I met a Filipina on my last day of a trip to Philippines. We are in love and want to marry. I am 30 years older then her. Do I have a chance to get my fiance or marriage visa application approved?
I am a matchmaker and founded http://www.heartofasiaonline.com I have helped many thousands of Filipina – American couples find each other. When marriage results, my couples often ask advice on how to accomplish immigration, and reunite in the USA.
The two issues are The relationship is brief and a large age difference.
Large Age Difference:
Large age differences between Filipina wife and Husband are common and generally acceptable in Philippines culture. Maturity and stability are valued. Respect for elders is a cultural trait. The US consulate in Manila sees a lot of December – May couples. And approves their petitions.
So, the large age difference is not a problem.
Brief Relationship
A brief relationship generally IS a problem. But the solution to the problem is easy. The couple should spend a little more time, a little more effort, in developing the relationship first, before petitioning for the Fiancee Visa.
Immigration is mandated to weed out visa fraud. They look for couples that pretend to have relationships, dishonestly attempting to enter the USA. These “sham” relationships make it harder for “genuine but brief”, or “genuine but poorly documented” relationships to be approved.
In order to be approved for the visa a couple must be able to prove to a skeptical immigration official that the couple has a “bone fide” or genuine relationship. In considering this they look at the longevity and the quality of the relationship.
I have recorded a youtube video on proving a genuine relationship. This is visible at
http://fianceevisaservices.com/youtubegenuinerelationship.html
Longevitity is how long the couple have been courting. In the above case, it looks like the couple has been courting only 2 months. There is no specific rule about how much time is needed, but for most countries I suggest clients have a minimum of a year. The US consulate in Manila is a bit more “couple friendly”, so for there I think a minimum of 6 months is ok.
Quality is basically how much time the couple have devoted to the relationship. Most important is “face to face” time. How many trips to be together. How many days face to face. A trip of 2 weeks together is more quality than a 1 week trip. Two trips is more quality than one trip.
Then, when separated, how regularly, how long and how often do they communicate?. Most couples can communicate via txt messages, emails, telephones, web cams and post. All of these methods can provide a “paper trail” of the contacts. The more regular, frequent, and time consuming the couple contacts each other, the more quality the relationship demonstrates. For example a couple that talks on skype once in the morning, and once at night is much more believable than a couple that trades one email a week.
In the case above, they have only 2 days of “face to face” time in the Philippines. I strongly suggest that the American sponsor add much more quality time by taking another trip. This time to devote himself to courting his Filipina fiancee, and meeting her family and friends. And of course now that they are separated he should communicate with her regularly and frequently. If he is computer savvy he can use web cams’ and emails. If not he should make regular phone calls. If he uses an inexpensive calling card (these are very popular) he should check that the service provides an itemized list of every call he makes. He will need this as proof of the contact when he submits his petition. I recommend the following prepaid card, cause it is cheap and ALSO provides an itemized call record. See http://fianceevisaservices.com/international-prepaid-long-distance.html
Above Case:
The age difference should not be a problem. Adding some more time and effort to the relationship, communicating regularly, retaining a “paper trail” of communications, and making another trip will overcome the ‘briefness” of the relationship.
Recommendations:
To obtain either Fiance or marriage visa, you will need to put longevity, and quality into your relationship in order for it to be deemed genuine.
