U.S. citizen has prior arrests or convictions, especially for violence or sexual offenses, USCIS or DOS consuls will disclose this information to the fiancé. Furthermore, a US citizen with a conviction(s) relating to sexual offense against a minor is prohibited from petitioning for a fiancé unless the US citizen can prove to USCIS that he/she poses no risk to the fiancé.
The surprisingly high number of fiancé visas for the Philippines is a testament to the commonality of distant overseas relationships as well as the slow US immigration process for family petitions. Hopefully, most of the fiancé visa holders are now married to their US citizen spouses and living their dreams. For those who were not fortunate to marry their US citizen fiancés, there are still forms of relief that they may avail of especially if they have been victims of domestic violence. With the uptick in the number of fiancé visas issued for Filipinos, it is important to increase awareness of spousal rights and domestic violence issues for non-citizens.
(Atty. Lourdes S. Tancinco may be reached at law@tancinco.com, tancinco.weareph.com/old , facebook/tancincolaw, or at 02-721-1963)
