Secret marriages will never be discovered by the U.S. Embassy or USCIS?

FALSE!

There is no such thing as a "secret marriage". If you were married by a priest, local official, etc., and it was filed with the government, it is a public document, and is not, by definition, "secret". If you went through a ceremony, you are probably legally married, even if you think it was "secret." Many people, who were single when their parents petitioned them, got married while waiting for their visas, and tried to hide the marriage, because the marriage may either disqualify them for a visa (if their parent is an immigrant), or make them wait much longer (if their parent is a citizen). The Embassy is now very wise to people hiding their marital status, and routinely checks official government records, to see if there really is a marriage contract on file. In addition, paying someone to have the marriage contract "pulled" won't help, because there are several places and ways marriages are recorded.


Source: http://www.gurfinkel.com/imm_updates54.htm

It is faster for U.S. Citizen parents from the Philippines to petition adult single children than it is for green card holder parents?

FALSE!

It takes longer for single adult (over 21) children of American citizens to obtain green cards than the single adult children of green card holders, for people born in the Philippines. Therefore, if you are a green card parent and have a single adult child under petition, it would be best to check the current priority dates in these categories, and file the petition for your single child while you are still an immigrant vs. waiting until you naturalize.


source: http://www.gurfinkel.com/imm_updates53.htm