Success Stories: Immigrant Visa Issued to Filipino Same-Sex Spouse of U.S. Citizen at the U.S. Consulate in Manila
Photo by In Lieu & In View Photography on Unsplash. Consular processing occurs when you get your immigrant visa outside of the United States, normally in your country of citizenship or residence at a U.S. Consulate or Embassy, as opposed to applying directly for permanent residence inside of the United States with the USCIS which is called an adjustment of status.
We recently received an approval for an immigrant visa for a Philippine national based on marriage to his U.S. Citizen Spouse at the U.S. Consulate in Manila. Congratulations to our clients!
Our clients are a same-sex couple who got married via a State of Utah remote appearance ceremony officiated by a local minister while they were physically together in the Philippines. Since the 2013 repeal of the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), marriage-based U.S. immigration benefits have been fully available to both same-sex and opposite-sex couples, provided the marriage is legally valid where it was celebrated.
After their wedding, the U.S. citizen petitioner filed the I-130 petition for his husband. We submitted strong, comprehensive documentation demonstrating the true bonafides of the couple's relationship, and the initial petition was successfully approved by USCIS in a little over a year without a single Request for Evidence (RFE).
Upon approval of the petition, the file was transferred to the National Visa Center (NVC), which is the agency tasked with gathering financial documents, civil certificates, and visa applications. Once the NVC deemed the document submission complete, the file was forwarded to the local U.S. Consulate in Manila, which scheduled the highly anticipated immigrant visa interview. Following a successful interview, the immigrant visa was officially issued!
We understand there may be unique legal and procedural concerns specific to LGBTQIA+ couples navigating immigration laws and requirements, and we are incredibly proud to have guided our clients safely through every stage of their journey to being together permanently in the United States.
Our firm has more than a decade of experience with family-based immigration and has successfully assisted couples in non-traditional marriages with their permanent residence and green card applications. Please contact us for a consultation. We are here to help. Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTok, for up-to-date immigration news. Please note that past results do not guarantee future outcomes.
Torregoza Legal PLLC is the law firm for immigrants, by immigrants. We are founded on the motto of LegalEase: we do away with the legal jargon and make law easy to understand, so you can focus on what’s important to you – going for your American Dream.
Contact us at (888) 445-7066 or info@legalease.us. We are also on social media and on Skype: @LegalEaseUS. || www.LegalEase.us
This website and blog constitute attorney advertising. Do not consider anything on this website or blog legal advice as the law is dynamic, particularly in the immigration field and nothing in this website constitutes an attorney-client relationship being formed. Set up a one-hour consultation with us before acting on anything you read here. Past results are no guarantee of future results and prior results do not imply or predict future results. Each case is different and must be judged on its own merits.